Shows
Tech ForwardRebroadcast: Using Artificial Intelligence and Comedy To Open Hearts and MindsHello listeners, and welcome to another exciting episode of Tech Forward! This week, we're rebroadcasting my covnersation with award-winning comedian Ana-Marija Stojic. Over the last several years, she’s participated in numerous comedy competitions, and been featured in the NBC Showcase at the Women in Comedy Festival Boston 2018. She was also a recipient of Netflix's 2018 Diversity of Voices fellowship at the Banff World Media Festival. On her latest project, “Artificial, the Podcast,” Ana-Marija will be joined by a unique co-host: a functioning AI chatbot. Today, we’ll be talking about her plans for the show, what it’s like to co-host...
2019-09-1817 min
Tech ForwardRebroadcast: Building Tech Solutions for Social Impact Using Blockchain TechnologyHello listeners, and welcome back to Tech Forward! This week, we're rebroadcasting my conversation with Aishwarya Balaji, Founder and CEO of Impact Chain Lab. By using blockchain technology, Impact Chain Lab is focused on building equitable communities around the globe. Aishwarya became interested in the disruptive power of blockchain in her previous roles as a consultant and leader at Build Academy, and now identifies ways to apply this technology to create solutions in the global development landscape. On this episode, we discussed her entrepreneurial journey, and the various ways Impact Chain Lab uses blockchain technology to drive positive social...
2019-09-1127 min
Tech ForwardRebroadcast: Using Technology to Mobilize Capital for a Diverse Group of FundsWelcome back to Tech Forward, listeners! For this week's rebroadcast, we're featuring my conversation with Leslie Jump, founder and CEO at DifferentFunds, which is the first platform designed and built for investing in venture funds. Leslie has spent the bulk of her career building, advising, and investing in new companies, both in the US and worldwide. Most recently, she served as a Partner in Sawari Ventures, LLC, a Cairo-based early stage venture capital firm that invests in entrepreneurs across the Middle East and North Africa. Today, Leslie will share her inspiration for launching DifferentFunds, and how she’s helping a...
2019-09-0427 min
Tech ForwardRebroadcast: Providing Culturally Sensitive Teletherapy to Increase the Life Expectancy of Black MenHello listeners! Welcome back to another episode of Tech Forward. This week, I hope you'll enjoy the rebroadcast of my conversation with Kevin Dedner, Founder and CEO of Henry Health. Henry Health's mobile app provides self-care and mental health support through culturally sensitive teletherapy, serving the population with the lowest life expectancy in the U.S. — black men. Kevin is an experienced public health leader, and through Henry Health, he is committed to leveraging the power of technology to add 10 years to the life expectancy of black men in the next 25 years by focusing on their emotional and mental he...
2019-08-2824 min
Tech ForwardRebroadcast: Sparking Dialogue about Race and Racism Through Storytelling and InteractionHello listeners, and welcome back to Tech Forward! This week, we're featuring a rebroadcast of my conversation with Catherine Wigginton Greene, Executive Director of content and engagement at Point Made Learning. She directed the feature documentary I’m Not Racist… Am I? (INRAI) which followed a diverse group of teens through a yearlong exploration of race and racism. From there, she led the development of Point Made’s newest offering – INRAI Digital – which uses the documentary as the foundation for a 3.5-hour online antiracism course. She also travels the U.S. leading workshops and facilitating dialogue about race and racism. To...
2019-08-2129 min
Tech ForwardRebroadcast: Leveling the Playing Field for Female EntrepreneursWelcome back to Tech Forward, listeners! For our rebroadcast this week, we're featuring my first double interview: Gerri Kahnweiler and Cayla Weisberg, co-founders of Chicago-based InvestHER Ventures. InvestHER is an early stage investment firm that partners with and invests in female entrepreneurs. As a strong leader in philanthropy and civic engagement, Geri has a track record for empowering women and girls to reach their full potential. Her mission is to create funding opportunities for women who are focused on technology-enabled business services and data driven solutions for large markets. With her background in sales and a focus on people...
2019-08-1428 min
Tech ForwardRebroadcast: Creating a Platform for Music Discovery While RidesharingWelcome back to Tech Forward, listeners! For this week’s rebroadcast, I’m excited to share my conversation with Sean McKenzie, Co-Founder and Director of Driver Engagement at Steereo. By combining the power of music streaming with the popularity of ridesharing, Steereo is a music discovery app that gives emerging artists exposure and valuable data, while compensating rideshare drivers. Sean is an award-winning entrepreneur and a 3-time founder with a strong background in brand strategy, consumer insights, and market forecasting. He also serves as an advisory council member at Fund for Public Housing. Today on the show we’ll be dis...
2019-08-0723 min
Tech ForwardRebroadcast: Confronting Bias and Unequal Treatment From All Levels In the WorkplaceHello, listeners! Welcome back to Tech Forward. For this week’s rebroadcast, we're featuring my conversation with Wes Kao, a marketing strategy and product launch expert who works as a consultant and advisor to multiple consumer brands and tech startups. She serves as a mentor to entrepreneurs through her roles with WeWork Labs and Backstage Capital. Previously, Wes was the founding Executive Director of Seth Godin's altMBA. Today on the show, we’ll be talking about the leadership lessons she’s learned during her career, and her advice to other managers on how to adequately encourage and support women in the...
2019-07-3118 min
Tech ForwardRebroadcast: Using Five Core Skills to Help Women Advance Their CareersWelcome back to Tech Forward, listeners! Continuing our summer rebroadcasts, we're featuring my conversation with Alli Young, Founder and CEO of The Forem. The Forem is a professional training organization that develops the next generation of leaders while promoting gender equity. Through her work with The Forem, Alli focuses on helping women advance their careers and building healthy organizations as a key lever in driving innovation and revenue. Today, we’ll be talking about how she came to found the Forem, and the critical skills she believes all professionals — but especially women — need to successfully progress in their careers. T...
2019-07-2428 min
Tech ForwardRebroadcast: Helping Women of Color Identify Inclusive Work Environments in STEMHello listeners, and welcome back to Tech Forward! Kicking off our summer rebroadcasts, we're featuring the second episode of our November 2018 job seeker series, when I spoke with Michele Heyward, founder of PositiveHire. PositiveHire is a tech company engineered to bridge the gap between employers and women of color STEM professionals. Michele’s vision is to not only help experienced women of color find inclusive workplaces, but to help enterprises recruit them. PositiveHire does this via matching experienced women of color STEM professionals to relevant management positions within organizations. In this episode, we discussed Michele’s plans and aspirations for...
2019-07-1732 min
Tech ForwardCreating Audio-Based Stories for Female Sexual EmpowermentHello, listeners, and welcome back to Tech Forward! On this week’s episode, I spoke with Gina Gutierrez, co-founder and CEO of Dipsea. Through Dipsea, Gina is focused on helping women feel sexually, mentally, and emotionally empowered. Currently available on IOS (with Android coming soon), the Dipsea app features hundreds of audio stories that help women tap into their sexuality on their own terms, unlock confidence, and develop a more holistic sense of wellbeing. Today on the show, Gina will share her story of launching the business, how she raised over $5 million from investors, and the motivation behind creating th...
2019-07-1022 min
Tech ForwardRebroadcast: Building an Effective Engineering Team Through Inclusive LeadershipWelcome back to Tech Forward, and happy Fourth of July to my US listeners! On this week’s episode, we are rebroadcasting my conversation with Julie Pitt, director of Machine Learning Infrastructure at Netflix. Her team’s goal is to scale Data Science while increasing innovation. Prior to that role, she built the streaming infrastructure behind the "play" button while Netflix was transitioning from domestic DVD-by-mail service to international streaming service. Julie also co-founded Order of Magnitude Labs, with a mission to build AI capable of doing things like exploration, communication, and accomplishing long-range goals — in other words, tasks that huma...
2019-07-0326 min
Tech ForwardRebroadcast: Funding Immigrant Founders and Investing in InnovationHello listeners, and welcome back to Tech Forward! This week, I've reissued my conversation with Maria Salamanca, a venture capitalist at Unshackled Ventures. She was named 2018 Forbes 30 Under 30 for Venture Capital. Unshackled Ventures fills a unique space in the entrepreneurial ecosystem by funding teams with immigrant founders. Maria’s own journey — she immigrated from Colombia at age 7 and became a citizen at 18 — has motivated her to uplift others by eliminating barriers to entrepreneurship and education. Due in part to her history, Maria has a deep understanding of the challenges immigrants face when starting a business in the United States...
2019-06-2630 min
Tech ForwardSharing Lessons in Entrepreneurial Resilience While Expanding Access to Cash for the UnderservedHello listeners, and welcome back to Tech Forward! On this week’s episode, I spoke with D’ontra Hughes, serial entrepreneur, and founder and CEO of fintech platform SPARE. By turning any cash register into an ATM, SPARE helps merchants increase foot traffic and underbanked consumers avoid costly fees. If that sounds familiar, you may have caught his appearance on Shark Tank earlier this year. D’ontra is also a motivational speaker who shares valuable lessons for entrepreneurs about resilience, team building, and finding the right business partners. Today on the show, he’ll share the story of how he built s...
2019-06-1934 min
Tech ForwardRebroadcast: Bootstrapping a Tech Startup While Paving the Way for the Next GenerationHello, listeners! Welcome back to another exciting episode of Tech Forward. This week, I hope you'll enjoy our rebroadcast of my conversation from last summer with Omari Edwards. In addition to serving as a board member at leading technology proficiency non-profit Mouse and founding K-12 STEM enrichment program Technology for {You}th, Omari is also the founder of image-based analytics platform Beak. We discussed his different experiences as a black man at both Morehouse College and the University of Pennsylvania, and the unconventional journey of Beak from inception to present day. Omari spoke highly of the mentors in...
2019-06-1231 min
Tech ForwardMapping Internet Access Across the US to Support Offline TechWelcome back to Tech Forward, listeners! This week, I spoke with Oklahoma City-based software developer Carmen Bourlon. As her career as a developer progressed, Carmen began to explore her passion for offline technology, which allows people without Internet access to utilize resources that are generally only available online. Using US census data, she created Margiemap, which plots income against library access. She’s also in the process of finishing her first book, Let’s Take This Offline. Today we’ll be discussing her career journey as a developer, what inspired her interest in offline technology, and how she is using...
2019-06-0519 min
Tech ForwardRebroadcast: Driving Financial Inclusion With a Mobile Conversation PlatformWelcome back to Tech Forward, listeners! This week, I hope you'll enjoy our rebroadcast of my conversation with Katie Macc, Chief Commercial Officer and Cofounder of Juntos Global. At a time when customers have low trust in their financial institutions, Juntos provides those institutions with a mobile-based conversation platform that increases consumer confidence. Prior to working at Juntos, Katie worked in microfinance, both in the Democratic Republic of Congo and, later, in the US. On today’s episode, we discussed her journey as an entrepreneur, and how Juntos is breaking down barriers to financial inclusion for many people around the w...
2019-05-2937 min
Tech ForwardBuilding and Scaling a Tech Startup Through Continuous IterationHello listeners! Welcome back to a new episode of Tech Forward. This week, I’m thrilled to share my conversation with Fatima Dicko, Founder and CEO of the on demand delivery service, Jetpack. Prior to starting the company, while completing her MBA at Stanford, Fatima served as the youngest senior engineer on an upstream technology innovation team at Procter & Gamble. Today on the show, we’ll discuss her journey as an entrepreneur, some of the challenges she has faced building her business as a young woman of color, and advice she would give to other founders looking to follow in h...
2019-05-2233 min
Tech ForwardRebroadcast: Championing Diversity and Making Waves in Interior Design at WayfairHello listeners, and welcome back to Tech Forward! This week, we're featuring my conversation with Angela Belt, Senior 3D Visual Stylist at Wayfair, from last September. Having graduated from Howard University with a degree in Fine Arts, Angela has over ten years of interior design experience including extensive experience styling for print, online publications, and video. With a keen eye for what is on trend and a passion for interior design, she has styled shoots for ElleDecor, HGTV, AphroChic, and Maison et Objet in Paris. We discussed her transition into the world of tech through her role at Wayfair, an...
2019-05-1522 min
Tech ForwardBuilding Mental Fortitude For Career SuccessHello listeners, and welcome back to Tech Forward! On this week’s episode, I spoke with CEO and Founder of The Zone Lab LLC, Sheryl Kline. Sheryl is a Mental Toughness and Certified High Performance Coach™ who works with business professionals, world-class athletes, and students. She is also a speaker and best-selling author, and her newest book, ZONED IN: The Mental Toughness Required for a World-Class YOU, came out in February of this year. Today on the show, we’ll be talking about her personal journey to becoming a high performance coach and entrepreneur, and her incredible advice for achiev...
2019-05-0820 min
Tech ForwardRebroadcast: Helping Low-Income Women Establish Careers in TechWelcome back to Tech Forward, listeners! This week, we've reissued my conversation with Michelle Glauser, founder and CEO of Techtonica. Based in San Francisco, Techtonica is a nonprofit that offers free tech training, plus living and childcare stipends, to local women and non-binary adults with low incomes. Michelle is also a software engineer and the lead organizer for PyLadiesSF — the world's largest chapter of women who code in Python. In 2015, she spearheaded the #ILookLikeAnEngineer ad campaign. We discussed her motivation behind founding Techtonica, what makes it different from other boot camps, as well as her journey into tech and ent...
2019-05-0124 min
Tech ForwardMaking Her Mark in Austin Tech Through Innovation in Digital Marketing and SearchHello listeners, and welcome back to Tech Forward! My guest today is Upasna Gautam, the Manager of SEO at Ziff Davis, where she architects and executes the organic search strategies for Mashable and PCMag. Upasna (or Pas, as she is more commonly known) has unique experience in mathematics, science and search that allowed her to bring a truly logical and analytical approach to digital marketing. An avid proponent of community, nature, and wellness, she’s also a Fitness and Zumba instructor, aspiring yogi, and hiker. Today we’ll be talking about her work in search, the things she loves abou...
2019-04-2430 min
Tech ForwardRebroadcast: Expanding Access to Early Childhood Education With TechnologyHello listeners! Welcome back to another episode of Tech Forward. This week, we've resissued my conversation with Chris Bennett, co-founder and CEO of Wonderschool. Combining high quality educational standards with the warmth of in-home programs, Wonderschool is a network of boutique early childhood education programs. With the Wonderschool platform, it’s easy for teachers to start and operate these programs — and for families to find them. Chris and I discussed his journey as an entrepreneur, as well as his passion for providing families with more affordable, high-quality options for early childhood education. Though some might hesitate to leav...
2019-04-1716 min
Tech ForwardUsing Artificial Intelligence and Comedy To Open Hearts and MindsHello listeners, and welcome to another exciting episode of Tech Forward! On today’s episode, I spoke with award-winning comedian Ana-Marija Stojic. Over the last several years, she’s participated in numerous comedy competitions, and been featured in the NBC Showcase at the Women in Comedy Festival Boston 2018. She was also a recipient of Netflix's 2018 Diversity of Voices fellowship at the Banff World Media Festival. On her latest project, “Artificial, the Podcast,” Ana-Marija will be joined by a unique co-host: a functioning AI chatbot. Today, we’ll be talking about her plans for the show, what it’s like to co-host w...
2019-04-1017 min
Tech ForwardRebroadcast: Inspiring the Next Wave of Female Tech Leaders and Angel InvestorsWelcome back to another great episode of Tech Forward! This week, especially for my newer listeners, I’m excited to rebroadcast my conversation with educator and entrepreneur, Angela Lee. Angela is both Chief Innovation Officer and Associate Dean at Columbia Business School, and the founder of angel investment network, 37 Angels. With her commitment to education, it’s no surprise that she is a sought-after expert for many news networks, and has been invited to advise decision-makers at the highest levels, including Prime Minister Trudeau. We discussed her work fostering teaching excellence at Columbia Business School, how she launched 37 Angels, and he...
2019-04-0323 min
Tech ForwardSupporting Underrepresented Talent Through Technology-Based MentorshipWelcome back to Tech Forward, listeners! On today’s episode, I spoke with CEO and Founder of The Mentor Method, Janice Omadeke. The Mentor Method is a DC-based company devoted to creating inclusive workplace cultures by mentoring diverse talent. The company has been featured in The Washington Business Journal, Entrepreneur, was a 2016 Tech.Co Startup of the Year nominee, and a 2017 Startup Grind Global Exhibition selection. During our conversation, Janice and I will discuss her path to becoming an entrepreneur, her aspirations for the business, and her advice for other founders looking to follow in her footsteps. Af...
2019-03-2719 min
Tech ForwardRebroadcast: Getting People Involved in Their Local Communities With TechnologyHello, listeners, and welcome back to Tech Forward. This week, we'll be revisiting my conversations with Andreas Freund, co-founder of DiveIn, a platform where people can easily get involved with causes they care about at the local level. As a proud son of immigrants and a San Francisco native, Andreas was inspired to create DiveIn after witnessing the effects of the refugee crisis in Germany in 2015. In an era where we have so much at our fingertips, Andreas realized it was unacceptable that we can wake up with the desire to help in our own communities, but not be...
2019-03-2025 min
Tech ForwardUsing Technology to Mobilize Capital for a Diverse Group of FundsWelcome back to Tech Forward, listeners! On today’s episode, I spoke with Leslie Jump, founder and CEO at DifferentFunds, which is the first platform designed and built for investing in venture funds. Leslie has spent the bulk of her career building, advising, and investing in new companies, both in the US and worldwide. Most recently, she served as a Partner in Sawari Ventures, LLC, a Cairo-based early stage venture capital firm that invests in entrepreneurs across the Middle East and North Africa. Today, Leslie will share her inspiration for launching DifferentFunds, and how she’s helping a diverse netw...
2019-03-1327 min
Tech ForwardRebroadcast: Finding the Right Environment in Tech To Be Your Authentic SelfWelcome back to Tech Forward, listeners! This week, we're featuring a rebroadcast of my conversation with Lidiane Jones, the VP of SW Product Management at Sonos, a leading smart sound system company. For over 15 years, Lidiane has worked in product management for a wide variety of products related to consumer productivity, machine learning, and much more. Over the course of her career, she has gained a reputation for building diverse, dynamic, and high-performing teams. In her current role at Sonos, Lidiane leads her team as they work to improve customers’ lives through great listening experiences. We discussed her career tr...
2019-03-0623 min
Tech ForwardHelping Black Women Navigate Transitions, Setbacks and Entrepreneurship to Build Epic CareersWelcome back to Tech Forward, listeners! This week, I spoke with Kanika Tolver, IT professional and founder and CEO of Career Rehab. Through her career coaching business, Kanika helps students, professionals, and retirees transform their careers via 1-on-1 services as well as events, webinars, and digital resources. She’s also the author of Life Rehab: Don’t Overdose on Pain, People, and Power. Kanika and I will be discussing different strategies for Black women and other underrepresented groups to set themselves up for career success, how to navigate career setbacks, and so much more. Career Rehab grew over...
2019-02-2735 min
Tech ForwardRebroadcast: Investing in 1,000 Underrepresented Founders in 20 YearsHello and welcome back to Tech Forward, listeners! This week, I'm rebroadcasting my conversation with Jarrid Tingle, Co-founder and Managing Partner at Harlem Capital. An early-stage investment firm, Harlem Capital in on a mission to diversify the landscape of entrepreneurs receiving venture funding by supporting women and people of color. As stated in the Forbes feature, the ultimate goal is to fund 1000 founders from diverse backgrounds over the next 20 years. Jarrid and I discussed how they aim to attain that goal, the impetus behind Harlem Capital, and his advice for minority entrepreneurs seeking venture funding. When Jarrid...
2019-02-2031 min
Tech ForwardSpurring Economic Development With BlockchainWelcome back to Tech Forward, listeners! On this week’s episode, I spoke with co-founders of Public Bloc, Ali Akil and Hamzah El Amin. Public Bloc is a blockchain platform that provides low cost universal access to financial services for global development projects. Ali brings to Public Bloc years of experience as an Account Executive for the IBM Watson Cloud Platform. He’s also a U.S. Army veteran, and was an analyst for the U.S. Treasury Department where he was part of a team that crafted the first U.S. Crypto-Regulation. Having previously held various positions in both...
2019-02-1329 min
Tech ForwardRebroadcast: How LGBTQ and Black Women in Tech Can Be Their Best AdvocateWelcome back to Tech Forward, listeners! This week, I'm rebroadcasting an episode from May of last year, when I spoke with Angelica Coleman, tech aficionado and Director of Community at Lesbians Who Tech. A global community of over 35,000 queer technologists, Lesbians Who Tech connects talent with existing companies by hosting summits nationally as well as globally. They partner with hundreds of companies every year, and offer coding scholarships to queer and gender nonconforming women. As an advocate for diversity and inclusion, Angie is always finding new ways to use tech to build communities and bring people together. ...
2019-02-0626 min
Tech ForwardSparking Dialogue about Race and Racism Through Storytelling and InteractionHello listeners, and welcome back to Tech Forward! This week, I spoke with Catherine Wigginton Greene, Executive Director of content and engagement at Point Made Learning. She directed the feature documentary I’m Not Racist… Am I? (INRAI) which followed a diverse group of teens through a yearlong exploration of race and racism. From there, she led the development of Point Made’s newest offering – INRAI Digital – which uses the documentary as the foundation for a 3.5-hour online antiracism course. She also travels the U.S. leading workshops and facilitating dialogue about race and racism. Today we’ll be talking abou...
2019-01-3029 min
Tech ForwardRebroadcast: Overcoming Barriers to Funding Through Passion and PerseveranceHello listeners! This week on Tech Forward, we are rebroacasting our episode 2 interview with madeBOS founder and CEO, Martha Hernandez. Martha has served in several Talent Acquisition and Talent Management and Sales leadership roles for organizations such as Coro, Give Something Back, Mi Pueblo Food Centers, and Inner City Advisors' Talent Management Initiative. Most recently, she was Save Mart Supermarkets' Director of Talent Acquisition. Martha has a successful track record of strategizing and delivering critical human capital initiatives, technical implementations and integrations. She’s passionate about adding transparency in the talent selection and promotion process, access to oppo...
2019-01-2340 min
Tech ForwardBuilding Tech Solutions for Social Impact Using Blockchain TechnologyHello listeners, and welcome back to Tech Forward! This week, I spoke with Aishwarya Balaji, Founder and CEO of Impact Chain Lab. By using blockchain technology, Impact Chain Lab is focused on building equitable communities around the globe. Aishwarya became interested in the disruptive power of blockchain in her previous roles as a consultant and leader at Build Academy, and now identifies ways to apply this technology to create solutions in the global development landscape. On this episode, we discussed her entrepreneurial journey, and the various ways Impact Chain Lab uses blockchain technology to drive positive social impact.
2019-01-1627 min
Tech ForwardProviding Culturally Sensitive Teletherapy to Increase the Life Expectancy of Black MenHello listeners! Welcome back to another episode of Tech Forward. This week, I spoke with Kevin Dedner, Founder and CEO of Henry Health. Henry Health's mobile app provides self-care and mental health support through culturally sensitive teletherapy, serving the population with the lowest life expectancy in the U.S. — black men. Kevin is an experienced public health leader, and through Henry Health, he is committed to leveraging the power of technology to add 10 years to the life expectancy of black men in the next 25 years by focusing on their emotional and mental health. Today on the show, Kevin will be...
2019-01-0924 min
Tech ForwardNavigating the Barriers to Diversity in the Evolving World of Public Relations and Digital MarketingHappy new year, listeners, and welcome back to Tech Forward! On this week’s episode, I’ll be speaking with Nesh Pillay, the founder of Press Pillay. With a focus on empathy, equality, and sustainability, Press Pillay is a digital communications agency on a social mission. As a former journalist, Nesh covered international advertising and marketing as a founding reporter of The Drum’s New York team. At Press Pillay, she leverages her knowledge of marketing, PR, and branding from “the other side” as the secret weapon to making her clients successful. Today, she’ll be sharing her experience returning to...
2019-01-0223 min
Tech ForwardRebroadcast: Why Has Diversity Progress Been Slow at the Tech Giants?Hello listeners, and happy holidays! This week, I'm rebroadcasting the inaugural episode of the Tech Forward podcast. Back in March of this year, I spoke with Courtney Bass, a HR Business Partner at Google, who coaches and advises leaders on team management and motivation. As an advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace, Courtney has spent her career developing and implementing strategies that both individuals and teams can leverage for meaningful collaboration and growth. Courtney and I covered a lot of ground during our conversation, beginning with examining why diversity progress has been so slow...
2018-12-2635 min
Tech ForwardCreating a Platform for Music Discovery While RidesharingWelcome back to Tech Forward, listeners! For this week’s episode, I’m excited to share my conversation with Sean McKenzie, Co-Founder and Director of Driver Engagement at Steereo. By combining the power of music streaming with the popularity of ridesharing, Steereo is a music discovery app that gives emerging artists exposure and valuable data, while compensating rideshare drivers. Sean is an award-winning entrepreneur and a 3-time founder with a strong background in brand strategy, consumer insights, and market forecasting. He also serves as an advisory council member at Fund for Public Housing. Today on the show we’ll be dis...
2018-12-1932 min
Tech ForwardUsing Technology to Simplify the Immigration Process for International Talent and their EmployersHello listeners, and welcome back to Tech Forward! This week, I’m speaking with Mahi Inampudi, Vice President of Product and Technology at Envoy. Envoy creates and manages technology that aims to make the immigration process seamless and efficient for both immigrants and their employers. Having experienced the immigration process firsthand as an employee, employer, and a family member, Mahi’s decision to join Envoy was a very personal once. On today’s episode he’ll be sharing his story, as well as discussing some of the ways Envoy helps companies support international talent. With 18 years of experien...
2018-12-1218 min
Tech ForwardConfronting Bias and Unequal Treatment From All Levels In the WorkplaceHello, listeners! Welcome back to Tech Forward. On this week’s episode, I’m speaking with Wes Kao, a marketing strategy and product launch expert who works as a consultant and advisor to multiple consumer brands and tech startups. She serves as a mentor to entrepreneurs through her roles with WeWork Labs and Backstage Capital. Previously, Wes was the founding Executive Director of Seth Godin's altMBA. Today on the show, we’ll be talking about the leadership lessons she’s learned during her career, and her advice to other managers on how to adequately encourage and support women in the work...
2018-12-0528 min
Tech ForwardNavigating the Job Search Process in Tech as a Woman of ColorWelcome back to Tech Forward, listeners! Today, for the final episode of our job seekers series, I spoke with Shondra McCray. A web developer and user experience strategist, Shondra recently moved from Texas to the San Francisco Bay Area to explore opportunities in tech. During our conversation, Shondra shares her journey navigating the job search process in Silicon Valley, as well as her advice for others looking to get their foot in the door in tech. After her UX role at Parker University and other jobs in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, relocating to the Bay Area...
2018-11-2834 min
Tech ForwardRebroadcast: Closing the Wealth Gap for Underrepresented FoundersHello, listeners, and happy Thanksgiving to those of you in America! Welcome back to Tech Forward. This week, I'm rebroadcasting an early episode for newer listeners. Earlier this year, I spoke with Allie Burns, Managing Director at Village Capital. This global venture capital firm wants to build bridges for entrepreneurs looking to create an inclusive and sustainable world. Having worked with Revolution, the Case Foundation, AOL, Atlas Venture and more, Allie honed over the years a passion for working with young and emerging technologies. We discussed Village Capital’s unique model and goal to broaden access to capital worldwide, an...
2018-11-2129 min
Tech ForwardHelping Women of Color Identify Inclusive Work Environments in STEMHello listeners, and welcome back to Tech Forward! For the second episode of our November job seeker series, I spoke with Michele Heyward, founder of PositiveHire. PositiveHire is a tech company engineered to bridge the gap between employers and women of color STEM professionals. Michele’s vision is to not only help experienced women of color find inclusive workplaces, but to help enterprises recruit them. PositiveHire does this via matching experienced women of color STEM professionals to relevant management positions within organizations. In this episode, we discussed Michele’s plans and aspirations for her business, as well as her advi...
2018-11-1432 min
Tech ForwardBuilding A Career Network To Create Opportunities for LatinX TalentHello listeners! Welcome back to Tech Forward. Throughout the month of November, we’ll be releasing 3 episodes as a part of our “job seekers” series, which covers tips, tactics, and resources for underrepresented talent to identify opportunities in tech. Today’s guest is Andrea Guendelman, founder and CEO of BeVisible. BeVisible is a social media career network that connects Latinos and Latinas across the country with companies searching for new talent. For recruiters, BeVisible makes it easy to access a talented pool of individuals whom they already know self-identify as Latinx — something no other platform can do. Together we discussed...
2018-11-0712 min
Tech ForwardRebroadcast: Diversifying Tech by Teaching Mothers How to CodeWelcome back to Tech Forward, listeners, and happy Halloween! This week, I'm reissuing a classic episode: my interview with Tina Lee, Founder and CEO of MotherCoders. Based in San Francisco, MotherCoders is a non-profit that’s expanding the tech talent pool by helping women with kids gain the skills, knowledge, and connections they need to thrive in today's digital economy. Tina’s career journey has taken her from management consulting and recruiting roles in the private sector, to philanthropy and nonprofit roles in the public sector. She’s passionate and prolific about the digital economy, especially the changing needs of wome...
2018-10-3130 min
Tech ForwardUsing Five Core Skills to Help Women Advance Their CareersWelcome back to Tech Forward, listeners! My guest today is Alli Young, Founder and CEO of The Forem. The Forem is a professional training organization that develops the next generation of leaders while promoting gender equity. Through her work with The Forem, Alli focuses on helping women advance their careers and building healthy organizations as a key lever in driving innovation and revenue. Today, we’ll be talking about how she came to found the Forem, and the critical skills she believes all professionals — but especially women — need to successfully progress in their careers. Though she enjoyed her ro...
2018-10-2428 min
Tech ForwardLeveraging a Framework and Platform to Build Inclusive CulturesHello, listeners! Welcome back to Tech Forward. On this week’s episode, I spoke with Betty Ng, tech entrepreneur, author, and founder and CEO of Inspiring Diversity, LLC (“iD”). In order to build more inclusive and collaborative communities, iD works with organizations to drive profitability and sustainability through increased employee inclusion, engagement, and performance. Betty has co-authored “PO-LING POWER™: Propelling Yourself and Others to Success” with her mother (Po-Ling Ng) and regularly speaks on PO-LING POWER™ and other empowering topics. Today, we’ll be talking about the inspiration behind iD, and how this framework helps companies break down barriers to diversity and...
2018-10-1723 min
Tech ForwardLeveling the Playing Field for Female EntrepreneursWelcome back to Tech Forward, listeners! This week, for the first time, I’m interviewing two guests: Gerri Kahnweiler and Cayla Weisberg, co-founders of Chicago-based InvestHER Ventures. InvestHER is an early stage investment firm that partners with and invests in female entrepreneurs. As a strong leader in philanthropy and civic engagement, Geri has a track record for empowering women and girls to reach their full potential. Her mission is to create funding opportunities for women who are focused on technology-enabled business services and data driven solutions for large markets. With her background in sales and a focus on people ov...
2018-10-1028 min
Tech ForwardFunding the Next Wave of Disruptors in Retail and Consumer Goods TechHello listeners, and welcome back to Tech Forward! My guest this week is Rima Reddy, a Principal at XRC Labs, an early stage accelerator dedicated to investing in the next wave of disruptors in the consumer and retail goods industries. At XRC, Rima leads the startup sourcing and diligence process, and participates on the Selection Committee. Prior to XRC, Rima focused on e-commerce and omni-channel initiatives at Ralph Lauren, and served as an Equity Research Analyst at Goldman Sachs. She was recognized by Business Insider as "22 Female Angel Investors Every Startup Founder Should Know," and speaks extensively on the...
2018-10-0319 min
Tech ForwardBuilding an Effective Engineering Team Through Inclusive LeadershipWelcome back to Tech Forward, listeners! On this week’s episode, I spoke with Julie Pitt, director of Machine Learning Infrastructure at Netflix. Her team’s goal is to scale Data Science while increasing innovation. Prior to that role, she built the streaming infrastructure behind the "play" button while Netflix was transitioning from domestic DVD-by-mail service to international streaming service. Julie also co-founded Order of Magnitude Labs, with a mission to build AI capable of doing things like exploration, communication, and accomplishing long-range goals — in other words, tasks that humans find easy, but today’s machines find hard. Today, we’ll ta...
2018-09-2626 min
Tech ForwardChampioning Diversity and Making Waves in Interior Design at WayfairHello listeners, and welcome back to Tech Forward! My guest this week is Angela Belt, Senior 3D Visual Stylist at Wayfair. Having graduated from Howard University with a degree in Fine Arts, Angela has over ten years of interior design experience including extensive experience styling for print, online publications, and video. With a keen eye for what is on trend and a passion for interior design, she has styled shoots for ElleDecor, HGTV, AphroChic, and Maison et Objet in Paris. We discussed her transition into the world of tech through her role at Wayfair, and the initiatives she has c...
2018-09-1922 min
Tech ForwardExpanding Access to Early Childhood Education With TechnologyHello listeners! Welcome back to another episode of Tech Forward. This week, I spoke with Chris Bennett, co-founder and CEO of Wonderschool. Combining high quality educational standards with the warmth of in-home programs, Wonderschool is a network of boutique early childhood education programs. With the Wonderschool platform, it’s easy for teachers to start and operate these programs — and for families to find them. Chris and I discussed his journey as an entrepreneur, as well as his passion for providing families with more affordable, high-quality options for early childhood education. Though some might hesitate to leave the stab...
2018-09-1216 min
Tech ForwardHelping Low-Income Women Establish Careers in TechWelcome back to Tech Forward, listeners! On this week’s episode, I spoke with Michelle Glauser, founder and CEO of Techtonica. Based in San Francisco, Techtonica is a nonprofit that offers free tech training, plus living and childcare stipends, to local women and non-binary adults with low incomes. Michelle is also a software engineer and the lead organizer for PyLadiesSF — the world's largest chapter of women who code in Python. In 2015, she spearheaded the #ILookLikeAnEngineer ad campaign. We discussed her motivation behind founding Techtonica, what makes it different from other boot camps, as well as her journey into tech and...
2018-09-0524 min
Tech ForwardRebroadcast: Creating a Sustainable Fashion Business With a Diverse Team Right From the StartHello listeners, and welcome back to Tech Forward! With more people tuning in each week, I decided to reissue one of my earlier episodes that new listeners might have missed. Back on episode 6, I spoke with Janet Wu, co-founder and CEO of SilkRoll, about sustainability in the fashion industry as well as the importance of building diverse teams from day one. An avid traveler, Janet was born in China, grew up in the UK, and currently lives in the Bay Area. During her 10 years as an investment banker, she helped over 50 publicly listed companies raise over $30B in financing. Sh...
2018-08-2937 min
Tech ForwardBonus Episode: Redefining How We Evaluate Startup SuccessHello listeners! Welcome to this month’s bonus episode of Tech Forward. When it comes to startups, success is often measured by the amount of venture capital funding they’re able to raise. But is this really an accurate barometer for a startup’s success? Your host shares her thoughts on that subject in this mini episode. You can also check out her blog post on this topic. Thanks for tuning in, and see you on Wednesday! Connect with us Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
2018-08-2707 min
Tech ForwardUsing Artificial Intelligence to Solve Global Environmental ChallengesHello and welcome back to Tech Forward! On this week’s episode, I spoke with Jennifer Marsman, the Principal Software Engineer of Microsoft’s “AI for Earth” group. Working with the group, she uses data science, machine learning, and artificial intelligence to aid with clean water, agriculture, biodiversity, and climate change. Jennifer has been recognized as one of the “top 100 most influential individuals in artificial intelligence and machine learning” by Onalytica, reaching the #2 slot in 2018. We discussed the work she has led with AI for Earth, the issue of bias, and her insights about building a welcoming culture in the tech sec...
2018-08-2229 min
Tech ForwardHelping Tech Companies Develop a Culture of Diversity and InclusionHello listeners, and welcome back to Tech Forward! This week, I’m excited to share my conversation with Paria Rajai, Founder and CEO of ModelExpand. Using the best practices that Paria and her team have observed over the years, ModelExpand partners with companies who want to attract and retain employees from diverse backgrounds. Paria began her work in diversity in 2008, designing global women in tech events with Yahoo's Business and Human Rights division. Since then, she has played an integral role leading the marketing team at Hackbright Academy, helped organize the inaugural Women of MENA in Tech Conference, and wa...
2018-08-1517 min
Tech ForwardDriving Financial Inclusion With a Mobile Conversation PlatformWelcome back to Tech Forward, listeners! This week, I spoke with Katie Macc, Chief Commercial Officer and Cofounder of Juntos Global. At a time when customers have low trust in their financial institutions, Juntos provides those institutions with a mobile-based conversation platform that increases consumer confidence. Prior to working at Juntos, Katie worked in microfinance, both in the Democratic Republic of Congo and, later, in the US. On today’s episode, we discussed her journey as an entrepreneur, and how Juntos is breaking down barriers to financial inclusion for many people around the world. As someone who ha...
2018-08-0837 min
Tech ForwardLeveraging a National Network to Advance the Careers of Women of Color in CommunicationsHello listeners! Welcome back to Tech Forward. On this week’s episode, I’m speaking with Lauren Wesley Wilson, President and CEO of ColorComm, Inc. From its humble beginnings as a luncheon in 2011 for women of color in the communications industry, ColorComm has grown into a professional community of over 40 thousand women. Lauren is also a Contributor to Forbes and has a column which covers women of color in business. Today on the show, we’ll be talking about her journey launching and growing ColorComm, and the state of affairs for women in communication and tech. Despite the fa...
2018-08-0121 min
Tech ForwardBonus Episode: Getting to Know Your HostHello Listeners! Welcome to the first bonus episode of the Tech Forward podcast. In this mini episode, you'll hear a brief overview of the host's journey through the world of tech and why she started this podcast. Thank you for listening each week and supporting the show!
2018-07-3008 min
Tech ForwardPresenting a More Inclusive Narrative for DC TechHello and welcome back to another episode of Tech Forward! For this week’s episode, I’m thrilled to share my conversation with Jessica Bell. Jessica works as a web developer for the Washington Post, primarily on front end and Javascript projects. She is also highly active in the DC tech community: she’s the Chair of DC ACM, as well as an active member of DCFemTech and Women Who Code DC. Throughout the year, she helps people learn the basics of coding in web development by teaching at General Assembly. As if all that weren’t enough, she also host...
2018-07-2533 min
Tech ForwardInspiring the Next Wave of Female Tech Leaders and Angel InvestorsWelcome back to another great episode of Tech Forward, listeners! This week, I’m excited to share my conversation with educator and entrepreneur, Angela Lee. Angela is both Chief Innovation Officer and Associate Dean at Columbia Business School, and the founder of angel investment network, 37 Angels. With her commitment to education, it’s no surprise that she is a sought-after expert for many news networks, and has been invited to advise decision-makers at the highest levels, including Prime Minister Trudeau. We discussed her work fostering teaching excellence at Columbia Business School, how she launched 37 Angels, and her mission to acti...
2018-07-1823 min
Tech ForwardBootstrapping a Tech Startup While Paving the Way for the Next GenerationHello, listeners! Welcome back to another exciting episode of Tech Forward. This week, I spoke with Omari Edwards. In addition to serving as a board member at leading technology proficiency non-profit Mouse and founding K-12 STEM enrichment program Technology for {You}th, Omari is also the founder of image-based analytics platform Beak. We discussed his different experiences as a black man at both Morehouse College and the University of Pennsylvania, and the unconventional journey of Beak from inception to present day. Omari spoke highly of the mentors in his early life, both in his family and in s...
2018-07-1131 min
Tech ForwardLooking Back: Tech Forward HighlightsHello and welcome back to Tech Forward, listeners. For those of you in the US, Happy 4th of July! I hope you enjoy the day off, whether you go out and get some sun or unwind with family and friends. Today, in light of the holiday, we’re going to do something a little different. Instead of bringing on a special guest, I’m going to go over some of the highlights and common themes from the first 15 exciting episodes of the show. We’ve covered a lot of ground since we launched nearly four months ago in mid...
2018-07-0415 min
Tech ForwardExpanding Diversity and Inclusion Through PartnershipsHello listeners, and welcome back to Tech Forward! This week, I spoke with Damion Wright, Head of Talent Acceleration at Intuit, Inc. In this position, Damion works with his team to build out the strategy and delivery for Intuit’s internship, new college graduate, and diversity programs for US Inside Sales. Damion first came to Intuit in a sales role, having 15 years of sales leadership experience, and moved organically into his current role, where he is highly involved in the growth and professional development of recent college graduates. Known primarily for their financial software such as Quickbooks, Tu...
2018-06-2719 min
Tech ForwardFinding the Right Environment in Tech To Be Your Authentic SelfWelcome back to Tech Forward, listeners! On this week’s episode, I spoke with Lidiane Jones, the VP of SW Product Management at Sonos, a leading smart sound system company. For over 15 years, Lidiane has worked in product management for a wide variety of products related to consumer productivity, machine learning, and much more. Over the course of her career, she has gained a reputation for building diverse, dynamic, and high-performing teams. In her current role at Sonos, Lidiane leads her team as they work to improve customers’ lives through great listening experiences. We discussed her career trajectory, and her...
2018-06-2023 min
Tech ForwardEradicating Illiteracy with Hip Hop and Education TechnologyHello listeners! Welcome back to another exciting episode of Tech Forward. This week I spoke with Sage Salvo, artist, scholar, social entrepreneur, and founder of Words Liive, LLC. Named among the top 3 EdTech startups at the 2016 South by Southwest Education Conference, Words Liive is a 21st century education technology firm dedicated to eradicating illiteracy across the world — particularly in marginalized urban and rural districts. The Words Liive app, currently in beta, is a “platform as a service” (PaaS) technology which allows for the instantaneous development, discovery, and sharing of literacy-based lesson plans that integrate popular music. Upon enteri...
2018-06-1330 min
Tech ForwardInvesting in 1,000 Underrepresented Founders in 20 YearsHello and welcome back to Tech Forward, listeners! This week I spoke with Jarrid Tingle, Co-founder and Managing Partner at Harlem Capital. An early-stage investment firm, Harlem Capital in on a mission to diversify the landscape of entrepreneurs receiving venture funding by supporting women and people of color. As stated in the Forbes feature, the ultimate goal is to fund 1000 founders from diverse backgrounds over the next 20 years. Jarrid and I discussed how they aim to attain that goal, the impetus behind Harlem Capital, and his advice for minority entrepreneurs seeking venture funding. When Jarrid and his...
2018-06-0631 min
Tech ForwardHow LGBTQ Women and Women of Color in Tech Can Be Their Best AdvocateWelcome back to Tech Forward, listeners! This week, I spoke with Angelica Coleman, tech aficionado and Director of Community at Lesbians Who Tech. A global community of over 35,000 queer technologists, Lesbians Who Tech connects talent with existing companies by hosting summits nationally as well as globally. They partner with hundreds of companies every year, and offer coding scholarships to queer and gender nonconforming women. As an advocate for diversity and inclusion, Angie is always finding new ways to use tech to build communities and bring people together. Black women face abundant challenges in their professional lives. Not...
2018-05-3026 min
Tech ForwardGetting People Involved in Their Local Communities With TechnologyHello, listeners! Welcome to another exciting episode of Tech Forward. On this week’s episode, I spoke with Andreas Freund, co-founder of DiveIn, a platform where people can easily get involved with causes they care about at the local level. As a proud son of immigrants and a San Francisco native, Andreas was inspired to create DiveIn after witnessing the effects of the refugee crisis in Germany in 2015. In an era where we have so much at our fingertips, Andreas realized it was unacceptable that we can wake up with the desire to help in our own communities, but no...
2018-05-2325 min
Tech ForwardDiversifying Tech by Teaching Mothers How to CodeWelcome back to Tech Forward! This week, I spoke with Tina Lee, Founder and CEO of MotherCoders. Based in San Francisco, MotherCoders is a non-profit that’s expanding the tech talent pool by helping women with kids gain the skills, knowledge, and connections they need to thrive in today's digital economy. Tina’s career journey has taken her from management consulting and recruiting roles in the private sector, to philanthropy and nonprofit roles in the public sector. She’s passionate and prolific about the digital economy, especially the changing needs of women and families in a digital, globalized world. We dis...
2018-05-1630 min
Tech ForwardClosing the Wealth Gap for Underrepresented FoundersHello, listeners! Welcome back to another episode of Tech Forward. This week I spoke with Allie Burns, Managing Director at Village Capital. This global venture capital firm wants to build bridges for entrepreneurs looking to create an inclusive and sustainable world. Having worked with Revolution, the Case Foundation, AOL, Atlas Venture and more, Allie honed over the years a passion for working with young and emerging technologies. We discussed Village Capital’s unique model and goal to broaden access to capital worldwide, and to close the wealth gap for founders from underrepresented backgrounds. Village Capital is on a...
2018-05-0929 min
Tech ForwardUsing Technology to Eliminate Hiring BiasWelcome back to Tech Forward, listeners! This week I spoke with Stephanie Lampkin, founder and CEO of Blendoor, technology that mitigates unconscious bias in hiring through artificial intelligence and people analytics. During Stephanie’s 14-year career in the tech industry, she has founded two startups and held technical roles at Lockheed, Microsoft, and TripAdvisor. Despite a tech background beginning in her teen years, Stephanie still faced hiring bias from recruiters who told her she was “not technical enough,” and tried to steer her towards sales and marketing roles. This was her inspiration to start Blendoor, which enhances the ab...
2018-05-0224 min
Tech ForwardCreating a Community to Support Women in TechHello listeners, and welcome back to Tech Forward! This week I spoke with Hayley Leibson, founder of the award-winning technology and lifestyle blog, Lady in Tech. Through Lady in Tech, Hayley is dedicated to inspiring women to become technologists and entrepreneurs, and to create a life that they love. As an empathetic technologist and inclusion advocate, Hayley also contributes to Forbes; her column moves millennial women to enter the tech industry and build important products at scale to improve the world. Upon taking her first undergraduate engineering courses, Hayley noticed how few women were in her class — an...
2018-04-2518 min
Tech ForwardDemocratizing Startup Investment Through Equity CrowdfundingWelcome back to another episode of Tech Forward, listeners! This week I spoke with Caroline Hofmann, COO and Co-Founder of equity crowdfunding platform Republic. In her role as Chief Operating Officer, Caroline manages the company’s multi-faceted operation and its fast-growing team. Prior to Republic, she spent seven years as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company in London and New York. Caroline is also an active angel investor and mentor to several startups. In 2016, title 3 of the Jobs Act opened up venture investing to non-accredited investors, which thereby opened the doors to equity crowdfunding. If you’re unfa...
2018-04-1830 min
Tech ForwardOpening Doors in Tech for the Autistic CommunityHello listeners, and welcome back to Tech Forward! As you know, this podcast addresses all types of diversity in the tech world, including neurodiversity. This week, I spoke with Oliver Thornton, CEO of Coding Autism, about just that. At Coding Autism, an autism-specialized coding bootcamp, autistic adults learn the necessary skills to obtain employment within the tech industry. For Oliver, this is a very personal endeavor. Diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome at the age of two, Oliver worked hard to overcome many of the challenges associated with life on the spectrum. He came to think of Asperger’s sy...
2018-04-1124 min
Tech ForwardCreating a Sustainable Fashion Business With a Diverse Team Right From the StartHello listeners, and welcome back to Tech Forward! This week, I spoke with Janet Wu, co-founder and CEO of SilkRoll, about sustainability in the fashion industry as well as the importance of building diverse teams from day one. An avid traveler, Janet was born in China, grew up in the UK, and currently lives in the Bay Area. During her 10 years as an investment banker, she helped over 50 publicly listed companies raise over $30B in financing. She then went on to serve as the CFO of clean tech startup One Earth Designs before founding SilkRoll. During a 2011...
2018-04-0436 min
Tech ForwardFunding Immigrant Founders and Investing in InnovationHello listeners, and welcome back to the Tech Forward podcast! This week, I spoke with Maria Salamanca, a venture capitalist at Unshackled Ventures. She was named 2018 Forbes 30 Under 30 for Venture Capital. Unshackled Ventures fills a unique space in the entrepreneurial ecosystem by funding teams with immigrant founders. Maria’s own journey — she immigrated from Colombia at age 7 and became a citizen at 18 — has motivated her to uplift others by eliminating barriers to entrepreneurship and education. Due in part to her history, Maria has a deep understanding of the challenges immigrants face when starting a business in the United S...
2018-03-2830 min
Tech ForwardCan Coding Bootcamps Help Solve Tech's Diversity Problem?Hello, listeners! Welcome back to the Tech Forward podcast. This week, I’m sharing my conversation with Dr. Herman Pryor, Jr. He currently serves as a District Lead within the Career Services Division for Coding Dojo's Washington, DC campus. There, he enjoys the process of developing others through solution-focused coaching methods. Having personally attended Coding Dojo over the summer, I was struck by the diversity within my cohort. Of the 12 students, 6 were women, and 7 (including myself) were students of color. Was this unique to the DC campus, I wondered, or is that level of diversity present on al...
2018-03-2135 min
Tech ForwardHow a Network Model of Venture Capital Can Allow for More Inclusive InvestingWelcome back once more, listeners! Finishing out launch week of the Tech Forward podcast, I spoke with Lisa Cuesta, a Principal at NextGen Venture Partners. An early-stage venture capital firm, NextGen’s goal is to bring a service mentality to venture. NextGen is made up of a core group of seasoned VCs along with a network of hundreds of part-time Venture Partners that drive the growth of portfolio companies. Prior to her work with NextGen, Lisa worked in strategy and product roles at Google as well as the ecommerce team at Pepsico. Our conversation focused on the ba...
2018-03-1430 min
Tech ForwardOvercoming Barriers to Funding Through Passion and PerseveranceHello listeners! On this episode of the Tech Forward podcast, I spoke with madeBOS founder and CEO, Martha Hernandez. Martha has served in several Talent Acquisition and Talent Management and Sales leadership roles for organizations such as Coro, Give Something Back, Mi Pueblo Food Centers, and Inner City Advisors' Talent Management Initiative. Most recently, she was Save Mart Supermarkets' Director of Talent Acquisition. Martha has a successful track record of strategizing and delivering critical human capital initiatives, technical implementations and integrations. She’s passionate about adding transparency in the talent selection and promotion process, access to opportunity, div...
2018-03-1340 min
Tech ForwardWhy Has Diversity Progress Been Slow at the Tech Giants?Hello listeners, and welcome to the inaugural episode of the Tech Forward podcast! For my first episode, I spoke with Courtney Bass, a HR Business Partner at Google, who coaches and advises leaders on team management and motivation. As an advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace, Courtney has spent her career developing and implementing strategies that both individuals and teams can leverage for meaningful collaboration and growth. Courtney and I covered a lot of ground during our conversation, beginning with examining why diversity progress has been so slow at many of the larger tech...
2018-03-1235 min
Tech ForwardTech Forward TrailerI'm excited to announce my upcoming podcast, Tech Forward. The discussion about diversity and unequal opportunity in the tech world has been going on for a long time now. But, clearly, this conversation needs to continue. That’s why I decided to start the Tech Forward podcast. Every week, I’m going to interview entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, media and tech leaders, and diversity advocates. What can you expect from the Tech Forward podcast? You’ll hear honest conversation about difficult topics. You won’t hear attacks on anyone’s point of view. All guests dese...
2018-03-0603 min