Women Startup Challenge

2015 NYC

Joanne Wilson has had many careers. She started out in retail, eventually moving to the wholesale arena. She then transitioned to the media side of the technology world, before once again reinventing herself as an investor. She is currently an active angel investor with a portfolio of over 90 companies such as Food52, Sweeten, Vengo, Nestio, Phin and Phebes, Makers Row, Clutter, and Union Station.

She has been involved in numerous real estate transactions from beginning to end and continues to make investments in that world. She is also an investor in a few restaurants in the New York area. In addition to these endeavors, Joanne has been involved in various education projects and served as chairperson at Hot Bread Kitchen, non-profit committed to increasing access to the culinary industry for woman and minority entrepreneurs. She also sits on the board of The Highline.

Joanne has maintained her very popular blog, www.gothamgal.com for over 11 years and has recently take her talents to the airwaves on her podcast, Positively Gotham Gal. She loves to bake, cook, throw a good party, travel, read, collect art, do the crossword and stay on top of what's happening around the globe and in NYC.

Named by Inc Magazine as one of the most influential women in tech, Kathryn Finney has made her mark as a tech entrepreneur, social media visionary, “women in” advocate, investor, writer, and television correspondent.

A White House Champion of Change and a past member of the National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship (NACIE) appointed by the Obama Administration, Kathryn is the founder and CEO of digitalundivided (DID), a social enterprise that fosters economic growth through the empowerment of Black and Latina women entrepreneurs using innovation as a tool. She is a former General Partner in the Harriet Fund, the first venture capital fund focused on Black and Latinx women founders.

An Echoing Green Global Fellow and Eisenhower Fellow, Kathryn started digitalundivided after selling her company, The Budget Fashionista, one of the first lifestyle blogs. Since 2013, DID has impacted thousands of people and helped raise over $100 milion in investments. Her pioneering research, “#ProjectDiane”, drew widespread buzz for disrupting the dialogue around women of color and tech entrepreneurship.

Kathryn has received numerous honors and awards including, the Grace Hopper ABIE award, Marie Claire’s 10 Women to Watch, Entrepreneurs Magazine’s “Woman to Watch”, Ebony Power 100, Black Enterprise “40 under 40” list, and was inducted into Spelman College’s “Game Changers Academy.”
 

Victoria’s investment interests include consumer web, mobile and enterprise software markets. She worked at Flybridge from 2010 to 2012 and rejoined after completing her MBA at Harvard Business School (HBS) in 2014. In prior positions, Victoria worked as a business development executive at Google[X] and at tracx as well as a research associate writing curriculum on entrepreneurship for Harvard Business School, and helped launched the United Crimes Elimination Network (UCEN), the most extensive global network to prevent financial crimes and identify financial criminals. Victoria was on Forbes 30 Under 30 Venture Capital List in 2015.

Victoria loves working with entrepreneurs who are going to change the world and enjoys being at the front line of innovation. She is also the founder and CEO of So She Did, a not-for-profit social movement with the mission to help young women invest in themselves from the inside out.

When she’s unplugged from tech, Victoria loves to dance (everything from hip hop to ballroom), run with her Siberian Husky, Meeko, and write letters to her future self. Victoria graduated from Yale College with a degree in economics, and received an MBA from Harvard Business School.