Women Startup Challenge 2015 NYC Jury

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.

Arlan is an emerging venture capital fund manager, and tour manager to Atlantic Records recording artist Janine & The Mixtape. Having founded and published the internationally distributed indie music magazine INTERLUDE, blogged to an audience of 50,000, and toured extensively as a live music production professional, she enters the venture world from an unconventional path. Arlan is dedicated to minimizing funding disparities in tech by investing in high-potential founders who are of color, women, and/or LGBT. Follow Arlan on Twitter: @ArlanWasHere

Sarah Kunst is the managing director of Cleo Capital & a contributing editor at Marie Claire Magazine. She has served as a senior advisor at Bumble where she focused on their corporate VC arm Bumble Fund and on the board of the Michigan State University Foundation endowment.

Kunst has been named a Future Innovator by Vanity Fair, Forbes Magazine 30 under 30 and a top 25 innovator in tech by Cool Hunting. She has been recognized for her work in Business Insider as a 30 under 30 Woman in Tech and Top African-American in Tech & Pitchbook Top Black VC To Watch and honored as a top woman in VC by the Wall St. Journal.

Penny Lee is a seasoned political and communications strategist with over 20 years of experience. She has worked extensively with the executive branch, as well as elected officials in both houses and across the aisles of Congress, State Government, and in the private sector. Lee is presently a Senior Advisor at Venn Strategies, LLC, having served as the firm’s President for the past four years. Venn Strategies, LLC is a public affairs and government relations firm located in Washington, DC. She has provided federal, state, and local advocacy, strategic positioning, guidance, crisis communications ad-vice, and political strategy direction to clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to non-profits. As an avid golfer, Lee has also served on the First Tee of Greater Washington Board, and the Advisory Board for Bloomberg Government. Lee has lectured at Harvard’s Institute of Politics, Georgetown University and the University of Pennsylvania.

Maci Peterson is the CEO and co-founder of On Second Thought, a messaging app that lets you take back text messages before they get to the other person. In 2015, she was named “Tech’s Newest Innovator” by Essence Magazine and recognized among Washington Business Journal’s “40 Under 40”. On Second Thought won First Place at SXSW’s annual pitch competition #StartupOasis in 2014, was named “The Texting Savior” by AT&T, and won 1st Place in the inaugural Women Who Tech Startup Challenge, in partnership with Craig Newmark of craigslist and Fred and Joanne Wilson. Before launching On Second Thought, Peterson was a brand manager at Marriott International and a marketing strategist for The Root. Peterson received her Bachelor of Arts in public relations and advertising from Chapman University. Follow Maci on Twitter: @OnSecondThought

Lisa Stone is an investor, co-founder and c-level entrepreneur with extensive experience working successfully across sales, product, engineering, marketing, content and community to design platforms, programs, pricing and partnerships that activate millions of people and achieve defined business goals. As a social media pioneer, Lisa has used technology to create scale consumer movements and communities (25-127 million monthly uniques) on topics ranging from lifestyle to enterprise (BlogHer, Ellevest, Law.com, Women.com Networks, Fortune 100 clients, various advisory boards). Specialties: Storytelling with data, putting millions of dollars in the pockets of women, and advocacy for inclusivity in tech. Awards and honors include Fortune’s MPW Entrepreneur Award, Fast Company’s Most Creative People in Business and a Nieman Fellowship from Harvard University. 

Diane works on communications, events and programs for Mozilla's 1000+ global staff. Previously, she worked in Mozilla's MDN Web Docs group supporting web developers worldwide. She joined Mozilla to run WebFWD, Mozilla’s accelerator for open source startups. She currently works on internal communications; previously she was Program Manager for Mozilla’s Developer Relations team. Pre-Mozilla she did communications, marketing, product management, and business development at various startups as well as at Charles Schwab. She got her MBA from UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business and her BA in History from Stanford.

Shelly is founding partner of the Shatter Fund, a returns driven fund investing in technology companies led and started by women. Shatter is the culmination of Shelly’s entire career of working in the Tech industry as a founder, investor and advisor, and extensive experience in mentoring and empowering women in the US and abroad. Shelly has the privilege of being appointed to the National Women’s Business Council (NWBC) by the Obama Administration and Vice Chair of Secretary Clinton's Women in Public Service Project. Shelly has been named one of the top 20 influential Indian women by the Economic Times of India, named to the Forbes ‘40 women to watch over 40’ list in 2013, and profiled by Fast Company as one of three entrepreneurs achieving success through selfless work.  

Sibyl is the Executive Director for DC Innovates (DCI), a nonprofit organization with the mission of fostering and supporting a diverse tech innovation economy in DC. DCI manages the Digital DC Technology Fund (DDCTF), a $1 million fund and customized mentorship program dedicated to promoting the success of early and growth stage technology ventures in the District. Sibyl is also the President of DC Web Women (DCWW), one of the longest-running tech nonprofits for women in D.C, which supports and advocates for women and girls in technology. For over a decade, Sibyl has created successful digital campaigns for Fortune 500 companies, non-profit associations, and startups.

Elizabeth is a partner at 500 Startups. She’s also the co-founder and Advisor to LaunchBit. She frequently speaks at conferences and events and has previously spoken at Women 2.0 partner events, Web 2.0, Lean Startup events, TechStars, MIT, Stanford, Yale, and Babson among others.

Renee DiResta is Vice President of Business Development at Haven, an online platform for buying and selling ocean freight capacity, and co-founder of the Flight.vc Internet of Things Syndicate. She recently departed O’Reilly AlphaTech Ventures (OATV), where she invested in seed-stage technology startups with a focus on hardware, manufacturing, and logistics companies. Prior to OATV, Renee was an equity derivatives trader at Jane Street Capital, a quantitative proprietary trading firm in NYC. DiResta is interested in improving liquidity and transparency in private markets, and enjoys investing in and advising hardware startups. She is the author of “The Hardware Startup: Building Your Product, Business, and Brand”.

Pocket is the Founder of SoGal and Founding Partner of SoGal Ventures. During graduate school, Pocket built and grew SoGal from a new student organization in November 2014 to an empowering global community of 3,000+ diverse entrepreneurs and investors in 26 countries. She created and produced dozens of large-scale events for hundreds of emerging founders, and advised over 20 startups within a year. She is also known as a master connector. Prior to SoGal, Pocket was a Global Marketing Specialist co-managing a $3B product portfolio. Born and raised in China, Pocket is bicultural and bilingual. She holds a Master of Science in Entrepreneurship and Innovation degree from University of Southern California, and Bachelor of Business Administration degree from College of William & Mary. Follow Pocket on Twitter @pocketysun