WEB 2018

CEO, DiResta Communications Inc.

Diane is the founder and CEO of DiResta Communications Inc., a New York City consultancy serving business leaders and entrepreneurs who deliver high stakes presentations—whether one-to-one, in front of a crowd, or from an electronic platform. Diane is the author of "Knockout Presentations: How to Deliver Your Message with Power, Punch, and Pizzazz," an Amazon.com category best-seller. She is a pitch coach for a New York City accelerator. Diane is past president of the New York City chapter of the National Speakers Association and former media trainer for the NBA and WNBA. She is a Certified Speaking Professional, a designation held by less than 12 percent of speakers nationwide.

Founder & CEO, Skaled

Jake is the founder and CEO of Skaled, a sales consultancy that helps great companies accelerate growth. For the past five years, Skaled has helped many of the world's leading startups and Fortune 500 companies implement modern sales processes and leading sales technology. Previous to Skaled, Jake served as head of sales and customer success for Chartbeat, for which in the first nine months of his tenure, he grew annual bookings by more than 300 percent year-over-year and nearly doubled monthly recurring revenue. Prior to that, Jake was the vice president of sales at Glassdoor, where he expanded the department from one to 40 employees and grew employer-direct revenue from $0 to nearly $1 million in monthly recurring revenue.

Founder & CEO of Tigress Ventures

Ita is the Founder & CEO of Tigress Ventures, an advisory and consulting firm with a mission to engage, educate, and elevate the next generation of successful women business leaders and investors. She is also a Venture Partner at Plum Alley Investments, where she oversees investment opportunities and pipeline for high growth female-founded and gender diverse startups. Previously, Ita held product management roles at TravelClick and American Express. Ita began her career at Goldman Sachs as an Analyst in Credit Capital Markets and then as an institutional Trader of Preferred Stock. Ita sits on the Princeton University Alumni Council Executive Committee where she serves as Chair of the Committee on Reunions, overseeing the annual event that welcomes 25,000 alumni and their guests. She is President of the Alumnae Association of W.O.M.E.N. in America, a leadership development organization advancing promising professional women.

Managing Director, SWAT Equity Partners

Sarah is a managing director at SWAT Equity Partners, an early-stage venture capital firm focused exclusively on consumer-branded products, services, and tech. Sarah has 20 years of experience investing in angel to leveraged buyout-stage companies across a variety of industries. She has held corporate executive, investment, and board of director positions assisting companies through growth to turnaround stages of development. These positions include more than two years as CFO of Eleni's NYC Inc., a manufacturer and marketer of hand-iced and conventional crisp cookies, and executive positions at Deutsche Bank Asset Management and Chartwell Investments. Sarah began her career in Morgan Stanley's M&A department and at Greenhill & Co. Sarah is serving, or has served, as a member of the boards of directors for various private companies, including Bell Sports, Carey International, PPC Holdings, Voltage Finance, Wattage Finance-OH, Wattage Finance-NC, and Drazil Beverage.

Angel Investor and Lawyer

Jenevra is a lawyer and occasional angel investor in New York. Jenevra works at AIG, where she heads a group that negotiates contracts ranging from social media deals to partnerships with tech companies. She is also actively working on automating aspects of the legal process at AIG and is a member of the advisory board at EvolveLaw, an industry group for legal tech entrepreneurs. Jenevra has invested in software, biotech, and consumer startups as a member (and now alumna) of Golden Seeds, an angel group focused on women-led companies.

Founder, Jaybird Communications

Laurie is the founder of Jaybird Communications, providing a full range of strategic public relations services for digital businesses, especially startups, B2B, and media-related ventures. Laurie is a proven public relations and marketing communications expert with more than 20 years of experience representing digital media and music companies.

Doctoral Fellow, Columbia Business School

Dana is a doctoral fellow at Columbia Business School, where she applies behavioral insights to understand sources of inequality in entrepreneurship. Prior to embarking upon her Ph.D., Dana co-founded and ran a venture-funded mobile technology startup, an experience that inspired her to examine gender distinctions among founders and top management team members. Dana's findings on the social psychological mechanisms behind implicit bias have been featured in BBC Radio, Bloomberg, Chicago Booth Review, Entrepreneur, Forbes, Fortune Inc., Quartz, TechCrunch, TEDx, Thrive, The Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Wharton Magazine. You can read her work in the Academy of Management Journal and Harvard Business Review. After graduating magna cum laude from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Dana began her career in investment banking and strategic consulting for Citigroup and Winterberry Group.

Founder, 37 Angels

Angela is an educator and entrepreneur. As chief innovation officer and associate dean at Columbia Business School, Angela teaches highly rated courses in strategy, leadership, and entrepreneurship. She is also the founder of 37 Angels, an angel network that invests in early-stage startups and activates new women angels through a month-long investing boot camp. Angela started her career as a product manager and then consulted Fortune 500 clients at McKinsey. 37 Angels is her fourth startup. Angela is a sought-after expert on CNBC, Bloomberg TV, and Fox Business and is regularly featured in media outlets such as Forbes, Huffington Post, and Fast Company. Entrepreneur Magazine recognized Angela as one of Six Innovative Women to Watch in 2015, and Inc.com listed her as one of 17 Inspiring Women to Watch in 2017.

Partner, Davis Wright Tremaine

Lynn, the founder of WEB, is the partner-in-charge of DWT's New York office and an accomplished corporate finance/M&A lawyer. She works with companies from startups to Fortune 500 companies in many different industries.

Senior Practice Management Specialist, Davis Wright Tremaine

Neda focuses on business development, helping DWT practices build their public profiles, engage with targeted potential clients, and bring in new opportunities for the firm. Neda's particular emphasis is on the fashion, advertising and technology sectors and on initiatives designed to help women-led companies succeed.

CEO & Founder BRAVA Investments

Nathalie is the CEO and founder of BRAVA Investments, which targets high-growth, scalable businesses that can make a catalytic economic impact on women. She is committed to delivering returns to investors while making a catalytic impact on women in the world. A technologist and coder by training, Nathalie is a consummate entrepreneur and a storyteller at heart. She has advised industry leaders in both the for- and nonprofit sectors, including multinationals (e.g., Disney, Microsoft, MTV, The Discovery Channel, Mattel), early-stage startups (e.g., Cranium, Onvia) and nonprofits (e.g., Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, World Affairs Council, Seattle International Film Festival, Athena). She writes for and is quoted widely in the media, from New York Times best-selling books like "Tim Ferriss' 4-Hour Workweek" to diverse media outlets ranging from Fox News, MSNBC and Forbes to Time Magazine, The Washington Post, and CNN Money."

Angel Investor & Business Development Executive

Lorine is a seasoned business development executive with extensive experience in the legal, technology, and entertainment industries. She is the New York chair at TIGER 21, the premier peer-to-peer membership network for ultra-high-net-worth individuals in the U.S., Canada, UK, and Europe. She is an active angel investor who invests in and advises women and minority-led companies. Previous stints include working at a number of startups such as SelectMinds, the developer of web-based social network programs for corporations acquired by Oracle and Community Connect, and the publisher of the leading ethnic social networking websites BlackPlanet, AsianAvenue, and MiGente, acquired by Interactive One. Lorine has been featured in a number of publications and was named by Marie Claire in its second annual New Guard feature as one of the "50 Most Connected Women in America," named "20 Angel Investors You Should Know" by Black Enterprise, and named by Medium as one of the "200 Women of Color to Follow on Twitter."

Angel Investor & Managing Director at Golden Seeds

Barbara is an angel investor and has been a Managing Director at Golden Seeds since 2007. She has invested in more than 25 individual companies and eight funds (almost exclusively in early-stage companies) across the consumer, tech, and life science sectors. In addition to investing in early-stage companies, Barbara also supports and invests in New York theater productions, both on and off-Broadway. She holds a Board seat and Board observer position at two for-profit companies and is on the Board of Directors for three non-profits, as well as acting as a mentor for The Monarq Accelerator program. Over past years, Barbara has been a mentor for The Refinery and AccelFoods and has been on the advisory boards of two other for-profit companies as well as providing informal advisory services to many others. Prior to Barbara's current work as a private investor and angel, she was a founding employee and board member of Urban Outfitters, followed by work in corporate finance and fixed-income pension fund management.

Entrepreneur in Residence, Columbia Business School and New York Chair of Tiger 21

Barbara is entrepreneur in residence at Columbia Business School and Hofstra University and New York chair of Tiger 21, the peer learning group for ultra-high-net-worth entrepreneurs. She has led Columbia's Summer Start Up Lab, taught Lean Launchpad with Steve Blank, authored three white papers, led Start Up weekends, and served as a judge for numerous startup competitions. Barbara previously held senior positions on Wall Street working with IPOs and became senior vice president at Dean Witter and its first woman board member. She then transitioned to entrepreneurship and successfully built and sold the stock-photography company FPG International, now part of Getty Images. As CEO at FPG, she created the first digital delivery systems for photographs and was recognized as a leader in the use of non-white models, gaining awards from President Bill Clinton and Harvard as a socially responsible business. She also built and merged the museum audio tour company, Acoustiguide. Barbara served as chair of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's Business and Agricultural Advisory Committee and a member of the Suffolk County Planning Commission. She is a member of New York Angels and the Women Corporate Directors network.

Managing Partner, Pierce Yates Ventures

Jeff is the managing partner of Pierce Yates Ventures, which provides early-stage funding and advice to emerging companies with a focus on the fintech and sportstech verticals. He is on the board of directors/advisory board of Kasisto, GameCo, Rogue eSports, Motus, REDD Intelligence, and the New York Angels and is also a visiting mentor at Parallel 18. Jeff has more than 35 years of experience developing new businesses and products across the global capital markets, including as a managing director and one of the founders of the Derivative Products Group at Lehman Brothers, deputy chairman of CIBC World Markets' U.S. investment bank, and chief operating officer of Adirondack Trading Partners focusing on electronic exchange technology. Much of his career has been focused on the intersection of business and policy. Among many notable positions, Jeff served as advisor to the U.S. Small Business Administration, the U.S. Department of Commerce, and the U.S. Trade Representative.

Partner, Davis Wright Tremaine

Rachel concentrates her practice on media law. She has represented media companies in defamation, invasion of privacy, and copyright matters, as well as provided counseling and pre-publication advice to television shows, online publications, newspapers, and magazines. Rachel helps the next generation of media companies transform the way we create, consume, and distribute media and entertainment. She is inspired by the many women in media who are driving innovation in the industry.

Founder and CEO, Pantegrion Capital

Alicia is the founder and CEO of Pantegrion Capital, an angel investment vehicle focused on seed and early-stage investments, and The Point 25 Initiative. She is a recurring panelist on CNBC's Power Pitch and MSNBC's Your Business, a contributor for Inc. magazine, and an instructor for Steve Blank's Lean Launchpad course at Columbia University. She was named as one of the "25 Angel Investors in New York You Need to Know" by AlleyWatch, one of Wharton's "40 Under 40," and one of Virgin's "Five Next Generation Leaders Emerging from Tech." Prior to founding Pantegrion, she was the first employee and CAO of a multibillion-dollar private equity firm. She tweets @AliciaSyrett.

Associate, Davis Wright Tremaine

Danielle is a litigator with a focus on trademark and copyright law. She also counsels clients on brand-management and brand-enforcement matters. Danielle is excited by companies who are creating products and services designed to empower women in the areas of health, well-being, and fulfillment and is committed to bringing her skills and experience to help entrepreneurs who are innovating in this space.

President of NYPAY & Partner at Paygility Advisors

David has a long history in the payments industry, working with issuers, networks, merchants, processors, and fintech firms. He has developed and directed strategy, marketing, new products, operations, and finance at companies including American Express and Mastercard. Currently, he advises several technology startups. David is a partner at PayGility Advisors, which helps firms navigate the changing world of payments, and president of NYPAY, a professional group where payment leaders and fintech innovators meet to learn and network. His recent work includes due diligence on a merger target, launching a tablet point-of-sale (POS) system, finding profitable markets for a closed-loop mobile payment platform, and reducing acceptance costs for several merchants.

Vice President, Women's Digital Network at Forbes Media

Christina is the vice president of the Women's Digital Network at Forbes Media. She launched Women@Forbes, a business-first platform for millennial-minded and entrepreneurial women. She oversees all editorial and strategic direction for the channel with the mission to help every woman take her next step forward. Christina is also founder of 40:20 Vision, a resource for women to start conversations and facilitate wisdom exchange between generations and co-founder of 40 Women to Watch Over 40, a community for women disrupting and innovating after age 40. Prior to Forbes, Christina ran CV Consulting, leveraging her expertise in trends and consumer insight to position brands for growth. She began her career Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising and went on to work at Faith Popcorn's Brain Reserve, Kirshenbaum Bond Senacal and Partners, and The Futures Company. She has also taught at General Assembly, has spoken at SXSW Interactive and Social Media Week, and runs a mentoring network for rising professionals and entrepreneurs.

VP, Hearst; Founder, HearstLab

Chris is the founder of HearstLab, an invitation-only community of early-stage women-led startups working inside Hearst Tower, home to one of the world's most diversified media, information, and technology companies. HearstLab invests in startups that are innovating in media, information, or services where connectivity with any of Hearst's more than 350 businesses is a difference-maker for a founding team. Chris has a 20-plus-year digital media career innovating at two media giants: Hearst and, before that, Ziff Davis Media. He is a "serial intrapreneur," starting and supporting dozens of new initiatives including launching new brands and deploying new technology while inventing and perfecting growth strategies.