The Game-Changing Power of Women and Inclusivity-Focused Networks and Communities
FemWealth #18
Happy Sunday FemWealth Friends!
In a fast-moving world, steady progress coming from established players is not enough. To level the playing field for women and underrepresented groups in technology, finance, politics, and other high-impact areas that shape our world, we need more women and inclusivity-focused communities.
Specifically tailored to the needs of their members and providing access to financing, industry expertise, and strategic connections, these communities and networks can lead to fundamental breakthroughs and positive ripple effects at scale.
In today’s edition of FemWealth, get to know the leaders of some of the most impactful women and inclusivity-focused networks and communities in Europe and the US:
Daisy Onubogu, COO of Diversity VC, Head of Network & Community at Backed VC
The current generation of emerging leaders in VC have so much frenetic energy. It’s this feeling that I can’t just do well for myself, I can’t just be winning the game. I need to reshape [the industry] — and there aren’t that many outlets for that energy.
Newly appointed COO of Diversity VC, Daisy Onubogu, is one of the strongest supporters of underrepresented founders in the European tech ecosystem. She also works for Backed VC, a London-based seed investor championing human-centric investing, where she is responsible for the network and communities that support Backed’s mission and the firm’s Diversity and Inclusion initiatives.
Diversity VC is a non-profit partnership promoting diversity in Venture Capital founded in 2016. Its mission is to create a fairer and more diverse Venture Capital industry. Active in Europe and the US, Diversity VCs has published several reports on the state of funding of women-founded startups and diverse representation in VC, set up internship programs, and designed parental leave policy recommendations.
📖 Diversity VC — The Next Chapter
📖 Underrepresented Founders are Merely Collateral Damage
Pam Kostka, CEO of All Raise
Companies will be born out of the ashes of this moment, and we want to help shape their funding, founding and scaling.
The CEO of All Raise, Pam Kostka, is a Silicon Valley veteran with an impressive track record. In her almost three-decades-long career, she wore many hats as a CEO, a founder, a marketer, and a product manager.
All Raise is a San Franciso-based nonprofit on a mission to accelerate the success of female founders and funders to build a more prosperous, equitable future. By improving the success of women in the venture-backed tech ecosystem, All Raise builds a more accessible community that reflects the diversity of the world.
📖 Seven Questions with Pam Kostka | Sequoia Capital
Tiffany Yu, CEO and Founder of Diversability
It doesn’t matter if you have a disability or not. Being excluded can have a lasting impact…Dismantling inequality is inclusion.
Tiffany Yu is the CEO and Founder of Diversability, an award-winning social enterprise on a mission to elevate disability pride. She became disabled at the age of 9, in a car accident that also took her father's life. Tiffany started Diversability as a student club at Georgetown University, driven by a desire to change attitudes towards disability. Diversability grew into a community that amplifies disabled voices and democratizes disability visibility, representation, and access.
Tiffany is also the Founder of the Awesome Foundation Disability Chapter, a monthly micro-grant that has awarded $49.5k to 50 disability projects in 8 countries, and the host of TIFFANY & YU, a podcast featuring conversations on wellness, impact, identity, and leadership.
📖 Want to be a better ally to people with disabilities? Download Tiffany’s guide.
Georgie Smallwood, Founder of Auxilia, Chief Product Officer of Tier
I believe the future needs diverse ideas. Our society must nurture innovation from a larger representation of society. With women making up 50% (49.2% in 2017) of the world's population, it is a horrifying statistic that 85% of EU startup funding went to all-male founding teams.
Credit: Georgie Smallwood
Georgie Smallwood is one of the leading startup executives in Europe and a passionate supporter of Women in Technology & Leadership positions. Her hyper-growth career spans from scaling Australia’s biggest marketplace at REA Group, transforming teams and business models in Hong Kong, a successful IPO with Scout 24 in Germany, and leading the N26 product for over two years.
She is currently Chief Product Officer at Tier, a provider of micro-mobility with a mission to change mobility for good, and the Founder of Auxilia, a network for current and future female founders. She is also an advisor and early-stage investor, focusing primarily on female founders and co-founders to drive equality of funding and diversity of thought in the technology space. Her portfolio includes female-founded and led startups HeyFina, Remi.so, Oviavo, Menta, Olive, Sudor.Fit.
Credit: Auxilia Logo, Georgie Smallwood
Auxilia exists as a place for Women who are Founders, are interested in founding/co-founding, or want to join early-stage teams. Targeted at women with 4 years + professional experience, its purpose is to increase awareness and funding to female-founded, tech-enabled businesses.
📖 Auxilia: Connecting and growing women’s ideas for the future
Michelle Kennedy, Co-founder and CEO of Peanut
Peanut is the first social network to connect women at a similar stage in life.
A former executive at dating giant Badoo and board member at Bumble, Michelle Kennedy experienced the isolation of motherhood firsthand when she had her first child. Struggling to meet like-minded women and disappointed by the outdated online tools for new moms, she recognized a pain point millions of women encounter and gave them access to community when they need it most.
Peanut provides a safe space for mothers, expectant mothers and those trying to conceive to build friendships, ask questions and find support. Since it launched in 2017, Peanut raised $21.8 million from top-tier investors like NEA, EQT Ventures, Index Ventures, and Female Founders Fund.
Michelle's mission to reduce feelings of isolation and empower women to connect worldwide is fueling Peanut's next growth stage, beyond motherhood. Recently Peanut launched StartHER, a micro fund investing in women and underrepresented founders of all ages, life stages, ethnicities, and sexual orientations.
📖 The Renaming Revolution - a movement to reform the subtly sexist vocabulary women experience throughout fertility, pregnancy, and motherhood.
🎥 Paving the way for the next generation of women entrepreneurs | WIRED Smarter
A selective list of women & inclusive networks and communities:
The Stack World, founded by Sharmadean Reid
Ellevest & Ellevate Network founded by Sally Krawcheck
Women Who Tech founded by Allyson Kapin
Dreamers & Doers founded by Gesche Haas
the female factor founded by Tanja Sternbauer and Mahdis Ghararei
Femstreet founded by Sarah Nöckel
Elpha founded by Cadran Cowansage
Invisible Women founded by Caroline Criado Perez
Check out Sifted’s list of 120+ diversity in tech communities in Europe.
Check out Inc’s list of 25 Companies That Are Determined to Help Women Succeed
What do you value about your networks and communities? Which are your favorite ones? Are there areas where you feel stronger communities are needed?
Allies reading this newsletter, please make sure to include and promote women and diverse people in your networks and communities!
FemWealth Curated News
“There was an assumption that we must not be that intelligent” — one Black founder’s fundraising experience | Haircare startup Afrocenchix raised a $1.2m seed funding round led by Google; it is only the 9th UK company run by a Black woman to secure VC funds in the last 10 years
Forbes published WOMEN OVER 50 WHO ARE LEADING THE WAY IN IMPACT
Female Startup CEOs Cut Their Salaries 30 Percent During the Pandemic. Men Gave Themselves a Raise
The next issue of FemWealth will focus on the political representation of women. Stay tuned! If you’ve got any insights, please drop me a message.
Thank you for reading FemWealth!
Wish you an exciting week ahead!
Anamaria
Founder & Writer at FemWealth
Social preview photo credit: Daisy Onubogu, Backed VC