These female entrepreneurs saw large gender-based gaps in the startup ecosystem — and set out to address them. — Alice Zhang and Jarah Euston shared a surprising, but all too common, experience while attending a large San Francisco angel investment conference in 2018. At that point, the startup world appeared to be on the cusp of change. …

MEET NINA LIU, BEAUTY INNOVATOR Nina Liu is the Founder and CEO of Kite Beauty, an innovative cosmetics start-up that focuses on convenient beauty products. Kite Beauty is launching a clean makeup line specifically designed for busy, on-the-go consumers, with the underlying mission of taking the hassle out of beauty…

Building on the Power of Affinity Jonathan Meltzer (W99) is a Partner at Alumni Ventures, which was ranked the third most active VC firm globally in 2021. Unlike conventional VC firms which raise their funding from institutions, Alumni Ventures focuses on democratizing access to venture capital for individual accredited investors…

MEET HARSHA RAVINDRAN, TEENAGE ENTREPRENEUR SUPERSTAR FOUNDER OF STARTMYNAME.COM and ASCENDANCE Born in Johor and raised in Kuala Lumpur, Harsha began her entrepreneurship journey at age 11 as she watched her mom bootstrap a business to support the family. …

MEET KAT UTECHT — INVESTING IN SOLUTIONS FOR MEANINGFUL WORLD ISSUES Kat Utecht is Managing Partner of her family office and Partner Emeritus at Core Innovation Capital, a leading venture capital firm investing in financial services and future of work companies empowering everyday Americans. Portfolio companies include Ripple, Oportun, Mirador, and Mosaic. Kat has a combination of corporate venture capital, entrepreneurship…

Deepthi Uppala has always loved new ideas — thinking about them, coming up with them, brainstorming around them. Creativity is her strength and being able to peer around the corner and map back to present is what she calls her Superpower. Deepthi loves new ideas so much that she decided…

EDTECH POWERHOUSE MEET SHEREEN TAWFIQ Shereen Tawfiq, WG’12, grew up in Saudi Arabia in a family of 4 daughters and no sons. Her father, considered unlucky by many family members, insisted that Shereen and her sisters all get the best possible education so they could be financially independent. Shereen became…

MEET JUDITH DUVAL, PIONEERING CHANGE IN STRESS MANAGEMENT Judith Duval W’03 is originally from the Dominican Republic and came to the US as a teenager. While quickly learning English and a new culture, she faced daily racism, marginalization, bullying, and domestic violence. Despite these challenges, Judith says that her life…

AUTHOR, COACH, ADVOCATE Adonica Shaw is the Founder and CEO of Wingwomen, an online platform that provides access to peer support and health advice. She placed in the semi-finalist round of the business pitch competition in the Wharton Entrepreneurship Growth Accelerator Program in the summer of 2021 Wingwomen was developed…