Kathryn Finney ( Long Bio)

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Kathryn Finney In the Summer of 2020, Kathryn created Genius Guild, a business creation platform that uses the venture studio model (Lab & Venture Fund) to invest in Black entrepreneurs building scalable businesses that serve black communities and beyond. Pre-launch, Kathryn and Genius Guild raised over $5M in investment from several partners, including Pivotal Ventures – an investment and incubation company founded by Melinda Gates; Impact Seat – an investment company led by serial investor Barbara Clarke; and First Close Partners, which is led by former Surgeon General Regina Benjamin and Lowenstein Sadler partner Ed Zimmerman, as well as individual investors such as Andrew Bosworth from Facebook. In April 2020, Kathryn founded The Doonie Fund with a $10,000 personal donation to encourage other black women entrepreneurs to continue to build their businesses in the middle of the COVID-19 crises. One Medium post, a few emails, and 6 weeks later, the fund grew to over $150,000, providing micro investments to over 1,500 Black women-owned businesses. Before creating The Doonie Fund, Kathryn founded digitalundivided, a groundbreaking social enterprise focused on creating a world where women own their work. Kathryn started digitalundivided after selling lifestyle media company The Budget Fashionista. During this time, Kathryn led pioneering research called “#ProjectDiane”, which drew widespread buzz for disrupting the dialogue around women of color and tech entrepreneurship. She grew the organization from a simple idea to a dynamic ecosystem builder with a seven-figure budget, 20+ staff, two offices (Newark and Atlanta), and partnerships with major institutions including Pivotal Ventures, Microsoft for Startups, UBS, Surdna Foundation, and JPMorgan Chase. After eight years as CEO, she stepped down to create Genius Guild. A Yale-trained Epidemiologist, Kathryn has received numerous honors and awards including the Aspen Financial Leaders Fellowship, Leadership Unbound General Partner Rising Star award, Echoing Green Fellowship, Eisenhower Fellowship, Entrepreneurs Magazine’s “Woman to Watch”, Marie Claire’s Women to Watch, Ebony Power 100, Black Enterprise “40 under 40” list, and others. A White House Champion of Change and past member of the National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship (NACIE) appointed by the Obama Administration, Kathryn was honored by the Borough of Manhattan with the “Kathryn Finney Appreciation Day.” She has also received an Honorary Doctorate from Mount Holyoke College and was inducted into both the African American Alumni Hall of Fame at Rutgers University and Spelman College’s “Game Changers Academy.” Kathryn’s latest project is Build The Damn Thing - a podcast where she shares a narrative of her journey and storied career as an entrepreneur, inclusion champion, and investor to encourage Black founders and women entrepreneurs to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams..

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Sponsorship Opportunities March 8-11 2019
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