Women of Color Are Diversifying Entrepreneurship in Silicon Valley & Beyond

From credit card companies to cosmetic companies, these seven women of color are diversifying entrepreneurship by not only changing the marketplace but also by creating innovative product offerings as solutions to problems. Black women have become the fastest growing entrepreneurial demographic. They own almost 60 percent of black businesses, and that number is only going to increase.

Women of Color Are Diversifying Entrepreneurship in Silicon Valley & Beyond

 

 

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Lisa Skeete Tatum, co-founder and C.E.O., Landit. Heather Hiles, founder and former C.E.O., Pathbrite (sold company to Cengage Learning in 2015). Marla Blow, founder and C.E.O., FS Card. Helen Adeosun, co-founder and C.E.O., Care Academy. Morgan DeBaun, founder and C.E.O., Blavity. Jean Brownhill, founder and C.E.O., Sweeten. Marah Lidey, co-founder and co-C.E.O., Shine. Kristina Jones, co-founder, CourtBuddy. Sherisse Hawkins, co-founder and C.E.O., Pagedip. Etosha Cave, founder, Opus 12. Tanisha Robinson, founder, Print Syndicate. Catherine Mahugu, founder, Soko. Alicia Thomas, co-founder and C.E.O., Dibs. Kellee James, founder and C.E.O., Mercaris. Viola Llewellyn, co-founder and president, Ovamba. Reham Fagiri, co-founder and C.E.O., AptDeco. Camille Hearst, co-founder and C.E.O., Kit. Alexandra Bernadotte, founder and C.E.O., Beyond 12. K. J. Miller, co-founder, Mented Cosmetics. Nicole Neal, co-founder and C.E.O., Noodle Markets. Amanda E. Johnson, co-founder, Mented Cosmetics. Cheryl Contee, co-founder and strategic adviser, Attentive.ly. Asmau Ahmed, founder, Plum Perfect. Star Cunningham, founder and C.E.O., 4D Healthware. Jewel Burks, co-founder and C.E.O., Partpic (sold company to Amazon in 2016). Jessica O. Matthews, founder and C.E.O., Uncharted Power. Photograph by Mark Seliger.

A post shared by Philip Green (@philiptalldark) on Mar 28, 2018 at 7:00pm PDT

Lisa Skeete Tatum, co-founder and CEO of Landit.

Lisa created the technology platform to help women in the workplace find greater success and allow companies to recruit, develop, and retain a diverse pool of talent.

 

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This morning, #Landit’s CEO and Founder Lisa Skeete Tatum appeared on @cnbc’s Squawk Box to discuss Landit’s involvement with the Morgan Stanley Innovation Multicultural Lab and share how Landit is powering women and increasing success in the workplace.

A post shared by Landit (@applandit) on Nov 14, 2017 at 9:39am PST

Heather Hiles, founder and former CEO of Pathbrite.

Heather raised $12M in venture capital (to-date, the highest amount raised by a black woman) and developed the very first cloud-based platform. Pathbrite currently has five million Millennials utilizing the platform to create custom portfolios to enhance everything from college applications to professional portfolios.

Morgan DeBaun, founder & CEO of Blavity.

Morgan created the online platform as a tech and media company to be a space by and for black Millennials to pursue their passions and change the world while doing so.

 

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“Black women are the fastest group of growing entrepreneurs in USA”. I sat with Angel investor and #siliconvalley legend @jason to talk startups, raising money as a Black founder and 🤑revenue. Founders: don’t underestimate your value / no one can deny #revenue and real #traction. Link in bio for our full chat. #thisweekinstartups

A post shared by Morgan DeBaun (@morgandebaun) on Sep 28, 2018 at 6:58am PDT

Marah Lidey, co-founder and co-CEO of Shine.

Marah developed the app to make wellbeing more accessible and help users live with intention and purpose.

Kristina Jones, co-founder of CourtBuddy.

Kristina developed a company that helps match users with lawyers-on-demand for a la carte legal services based on their budget.

Sherisse Hawkins, co-founder and CEO of Pagedip.

Sherisse came up with an online tool to help users develop interactive content.

Etosha Cave, founder of Opus 12.

Etosha was looking for a way to reduce the carbon emissions footprint. Opus 12 was created to turn CO2 into usable chemicals like methane, ethylene, and ethanol using renewable electricity and water, making their process carbon neutral (and even carbon negative) for some outputs.

Discover more women of color slaying entrepreneurship here.