This month we have seen so many of our Fellows and Alumni continue to thrive and succeed. We have many awards and recognitions this month for the amazing impact their ventures are creating. Take a look below at some of the highlights!
Sara Potler, Founder + CEO of Move This World, recently spoke with Entrepreneur.com to share advice for female founders about entrepreneurship and motherhood: 5 Tips for Mompreneurs Raising a Family and Running a Business as the World Reopens. Sara provides tips on raising capital while pregnant, expanding her team while on maternity leave, and juggling the day-to-day of motherhood and leadership.
Serena Williams just invested in Samir Geol and Abbey Wemimo’s Esusu Financial. In this CNBC article, Serena stated that she invests in companies “empowering others and creating opportunities. Esusu is definitely one of those companies.” Esusu is a venture-backed company that empowers communities to save better, manage their cash flow, and build credit through a digitized rotational savings system. Immigrants in America often do not have robust credit profiles, and Esusu aims to build financial resilience and provide access to the marginalized.
Autumn Adeigbo’s Maisie Dress was featured in this Huff Post Style & Beauty article as one of 23 Dresses You’ll Want to Twirl In. Autumn’s clothes and accessories have been worn by Amanda Gorman, Kerry Washington, Busy Philipps and Mindy Kaling.
On July 2, 2021, PRNewswire announced The Robert G. Wilmers Integrity Prize finalists for this year’s $50,000 award. Veronika Scott was one of the 5 finalists. Veronika is the Founder and CEO of The Empowerment Plan, an organization around a single idea: to design a coat for homeless people made by the formerly homeless. The coat is self-heated and waterproof, the trademark coat doubles as a sleeping bag at night. The winner will be announced in October.
This month, BagoSphere signed an agreement with ATENEO de Manila University, through Ateneo Center for Educational Development (ACED) to train and equip disadvantaged, out-of-school, and unemployed youth on English, interview, call center, and human skills to build their confidence, enhance their social skills, and make them competent and job-ready. Zhihan is the co-founder and group CEO of BagoSphere, an education company helping growing companies in developing markets bridge the skill-gap and develop purpose-driven employees.
This Business Wire article announces its second annual Future 50 list, which features 50 rising leaders using bold and innovative thinking to transform the world through notable projects. Christelle Kwizera was listed under the top 50 Future Leaders to Watch. Christelle is the Founder and Managing Director of Water Access Rwanda, committed to eradicating water scarcity. Since 2014, Water Access Rwanda has provided clean water access to over 132,000 individuals, schools, businesses and farms in Rwanda and across the borders in DRC, Burundi and Uganda.
In this Nigerian Tribune article, it was announced that Inspire Africa is set to organise its 2021 public-speaking contest, The Orator, designed to build the oratory, leadership and innovative skills of young leaders between the ages of 18 to 25. Inspire Africa is Co-Founded by Cynthia Mene and is a Pan-African Institution established to deliver high impact entrepreneurship and leadership education to African youths.
Voiceitt, co-founded by Danny Weissber, launched last month and was declared as a “triumph in disability co-design” by this Forbes article. The article discusses in detail each of the great features of the app. Voiceitt is a venture-backed digital health startup employing AI to develop speech recognition algorithms that recognize and translate impaired speech patterns. The app has already proven impactful in the very first month.
In this Cision article, Steph Speirs was recognized as one of the Top 100 Yale Alumni in Technology in 2021. Steph Speirs has made a big impact with her company Solstice. Solstice is a first-of-its-kind company that deploys community solar power to underserved Americans.
Juliana Cardona Mejia founded Street Entrepreneurs (SE), an inclusive accelerator that connects entrepreneurs to human, social and economic capital via workshops, a talent exchange and a showcase. The Washington Business Journal recognized her as one of 50 companies that have won the DC Inno Fire Awards of 2021!
Molly Matthews was appointed interim director of the center for career and professional development at St. Mary’s College of Maryland. Molly is CEO of Job-IQ, and recently developed a mobile phone app that provides Career Development in Your Pocket. This article discusses many of Molly’s accomplishments.
Reyhan Jamalova is the CEO & Founder of Rainergy, a rainwater energy generator built for low income families. Reyhan was able to interview with Nasdaq about Turning Rain into Power for Rural Communities. Read it here!
In the Tyler Morning Telegraph, The WE Empower UN SDG Challenge announced the five social entrepreneurs selected as their 2021 Awardees. On July 15th, Nidhi Pant, Co-Founder of S4S Technologies was awarded this honor. Each of the entrepreneurs “was selected on the basis that they lead an enterprise committed to advancing one or more of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and leverage their businesses to push for progress in their communities.”
This article highlights the successes of Hello Tractor, an enterprise founded by Jehiel Oliver. It discusses the circular economy of the venture and the increase in yield it provides. It also mentions that “Hello Tractor has been selected as one of the World Economic Forum’s UpLink Circulars Accelerator cohort, one of just 17 circular economy social enterprises that will receive support and mentorship from industry leaders and circular economy leaders.”
Congrats to everyone! Our Fellows and Alumni continue to inspire so many and create a huge impact. Great job to everyone and we are so grateful for your work!