Summit for Under-Represented Founders

Months in the making, in collaboration with several other Seattle-area startup organizations, we're super excited to host the first Venture Mechanics Summit for Under-represented Founder Groups on Jan 29th. Seating is limited to only 100 people so please be sure to RSVP ASAP for what's going to be a truly inspiring and motivating event. (This event is being co-hosted by Women in Tech, Women in Cloud, GirlUp, StartOut, NewTech Northwest and the Black Founders Group of Seattle.)  

After a welcome from the mayor of Bellevue, Dr. Lynne Robinson, and keynote speaker entrepreneur, investor, philanthropist and newly published author, Dana Frank, there'll be two discussion panels.  

The first panel, co-chaired and moderated by Women in Tech's Claudia Dubuque, will focus on gender issues, i.e. what challenges and opportunities are faced by women and LGBT founders in today's startup ecosystem. 

Panelists include: 

• Anna Hong of GirlUp, 
• Chaitra Vedullapalli of Women in Cloud, 
• Nate Derby of Stakana and StartOut, and 
• Chase Gladish of Roll Credits  

The second panel, moderated by co-chair Dr. Jamar Montgomery, will focus on the impact of race and ethnicity, as well as invisible disabilities, when founders create startups in today's environment. 

Panelists include: 

• Evan Poncelet of the Washington Black Angels Network 
• Brett Greene of NewTech Northwest 
• Leilani Walkush representing indigenous tribes in Washington, Alaska and Canada  

After the panels we'll have ten startups founded by under-represented entrepreneurs give a brief presentation on their ventures, including audience Q&A. The presentations will be followed by a mixer where attendees can visit demonstration tables for the presenting companies. 

These presenters include: 

• Jason Booker of Edxeno 
• Melinda Yormick of CWTCH 
• Alan Gonzalez of DevMatch 
• Chase Gladish of Roll Credits 
• Steve Howard of Joyroot 
• Shannon Smith of Reboot Your Brain 
• Cesar Tinajaero of FreshCredit 
• Joelle Tudor of CathConnect 
• Stephiney Foley of Yuzi 
• Nate Derby of Stakana  

This will be an uncommon opportunity to meet inspiring entrepreneurs and investors in our local community, whether female, black, latino, or even LGBT or native American, who all together still represent a minority of venture capital investments in the USA. Help us help them to change the status quo by participating in this event.  

Doors open at 5pm. Summit formally begins at 5:30pm. Company presentations will run from 7pm-8:30pm. Companies will have their own demo tables in the mixer area... you are welcome to stay for the after party mixer, meet the founders personally, and meet the other guests. Light snacks and beverages will be served.