Supporting Diverse Entrepreneurs

This 65 year old billionaire was raised by a single mom in public housing, before becoming the first ever Black female Fortune 500 CEO. And you might have never heard of her. Meet Ursula Burns, former CEO of Xerox. Born in New York City to a single immigrant mother from Panama, Ursula spent her earliest years in public housing. Ursula recalled her mother's words: “This is where you’re going to grow up, but this is not what defines you.”  Quickly, Ursula excelled in engineering from a young age and went on to attend the New York University - Polytechnic School of Engineering. In 1980, Ursula went on to take an internship at Xerox. Ursula's internship would not only give her experience, but also fund her Master's Degree at Columbia University. At the time, Xerox was one of the only companies in the world to provide an internship program for underrepresented groups in STEM. Ursula went on to spend the decade working in various roles at the company, until another big opportunity presented itself: she was offered a role of executive assistant to corporate leadership. By 1991, Ursula became executive assistant to the CEO. But she had her sights set high... and she used her time under executive leadership to make her mark. While assistants at Xerox had traditionally been expected to be quiet in meetings, Ursula defied the norm. She shared her opinions. Loudly. And the opinions got her noticed. By 1999, Ursula made Vice President, before becoming SVP under then-CEO, Anne Mulcahy. At the time, Anne was one of very few women to ever become CEO of a Fortune 500 company. And Anne knew that Ursula could become her successor one day. So, Anne brought Ursula's name to the Board as their future CEO. Meanwhile, Ursula took her role and ran with it, reinventing Xerox's industry position from a dinosaur to an innovator of 30-40 new products per year. By 2007, Ursula became President. By 2009, Ursula succeeded Anne as CEO. Ursula would go on to lead Xerox until 2017 -- first, as CEO, then as Chairwoman. She also became a self-made billionaire in the meantime! Today, Ursula holds a variety of board roles, including American Express, ExxonMobil, & Nestlé. There are so many lessons to learn from Ursula's story. First, she is a living testament to the value of #DEI, long before most companies were even thinking about it. Second, Ursula's journey shows the crucial role of sisterhood in executive leadership and the power of women championing other women. Lastly, Ursula refused to sit quiet, like she was expected to do. She shows why it is important for women to make their voices heard. Unsurprisingly, Ursula is ranked as one of the Most Powerful Women in the World by Fortune. Yet, this post may be the first time you've ever heard of her. That's why I'm going to be sharing the stories of more women execs and founders like Ursula every Wednesday for #WomenFounderWednesday. Subscribe for more. 🔔 #womeninbusiness #womenempoweringwomen

Regenerative fashion initiative in Indonesia wins 2025 Pritzker Environmental Genius Award In a world defined by extraction, Denica Riadini-Flesch is showing that creation can heal instead. The Indonesian economist-turned-entrepreneur has won UCLA’s 2025 Pritzker Emerging Environmental Genius Award for building a “farm-to-closet” supply chain—a system that regenerates land, restores heritage craft, and empowers rural women. Riadini-Flesch founded SukkhaCitta after witnessing the hidden cost of modern progress. As a young economist from Jakarta, she once equated development with endless growth—until she met women dyeing textiles with chemicals that scarred their skin and lungs. “It burns my hands, my eyes, my lungs,” one told her. The remark revealed what Riadini-Flesch calls “the true cost of convenience.” SukkhaCitta set out to invert that logic. Production takes place not in factories but in courtyards and small farms across Java, Bali, Flores, and West Timor. Cotton is grown in polycultures that replenish soil; dyes come from indigo and mahogany leaves; fabrics are woven on handlooms. The enterprise has restored 120 acres of degraded land, kept five million liters of toxic dye wastewater out of rivers, and raised women’s incomes by 60 percent. The environmental gains are measurable, but the social ones may matter more. Through decentralized Rumah SukkhaCitta Foundation schools, women learn ecological literacy and entrepreneurship alongside heritage techniques. “Artisans and farmers are the missing link to solving the climate crisis,” Riadini-Flesch said. “When rural artisans lead, we lay the blueprint for a regenerative future.” Her husband and co-founder, Bertram F., accepted the award in Los Angeles; Riadini-Flesch, seven months pregnant, joined remotely from Indonesia. He described the Indigenous practice of tumpang sari—a polyculture where cotton grows beside twenty other crops—as the model for their business. “We’ve made a business case for regeneration,” he said. “It shows you can run a supply chain that restores the environment instead of depleting it.” Her aim is to regenerate 2.5 million acres of land and create livelihoods for 10,000 women by 2050. “We cannot have infinite growth on a finite planet,” she said. “I believe in an economy where growth is measured by how well we repair what’s been broken: soil, rivers, dignity, trust.” Anthony Waddle, who is working to protect amphibians in the wild from chytrid, and Seema Lokhandwala, who uses bioacoustics to reduce human-elephant conflict, were the other finalists. 📰 https://lnkd.in/dWCSvCdJ

She quit Silicon Valley after Mike Brown was killed to give Black millennials a platform. VCs told her to "call back later", despite having 1M monthly visitors. She built it anyway and now 40,000 people show up annually and Fortune 500 companies pay to attend AFROTECH. Welcome back to the Audacity Files, where I'm breaking down the stories of successful and game-changing entrepreneurs. This is Morgan DeBaun, founder and CEO of Blavity Inc. In 2014, she was 24, working as a product manager at Intuit in Silicon Valley, which many would consider a "dream job". Then Mike Brown was killed in Ferguson, Missouri. Her hometown of St. Louis was in turmoil. The people doing the actual work on the ground had no voice. Morgan realized: there was no digital platform where Black millennials could tell their own stories. Two months later, she quit her job and co-founded Blavity Inc., a media company by and for young Black Americans. She ate boiled eggs and oatmeal to save every penny for the business. Within a year, Blavity hit 1 million monthly visitors. Morgan went out to raise funding. She had proof. A million people showing up every month. VCs kept saying: "This is great, but call us in six months." Over and over. "We'll give you advice." Morgan's response: I don't need advice. I need a check. She regrouped, then targeted social impact investors who cared about impact, not just returns. By 25, Morgan became one of the few Black women founders to raise over $1 million. By 2016, Morgan and co-founder Jeff Nelson launched AfroTech. They planned for 400 attendees. 650 people showed up. For three years, they did everything themselves: cold outreach, negotiating with venues 10x their budget, convincing Fortune 500 companies this wasn't diversity theater. By 2019: 10,000 attendees. By 2023: 25,000 attendees. This year: 40,000+ attendees. Microsoft. Amazon. Meta. Google. Nvidia. Morgan didn't just create a conference. She created the ecosystem institutional tech refused to build. She's raised over $12 million, sits on Fortune 500 boards, and released her book Rewrite Your Rules in 2024. She had prestige. Washington University. Intuit. She chose purpose anyway. Here's what this teaches us: 1️⃣ Proof doesn't guarantee funding, belief does. Morgan had 1 million monthly visitors and VCs still said "not yet." When she found investors who cared about impact, the money followed. 2️⃣ When they say "the market's too small," they mean "we don't care about that market." Silicon Valley didn't see Black millennials as viable. Now Blavity reaches 100M+ monthly and Fortune 500 companies pay six figures to access it. 3️⃣ The "good job" might be keeping you from your greatest work. Morgan walked away at 24 to build something that didn't exist, now she's a CEO, board advisor, and bestselling author. If you're in a "good job" but questioning whether this is it, you're not broken. You're Morgan in 2014. Follow for more proof that audacity beats permission.

The minute you put "FEMALE" in front of "FOUNDER" the questions change. I’ve been in rooms where instead of asking about scale or market share, the questions were: “Do you have kids?” “What if you want them?” “How will you balance it all?” Questions no man in that room ever got. And here’s why that matters: those questions don’t just sting, they shape outcomes. Investors who ask defensive questions are 7x less likely to fund you. Founders who are framed as “risks” are given smaller checks, harsher terms, and less trust. And that ripples out into fewer women scaling to Series B and beyond. Sometimes the term female founder gets celebrated like a badge of honor. And yes, I’ll wear it with pride when it inspires someone else to step up. But let’s not pretend the label is neutral. It exists because women are still treated as outliers in entrepreneurship. And it carries baggage: That we’re more likely to build “lifestyle” projects. That we’re higher risk to back. That our ambitions are smaller or temporary. Women-founded startups still get less than 2% of VC funding. And that’s not because of performance. It’s because of perception. So where does that leave us? For me, the real badge of honor isn’t being called a female founder. It’s building, scaling, and proving you belong in the founder category, no adjective needed. Until the day the word “founder” automatically includes us.

Last year, female founders in MENA raised just 1% of total VC funding, around $28 million out of $2.3 billion. It’s a clear signal of systemic bias, structural barriers, and untapped potential. Even more concerning, all-women founding teams received less than 0.5% of funding in 2023. Despite record startup funding in Q1 2025, women-led startups with no male co-founder saw almost no increase. As a leader, I see this not only as a call for fairness but as a strategic imperative. We cannot unlock the full potential of our region’s innovation ecosystem without true inclusion. Diversity of thought, experience, and perspective drives better decisions, stronger teams, and more sustainable growth. Changing this means rethinking how we build our ecosystem. It’s about more than just capital, it’s about creating real opportunities, removing barriers, and nurturing talent. Key steps forward include: • Increasing representation of women as investors and decision-makers • Providing practical mentorship, introductions, and tailored support • Implementing policies that commit real resources to female-led ventures Progress requires intentional leadership at every level, from investors, founders, corporates, and policymakers alike. It’s not enough to recognize the problem; we must all be part of the solution. What do you think? What needs to change for true progress? #FemaleFounders #MENA #VC #Startups #WomenInBusiness

Dear women founders, If you’ve ever dared to build something from scratch, you’ve probably heard these: “Why not stick to a safe job?” “Who’ll run the home if you start a company?” “Are you sure women can handle this kind of pressure?” India has the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem. Yet only 15% of Indian startups have a female founder. Shocking, isn’t it? Now before someone rolls their eyes and says – “There she goes, the feminist angle again...” If stating facts makes me a feminist, maybe check your funding portfolio – not my tone :) Because this isn’t an ambition problem. It’s an infrastructure problem. - Less than 10% of VC funding goes to women - 43% of women lacked support from family or spouse - Only 7% of unicorn leadership roles are held by women And investors still ask women about risks, while men get asked about scaling opportunities. And yet, she doesn’t just prove herself to the pitch room, She proves herself to the entire ecosystem. So, here’s what needs to change: VCs: Stop “diversity-washing” your portfolio and actually back outsiders Incubators: Build systems that serve people, not just outcomes Media: Stop spotlighting women only when it’s March 8th Families: Support your daughters even when the pitch flops Thankfully, some are flipping the script: WE Hub – India’s first women-focused incubator CXXO by Kalaari – Backed 100+ women CEOs Saha Fund – Investing only in women-led startups The Bottom line is – This isn’t a gender issue. It’s an innovation issue. It’s about unleashing the full potential of a nation. If we wish to position India as the #1 startup hub globally, we need to fund locally – without bias. Let’s raise the bar, together! What do you think?

From Cote D'Ivoire to global CEO of PwC, Mohamed Kande's journey will be an inspiration to many. "I am a Black man. I am an immigrant. I speak English with a French accent. And my name is Mohamed. Given these factors, success — or even a presence — in corporate America was far from preordained, to say the least." I worked with PwC in New Delhi two decades back. I don't think any of us could have imagined a CEO from the global south. Over time we saw Rajat Gupta become the Managing Partner at McKinsey & Company and Punit Renjen at Deloitte. Mohamed Kande is the first ever black CEO of PwC and his journey, compassion and wisdom are remarkable. He grew up in Côte d'Ivoire, the third of eight children in a family of both Catholic and Muslim faiths. At the age of 16, he moved to France for school on his own, knowing no one. "France in the 1980s was not always an inclusive place, with encounters with far-right extremists and random ID checks for Black and Brown people." He later moved to Montreal and onwards to Chicago, having to "reinvent" himself several times. "This marked another period of adjustment, this time in a hard-nosed, heaving Midwestern city. I spoke English, but not well: I took extra-time re-reading emails to make sure I understood what was happening. In meetings, I comprehended about half of what was being said. One day during lunch, an executive at a Fortune 500 client confided in me: I was the first Black person she'd ever had a conversation with. I didn't know how to respond, but I guess I was not too shocked to hear this. Often, I had to work hard to be included because I was different. I have felt slight but sharp jabs about my accent and my name, accompanied by quieter, larger unspokens about my skin color. The more I thought about that moment, the more I realized that what seemed like a hindrance, might actually be an opportunity. Getting into the room was one obstacle, but once there, I could contribute more meaningfully because of my differences. I worked for a global firm, which took me all over the world. In order to best help our clients and work with teams in other parts of the world, you must be able to relate to them, to understand their culture, to put yourself in their shoes. These are all things I had to do time and time again as I adapted to new environments as a minority almost everywhere I have worked and lived since I was 16. We all must do better. 2020 has changed things — we can no longer turn a blind eye toward systemic discrimination. We all need to commit to strive to be inclusive: Inclusion is a must! We live in polarized times. It's often not fashionable to listen to or consider other opinions -- and we can have prejudices about people we've never met. If we had a bit more perspective and gave people the benefit of the doubt, we can create more common ground. We have much work to do, myself included. I hope sharing my story can contribute to further progress." Godspeed!

In 7 years of working with founders, not one has ever told us "LinkedIn presence banana galat decision tha." But almost all of them regret not starting sooner. Most founders we work with already have good industry credibility. They've run teams, closed deals, and scaled operations for years. But people outside their immediate circle have no idea who they are, and their credibility stays locked in a small radius. The moment they start showing up online, something shifts. → People who've known them for years say, "I didn't know you thought about business like this."  → Old colleagues reach out, saying, "I've been reading your posts, proud of you."  → Opportunities come from people who have never heard of their company before. Their existing reputation, the one they built through years of work, finally becomes visible beyond their inner circle. And that visibility changes everything. Recruitment gets easier. Partnerships move faster. Investor conversations feel warmer. Customer trust builds quicker. Because when people feel like they already know the person behind the company, decisions happen differently. Look at Deepinder Goyal, Aman Gupta, and Vineeta Singh- they didn't build their credibility online. They made their offline credibility visible. And that visibility shaped how people think about their companies. PS: If you knew that in 12 months you'd regret not starting today, would you still wait? #PersonalBranding #FounderTips #LinkedInForBusiness #ThoughtLeadership #VisibilityMatters

Climate change impacts everyone on the planet - but no one more than women and girls. When water is scarce, they walk for hours to collect it. When disasters strike, they face greater barriers to relief. When climate stress intensifies, so does the risk of gender-based violence. And yet? Women are also doing pioneering work on climate solutions. That’s why Amazon is a founding partner of 2X Global’s Resilient Futures Fund - an initiative designed to get capital and support for innovations led by, involving, or benefitting women and girls. Because, here’s another reality: women-led ventures receive only 2% of global venture capital funding. Closing that gap isn’t just about equity. It’s also about accelerating climate progress. This month, seven new grantees were announced across Latin America: ⚙️ Amplifica Capital | Latin America 🟢 Impacta - Emprendimiento sostenible | Colombia 🦈 Fundación Mundo Azul | Guatemala 👩💻 Irrazonables | Latin America 🪸 Mesoamerican Reef Fund - MAR Fund | Mesoamerican Reef Region ♀️ Positive Ventures | Brazil & Latin America 🌿 Regenera Ventures Fund by SVX MX | Mexico Different regions and approaches, but one shared goal: scaling climate solutions that are rooted in communities and built to last. To date, the fund has awarded $7.9 million to 22 grantees, supported 184 organizations, and helped create nearly 3,000 jobs (with more than half benefiting women). If we want faster, more inclusive climate solutions, we need to invest in the people already driving them! Learn more about the Resilient Futures Fund here: https://lnkd.in/gw48gNZZ

Women-owned SMEs make up roughly one-third of formal SMEs globally, yet face an estimated $1.9 trillion financing gap. When a market of this size remains underfinanced, investors have an opportunity to uncover overlooked sources of growth. Earlier this month, I joined the Global Gender-Smart Fund's Gender-Smart Lab (#GGSF2026) to discuss why gender-lens investing is an increasingly important discipline for investors. GGSF recognizes that where capital goes matters; they pair investment capital with practical support, helping institutions redesign products, strengthen data, and reach more women. What does that look like in practice? It starts with changing how institutions operate: 1. Women hold about 33% of senior roles in financial institutions, but only 19% of top leadership positions. When women remain underrepresented where decisions are made, institutions are more likely to overlook the needs and potential of a significant customer segment. 2. In India, Women's World Banking’s work with Lendingkart found that women-led SMEs had lower default rates than men (3.5% vs. 5%), yet still received fewer loan approvals. That’s why it’s critical for financial institutions to have the data and tools to recognize opportunity that traditional approaches can miss. 3. Working with Women's World Banking Asset Management, UGAFODE Microfinance in Uganda redesigned their lending to women entrepreneurs. Between 2022 and 2024, women borrowers increased by more than 50%, the women's loan portfolio more than doubled, and women maintained stronger portfolio quality than men. When institutions redesign products, processes, and incentives around women's realities, stronger business performance can follow. My thanks to the Global Gender Smart Fund for convening this important discussion, and to Minister Yuriko Backes for demonstrating the value of bringing a gender perspective across her entire ministerial portfolio — from Defense to Public Transport! Women are entrepreneurs, business owners, investors, and decision-makers. Financial systems that recognize that reality will be better positioned for growth.