In 2015 Felena Hanson interviewed 6 trailblazing women from around the globe. Six years later we are catching up with them to yet again celebrate Global Entrepreneurship Week & Women’s Entrepreneurship Day on Friday, November 19th.
Women’s Entrepreneurship Day, wraps up global entrepreneurship week, was founded and implemented by Wendy Diamond, after volunteering with the Adelante Foundation who provides microcredit to low income women while in Honduras. Upon her return to the US she decided she wanted to develop something to help this and similar philanthropic causes. The first day was held on November 19, 2014, and was observed in 144 countries that year.
It was described by Fortune Magazine as “a global movement to celebrate and support female founders and shed light on some of their challenges.” Forbes Magazine wrote that the intention was also “to mobilize a global network of female business owners, entrepreneurs and change makers who support and empower this community of women entrepreneurs and their businesses.”
Below are audio clips from Felena’s 2015 conversation with these amazing women.
Managing Director at Expa, a $350M venture fund investing in pre-seed to series A startups based in Austin, focusing on early-stage investments. Prior to Expa, Lisa led Indeed’s corporate incubator and was the founder of Startup Buenos Aires, an early-stage startup accelerator based in Argentina. Her background is in entrepreneurship, ecosystem development, and accelerator design management.
Enterprise Sales Executive at Conekta. Experienced Consultant focused on tech with experience creating and executing projects in both the United States and Latin America (bi-cultural). Critical thinker, able to optimize project goals, resolve complex problems and deliver innovative improvement strategies.
Co Founder & COO at Vendeve, an award-winning scholar, an educator and an impassioned advocate for social justice. After travelling to The Gambia at age 16 as part of an AIDS education mission, Calee found her life’s calling: youth empowerment. Her philanthropic work has taken her to Africa, Asia, Europe, and Australia, before redirecting her efforts to her own backyard: North End Dartmouth.
Perception Changer & Storyteller at Wondrous Wanders, passionate about helping people to explore the uniqueness of Brussels and Belgium, discover hidden gems and, ultimately, see the city and country through new eyes. In doing so, they usually see themselves differently too. Wondrous Wanders is a unique way to experience Brussels (and further afield in Belgium), through storytelling walks and fun events.
Founder & Lead Partner at GROW Solutions, Karen is characterized by her creative spirit. Her professional career creating and managing organizations positions her as a charismatic leader and a strategic business developer. She is passionate about business challenges and developing work teams based on values and high performance.
Ekaterina is head of Marketing Department, Innovation Office at ITMO University, in St. Petersburg, Russia. There she handles project management, marketing consulting of startups and spin-offs, promotion of innovational activity of the ITMO University, and event management.
Consultant Germanic Region at Catalyst Europe, a renowned expert on a variety of topics regarding the future of work. After her professional career in political consulting she started her own business, working with hundreds of professionals, leaders, and organizations on topics like diversity management, employer branding, and work-life-issues. Sharing her wide experience Isabelle provides the inspiration and tools to inspire a culture of trust, meaning and purpose.
