Supporting the next generation of women-led innovation
The Impact Seat Foundation Sponsors the 2022 Women’s Venture Summit Hosted by Stella
Women entrepreneurs are severely underfunded — to date, they’ve received less than 4% of all venture capital dollars. When 50% of the human populace only receives 4% of all funding, the world misses out on valuable, life-changing innovation, and our economy misses out on the opportunity for exponential growth. This is why at The Impact Seat Foundation, our mission is to help women, especially women of color, succeed as business leaders and innovators.
In order to expand the reach of our mission, we partnered with non-profit Stella to sponsor this year’s Women’s Venture Summit. With an aim to build an ecosystem of founders, funders, students, policymakers, and influencers, The Women’s Venture Summit continues bridging the equity gap with this year’s theme: #MissionToMoney.
Check out our highlights from the weekend:
The Impact Seat Foundation was honored to sponsor and represent at this event, with CEO Cheryl Contee presenting on a panel and Founder Barbara Clarke sharing her new book, “Build Your Board, Build Your Business.”
“Build Your Board, Build Your Business” Breakout Session with Barbara Clarke
On day one of the summit, Barbara Clarke was joined by investor and seasoned board member Kim Davis King for her breakout session on her book, “Build Your Board, Build Your Business.” Barbara discussed the importance of building a diverse board of directors in your organization to foster support on your entrepreneurial journey.
“When you’re looking for investors, [you] look for someone who is an experienced investor and a champion in your space… [The] chair of your board needs to be an experienced board member and a champion of your company,” Barbara shared.
She also discussed her business-building strategy known as the ANCHOR Method and answered audience members’ questions. Each participant also received a free copy of Barbara’s book.
“Giant Leap for Womankind” Panel with Cheryl Contee
On day two, our CEO Cheryl Contee helped to host the “Giant Leap for Womankind” panel with Jessica Gonzalez, Ana Bermudez, and Cameron Rodgers. The panel discussed the importance of closing the equity gap and funding gap women founders face.
Cheryl shared from Astia edge’s recent report that, “It takes about 40 introductions to get a Black woman funded… it takes white men 2–3 introductions.”
Contee added, “We’re asking Black women to work 10 times harder to get funding than white women… this is the distortion of racism and sexism on a free market.”
Women’s Fast Pitch Winner Honored by Barbara Clarke
A major highlight of the conference was the Women’s Fast Pitch finals, in which finalists from six regional competitions competed in a final round in front of all WVS. Conference attendees had the chance to vote for the organizations they believed in the most during the interactive due diligence, led by Barbara and Cheryl.
The winner of the competition was awarded $10K for the best pitch, and Founder Barbara Clarke got to help award the check to Wave Therapeutics and its founder Jessica Bussert.
While we continue to face the challenge of the equity gap between women and men in securing venture capital, hearing from women with incredible startups and funders who aim to support them at the summit creates immense hope. With motivation and collaboration like what was seen at this year’s Women’s Venture Summit, change is in the making.
The Impact Seat Foundation was honored to sponsor the conference and we’re looking forward to next year!
