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Impact presents: Kathryn Finney, Founder and Managing Director of digitalundivided

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Please join Kathryn Finney, Founder and Managing Director of digitalundivided, for an empowering talk. 

Kathryn Finney is the founder and Managing Director of digitalundivided (DID), a social enterprise that helps Black and Latina women own their work, using innovation and technology as a tool. She is a White House Champion of Change and a past member of the US Chamber of Commerce’s National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship (NACIE).

An Echoing Green Global Fellow, French-American Fellow, and Eisenhower Fellow, Kathryn started digitalundivided after selling her company, The Budget Fashionista, one of the first lifestyle blogs. Since 2013, DID has impacted over 2,000 people and helped raise $25MM in investments. She led the pioneering research, “#ProjectDiane”, which drew widespread buzz for disrupting the dialogue around women of color and tech entrepreneurship. The 16-page report was widely shared and covered (Forbes, CNN, Fast Company, etc.) for quantifying the often overlooked state of Black women in the tech entrepreneurship space and is impacting policy from state houses to the White House.

The findings from #ProjectDiane put a unique spotlight on the problem of inclusion in the innovation space, leading digitalundivided to develop a “first of its kind” solution. digitalundivided’s BIG Innovation Center and its resident BIG Incubator, currently on its third cohort, is the only space and program dedicated to the growth of high-growth tech businesses founded by Black and Latina women. The BIG Innovation Center also hosts numerous events, classes and programs for women in business and tech.

Kathryn was the founder and General Partner of the Harriet Fund, the first venture fund to focus on deploying capital to Black and Latinx women.

Kathryn has received numerous honors and awards including, Grace Hopper ABIE award, Marie Claire’s 10 Women to Watch in 2016, Entrepreneurs Magazine’s “Woman to Watch in 2016,”, Ebony Power 100, Black Enterprise “40 under 40” list, and was inducted into Spelman College’s “Game Changers Academy.” In 2017, Kathryn received a Honorary Doctorate from Mount Holyoke College.

On February 26, 2015, Kathryn was honored by Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer with the “Kathryn Finney Appreciation Day”.

A graduate of Yale and Rutgers Universities, Kathryn and her family live in New York City and Atlanta.

About the Impact Speaker Series:

Since 2002, the Impact Speaker Series has brought highly successful business leaders from a variety of industries to campus to share their experiences and give advice to students and other entrepreneurs on topics ranging from "building a venture around intellectual capital" to "successful entrepreneurship in large organizations" and "socially responsible leadership." The weekly series provides Georgia Tech students, alumni and the Atlanta business community an opportunity to network and learn from successful entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and notable business and non-profit leaders. The lecture series is sponsored by the Institute for Leadership and Entrepreneurship.

The series is free and open to the public. Reservations are not required.

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  • Workflow Status:Published
  • Created By:msato9
  • Created:08/10/2018
  • Modified By:Dori Pap
  • Modified:10/11/2018