Positively Gotham Gal

Julie Samuels is the executive director of Tech:NYC. Tech:NYC represents New York's fast-growing, entrepreneurial high-tech industry with government, civic institutions, in business and public policy forums, and with the media. Julie and I sat down this week to talk about the work she does with Tech:NYC, and the future of tech in our city and beyond.

Clementine Jacoby is Co-Founder and Executive Director of Recidiviz -- a company that works with states to build data awareness to drive reform of the criminal justice system. Clementine has a fascinating story that she shared with me about how she went from circus performer, to google maps product manager, to using data to illuminate problems in incarceration and criminal justice systems.

Jennifer Brandel (CEO & Co-founder, Hearken) and Mara Zepeda (CEO & Co-founder, Switchboard) are longtime friends and founders of Zebras Unite. Zebras Unite is a founder-created and founder-led movement calling for a more ethical and inclusive movement to counter existing startup and venture capital culture. They believe creating an alternative to this status quo is a moral imperative. I spoke with Jennifer and Mara about what led them to start Zebras Unite, and the work they’re doing today to push their radical ideas forward.

Morgan Berman is the Founder and CEO of MilkCrate, a Philadelphia-based tech company that helps foundation-funded nonprofits launch affordable mobile apps to better engage their program participants and track their progress so the nonprofits can keep getting funded. Morgan and I had plenty to talk about, especially the many many iterations of MilkCrate, and the guts it took to stick with her product in the midst of multiple reinventions.

Sally Poblete is Founder and CEO of Wellthie, a small group benefits marketplace that connects carriers, brokers, and small business owners. Sally and I spoke about her wildly successful history as a business woman and how she decided to start her latest venture.

Jana Rich is the Founder of Rich Talent Group, a boutique executive search firm focused on building diverse, innovative leadership teams. Jana and I talked about her transition from marketing to recruitment, and the readiness work around building inclusive teams.

Liz Powers is the co-founder and ‘Chief Happiness Spreader’ of ArtLifting -- a social enterprise that empowers artists living with homelessness or disabilities through the celebration and sale of their artwork. Liz has an amazing story about her journey from the non-profit to the for-profit sector, and how she uses her entrepreneurship for good.

Daniela Perdomo is the Founder & CEO of goTenna, a peer to peer communication device which is advancing universal access to connectivity by decentralizing it. goTenna's mesh networks are used by consumers as well as the U.N., Google, FEMA, the French Army, US Special Operations Forces & the City of New York. Daniela and I had much to discuss, including her upbringing in Brazil, her transition from community organizer to entrepreneur, and how her experience as a New Yorker during Hurricane Sandy led her to develop goTenna’s ground breaking technology.

Ariane Goldman is the Founder and CEO of HATCH Collection -- a maternity clothing brand designed to give women access to cool and easy style during pregnancy, and beyond. Ariane and I sat down to talk about her journey toward entrepreneurism, and the way she built her companies from the ground up, without raising capital.

Sarah Beatty is Founder and CEO of Greenmaker Industries, Owner of Green Depot, and the Co-Founder of Montgomery Builds. Sarah considers herself an ‘accidental entrepreneur,’ but listening to her story you’ll see she’s anything but! Like many of the inspiring business leaders we meet, Sarah was a woman on a mission. And when she couldn’t find solutions to problems in the market, she solved them herself.

Noor Sweid is the founder of Global Ventures, a Dubai-based, growth-stage venture capital firm focusing on investing in emerging markets. She is the only Arab woman in the Middle East running a VC fund. She was also the first woman to lead an IPO in the region when the interior contracting company, Depa listed on the London Stock Exchange and NASDAQ Dubai. Before her career in Venture, Noor founded the first chain of yoga and pilates studios in the Middle East, ZenYoga which grew to become the largest chain of wellness studios in the Middle East and which she sold in 2014.

Heather Smith is Managing Partner at Ancoris Capital Partners, a specialty investment bank built to raise equity and debt for privately-held businesses, public companies and alternative investment firms. You can learn more about her fund at ancorispartners.com

Kellee James is the Founder and CEO of Mercaris -- a market data service, and trading platform for organic, non-GMO and other certified agricultural commodities. What that translates to is a whole lot of innovation and ingenuity to create bigger business out of small and sustainable farming and agriculture.

Toby Moskovits is Founder and CEO of real estate investment firm Heritage Equity Partners. Moskovits founded the firm in 2008 to advise wealthy families, but after the economic downturn of that era forced her to rethink the business, she took a calculated risk and refocused the company to real estate. And her high risk turned into big rewards.

Carolyn Childers and Lindsay Kaplan are the co-founders of Chief: a private network focused on connecting and supporting female leaders with a mission to accelerate women’s presence in the C-Suite. Carolyn and Lindsay took inspiration from what they wish they had for themselves, and the result is an exciting new venture that’s challenging both of them in ways they never anticipated.

Carole Wacey is the President of the long-standing Women’s City Club — recently rebranded as Women Creating Change— a nonprofit, non-partisan, activist organization dedicated to advancing the rights of women to shape the future of New York City. Carole’s career has spanned several sectors and created many opportunities for her to reinvent the wheel. If you’d like to learn more about Women Creating Change and the work they do in New York City, head on over to wccny.org

LinYee Yuan is a design journalist as well as the editor and founder of MOLD magazine. Inspired by the distressing news out of the UN about the world’s ability to feed it self in the future, LinYee created MOLD to inspire designers to improve food systems through creative, human-centric solutions. LinYee and I had tons to talk about from design to motherhood. ThisIsMold.com

Ashley M. Hunter is the president of HM Risk Group, an international insurance, reinsurance and risk management brokerage that specializes in reproductive health coverage. Ashley has had an inspiring career of going from studying violin to becoming a major player in reinventing the landscape of medical insurance coverage.

Mary Leigh Cherry is the Director of the newly opened Tonya Bonakdar Gallery in Los Angeles. Her long career as a gallerist, curator, and collector has made her a prolific figure in the art world on both coasts, and our conversation made for an episode that will be highly valuable to anyone involved or interested in the art world. Thank you to Mary Leigh for joining me on the podcast this week. If you’re in Los Angeles, you should definitely check out the work she’s doing at Tonya Bonakdar Gallery on Highland Avenue in Hollywood. For more information visit www.tanyabonakdargallery.com