Women to Women: A Wise Investment

Antonia Bowring, Executive Director at Women’s Initiative

Antonia is a former strategic and management consultant for non-profits such as Acumen Fund and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, and for for-profit companies such as Neuberger Berman and CIGNA. She is also the former Chief Operating Officer of the Open Space Institute.

Women’s Initiative has proven that women create jobs for themselves and others, access the mainstream economy, and increase their economic self-sufficiency, when they are given business planning and financing support. The mission of Women’s Initiative is to build the entrepreneurial capacity of women to overcome economic and social barriers and achieve self-sufficiency. Graduates of their program are successfully running a wide range of businesses in high-growth industries.

Deborah Jackson, Founder and CEO of Plum Alley

Deborah is is an expert in capital raising having spent 21 years raising money for clients in public and private markets. She is also an entrepreneur, champion of women entrepreneurs and innovators, and Co-founder of Women Innovate Mobile Accelerator.

Plum Alley brings to light women’s innovation, whether it takes the form of a product, project or service. Women are inventing across all sectors and Plum Alley provides an integrated platform to optimize their success by raising funds, providing access to experts, and serving as an online store.

Natalia Oberti Noguera, Founder and CEO of Pipeline Fellowship

Natalia is a coach, entrepreneur, and creator of #womaninnovator, a media campaign to increase the visibility of women changemakers and mainstream their stories. Women’s eNews recognized her as one of 21 Leaders for the 21st Century for 2012.

The Pipeline Fellowship is an angel investing bootcamp for women that works to increase diversity in the U.S. angel investing community and creates capital for women social entrepreneurs. Pipeline Fellowship matches angel investors and entrepreneurs who share best practices and lessons learned. The Pipeline Fellowship holds workshops on topics ranging from Due Diligence, Valuation, Portfolio Strategies, and Measuring Impact. The workshops are led by experts, including seasoned angel investors, VCs, experienced entrepreneurs, and impact investing professionals.