On Monday, March 13, fyli female mastermind community hosted a private event, Inception to Impact, during SXSW powered by Pivotal Ventures, a Melinda French Gates company at Soho House Austin. Over 150 leaders gathered together to have a conversation around creating systemic change, equity for women, and building long-lasting impact strategies for future generations.
The panel discussion, moderated by Jaclynn Brennan, CEO of fyli, was curated around diverse voices from the nonprofit, social enterprise, and venture world. Speakers included: Sumana Setty, General Counsel, Private Equity & Founder of Commit to Change; Sheena Wilde, Vice President of Philanthropy & Belonging at Kendra Scott; Maria Brown-Spence, Founder of Hearts2Heal and Director of Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) at SThree; and Alexa Payton, Chief of Staff, Growth Warrior Capital.
Pivotal Ventures was founded by Melinda French Gates with the mission of expanding opportunity and equality in the United States by removing barriers that hold people back. Together with other leaders and organizations, Pivotal focuses on areas where social progress has stalled and where they can have the biggest impact. Areas like:
- Driving investments to funds and companies led by women
- Centering women and girls of color to help magnify the transformative impact of their talents and contributions.
- Increasing the number of women running for and holding public office and their ability to succeed when in office.
- Getting more women in technology, starting with programs in colleges and universities
- Expanding access to mental health support for young people – especially LGBTQ+ youth and youth of color.
To learn more about fyli and cohort programming, please visit www.fylitribe.com
