Wealth Catalyst Summit
New York • May 14, 2026
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Already Built: The Case for Buying a Business
Board Seats as a Wealth Strategy: Influence, Income & Optionality
Fuel the Future: Investing in Private Companies Through Your IRA & DAF
Real Estate Without the Landlord: How to Invest Through REITs, Funds & Private Syndications
Stop Writing Checks. Start Building a Giving Portfolio.
The Advantage Nobody Talks About: Building a Business After 40
The Alpha Nobody Is Talking About: Women’s Sports, Health & Deep Tech
The Portfolio You Haven’t Built Yet: Private Credit, Private Equity, Gold & Crypto
PANEL
The Story Behind Every Financial Decision You’ve Ever Made
EMILY SCOTT
The Human Side of Money
Author, Speaker & Financial Navigator
“Emily guides clients in learning how their money story affects their personal and professional financial decision-making, communication, and relationships. With no assets under management, her focus is on clients’ clarity and peace of mind.
Ms. Scott has 40+ years of experience in investing, family office management, philanthropy, and legacy planning. Emily, a TED speaker, has contributed to media on women in transition, struggles with wealth, couples navigating their differences, and philanthropic perspectives. She has received accolades for her unique approach and candor in her presentations at conferences, seminars, and podcasts.
She holds an MBA from Cornell University, a BA from Simmons College, and is a member of The Sudden Money Institute, Forward Global, and Wealth Catalyst. Emily is a contributing author to The Wisdom Collection and the author of Tails of Devotion, A Look at the Bond Between People and Their Pets.”
Words of Wisdom
- Come to the conversation curious
- Understand the role of your money story
- Surround yourself with smart people and ask questions.
Recommended Resources
Janine Firpo’s book
Syama Bunten’s podcast
Helen Parker’s Eneagrams
PANEL
The Advantage Nobody Talks About: Building a Business After 40
M.CLAIRE CHUNG
Frmr GM, Yoox Net-a-Porter Group
Founder & Public Company Board Director
Claire is a serial entrepreneur and global executive and board director expert in scaling tech-enabled, consumer brands across international markets. She holds a track record of building and exiting venture-backed businesses, raising capital, and commercial innovation. She is a polyglot speaking five languages and is a pioneer that launched China’s first luxury retailer. Passionate about entrepreneurship as path for economic freedom for women, her new venture is ummia.co, an online destination, education platform and membership community created for female entreprenuers. Ummia stands in the lineage of ancient matriarchial societies that understood prosperityas circular, regenerative and rooted in reciprocity.
Words of Wisdom
- I started my career in the corporate world, than I became a traditional wife. I became an entrepreneur and launched a start up as a means to get back to work and building my own wealth again. It is is clear that entrepreneurship is the fastest way to building wealth.
- Its possible to 10x your net worth – own assets, not just income.
- Employees trade time for money, business owners build systems that generate money without constant input.
Recommended Resources
The Diary of a CEO, podcast
The Psychology of Money
Rich Dad, Poor Dad
CINDY GALLOP
Frmr Head of BBH New York, Oxford
Founder & CEO, MakeLoveNotPorn
FRAN HAUSER
Frmr President, Time Inc. Digital
Serial Founder, Author & Investor
Fran Hauser is a leading career expert and vocal champion of women in the workplace, a former President of Digital at Time Inc., and a startup investor. She is also the owner of Bedford Books in Bedford, New York, and the acclaimed author of The Myth of the Nice Girl. Her forthcoming book, Twenty Minutes Is the New Hour, will be published by Penguin Random House/Crown Currency in September 2026.
She has spoken at over 200 organizations, including Meta, Google, Unilever, BlackRock, Mastercard, and The Conference for Women. Fran’s insights have appeared in Fortune, CNBC, Fast Company, Elle, Refinery29, and Business Insider.
Fran lives outside NYC with her husband, two sons, and beloved mini Goldendoodle.
Words of Wisdom
- It’s never too early to start saving—and consistency matters more than timing.
- There’s no better leverage for a raise than having another offer in hand.
- Your career is your greatest financial asset—invest in it accordingly.
Recommended Resources
The Psychology of Money – Morgan Housel
So Money podcast – Farnoosh Torabi
LinkedIn!
KIM WILEMAN
Co-Founder, No Makeup Makeup
Inc. Female Founders 500 2026
Kim Wileman has spent 30 years finding whitespace before the market does. As Co-Founder and CEO of NO MAKEUP MAKEUP®, the brand redefining effortless beauty for a new generation, she brings that same instinct to one of the industry’s most iconic and enduring philosophies.
Words of Wisdom
- Nobody handed me the playbook — I had to write it myself.
My parents didn’t teach me about financial literacy. I wasn’t a great student. I hit my early 20s with credit card debt and a wake-up call that nobody was coming to save me. I had to get my shit together and figure it out on my own. Books, mentors, trial and error, humbling mistakes. That foundation, as messy as it was, made everything that came after possible. The women I most want to reach with this are the ones who grew up the same way: smart, capable, and just never given the tools. - Build the asset, not just the income.
Early in my career I was great at generating revenue for other people’s brands. The shift happened when I stopped thinking like an operator and started thinking like an owner. NMM isn’t just a beauty brand, it’s an asset I’m building toward a liquidity event. Every decision I make, from channel mix to cap table structure, is filtered through that lens. - Your network is your net worth, but only if you protect it.
Thirty + years in beauty means I’ve seen partnerships make people and break people. The relationships that have actually moved the needle on my wealth weren’t transactional. They were built on shared skin in the game. But I’ve also learned the hard way that unclear agreements and misaligned expectations can quietly erode everything you’ve built together. Get it in writing. Revisit it often.
Recommended Resources
You Are a Badass at Making Money by Jen Sincero If you grew up without financial literacy modeled for you, start here. It’s not dry or intimidating. It’s about shifting your mindset around money first, and everything else follows.
“Diary of a CEO” with Steven Bartlett PODCAST Raw, real, and incredibly motivating. The Emma Grede episode alone is worth it. She built a billion dollar empire and doesn’t make it sound like luck.
ASPIRE with Emma Grede PODCAST Find her wherever she shows up and listen. She’s a woman who built one of the most recognizable brands in fashion and beauty without waiting for permission. Practical, nononsense, and deeply inspiring on ownership and knowing your worth.
PANEL
Board Seats as a Wealth Strategy: Influence, Income & Optionality
SHAZ KAHNG
Frmr Nike Global GM, GoPro Board Chair
Award-Winning Author, The Ceiling Smasher Series
Shaz Kahng is a visionary leader and inventive thinker who is passionate about consumer-focused businesses. A multiple time board director and CEO, Shaz is adept at turning around and scaling businesses and brands in retail, apparel, footwear, consumer goods, and consumer tech.
Shaz brings a wealth of experience running businesses at Nike where she was the first woman to hold a global business P&L. She was the global head of the Nike Cycling business and on the launch team of Nike+, the world’s first fitness tracker. Shaz has been the CEO of Lucy Activewear and Gymboree and has worked with brands like Staples, Carters, Sephora, Tiffany, Levi Strauss, Macy’s, Quaker Oats, Kraft, and P&G. She currently serves as a board director for GoPro and DNA Vibe, a health tech company. Shaz is a founder and board member of Wharton Alumni for Boards which focuses on getting more talented, diverse Wharton alumni on boards. She also serves on the board of nonprofit LiveGirl which is dedicated to cultivating the next generation of female leaders.
Shaz is also the author of the award winning Ceiling Smasher novel series. Her first two books, The Closer and Smashers Synched, are about the first female CEO of a sports company and the secret society of professional women, called the Ceiling Smashers who help her succeed.
Driven by a lifelong desire to learn, Shaz has been a scientist, a consulting partner, an e-commerce expert, and a brand and marketing strategist. She is fueled by her desire to make a positive impact, lead with honor, work collaboratively, and have some fun.
Shaz is married to a tech entrepreneur and is the mother of twin fifteen year old girls. She and her daughters are black belts in Tae Kwon Do. Shaz is also a Certified Rescue SCUBA diver, tennis team captain, novice surfer, and a golfer who dreams of having a single digit handicap.
Words of Wisdom
- Start early- I started investing in stocks in graduate school and built a strong financial base that gave me freedom to make the best career decisions
- Leverage your knowledge- find investing opportunities based on what you know, use your expertise
- Ask for what you deserve & be creative- throughout my career I’ve been confident about negotiating for what I felt I deserved or structuring an innovative performance-based reward
Recommended Resources
I like Acquired because it dissects the decisions, mistakes, and creative solutions of business founders/leaders
I also find AlphaSights to be a helpful source for investing opportunities and information
SHELLY LOMBARD
Fortune 500 Board Director, Audit Chair
Frmr Wall Street Analyst & Founder, Schmooze
Shelly Lombard worked on Wall Street for over 30 years. When she began her career, she was one of only a handful of women who specialized in investing in distressed companies. From 2003 to 2010, Shelly was one of the most quoted automotive analysts on Wall Street, frequently appearing in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and on CNBC.
After her Wall Street career, Shelly began serving on corporate boards. She has served on six corporate boards, including the board of Bed Bath & Beyond and a successful SPAC. Shelly recently launched Schmooze, which coaches and encourages professional women to build their network of business relationships in order to close the gap between where they are in their careers and where they want to be.
Words of Wisdom
- Relationships create opportunities.
- The right rooms change everything.
- Visibility is a networking hack.
Recommended Resources
Backable by Suneel Gupta
Fall In Love With The Problem, Not The Solution by Uri Levine
Never Eat Alone (Expanded & Updated Version) by Keith Ferrazzi
DENNY POST
Board Director, Vital Farms & Travel + Leisure
Frmr CEO, Red Robin
Denny Marie Post is a former public company CEO with a 40+ year record of successful strategic innovation and team building for iconic brands including Starbucks, T-Mobile, Yum Brands, Burger King, and Red Robin Gourmet Burgers.
Denny’s focus on delivering innovative products and services to consumers while inspiring both customer and employee loyalty have been central to her track record of breakthrough results in generating profits, incremental revenue, and enhanced brand recognition.
Today, Denny serves on five boards of directors where she lends her experience as a former CEO and her deep understanding of consumer behavior to governance and critical strategic conversations. She currently serves on the boards of Travel + Leisure (TNL) where she is a member of the Governance and Compensation committees and Vital Farms (VITL), a rapid growth B Corp where she is Lead Director. She also currently serves on the boards of Libbey Glass as a member of the Audit Committee and True Food Kitchen.
Words of Wisdom
- Control your finances, do not delegate.
- Focus on the long game.
- Take options to defer income as much as your can.
PANEL
Already Built: The Case for Buying a Business
HEATHER KERNAHAN
Frmr CEO, Hotwire Global
Acquired & Runs Content Bureau
Heather Kernahan is a CEO, Founder, author, and speaker. She’s spent her career in the technology industry and most recently founded Novella Ventures, a private investment firm that invests in and operates marketing, PR and reputation technology and services companies. She currently serves as CEO of The Content Bureau, Novella’s first acquisition, where clients include global tech leaders such as PayPal, Google, and Autodesk. Heather is the author of UNSTUCKABLE: Never Be Stuck in Business Again with Tools from Tech Innovators and speaks globally at Fortune Global Forum, Davos, and SXSW. She’s been recognized as a SF Business Times Women of Influence and a Top25 innovator by Provoke Media.
Words of Wisdom
- listen, ask questions and learn all the time
- nothing is out of reach, it’s all about what you’re willing to do to get where you want to be
- every day has ups and downs – in my down times I look further back to see how far I’ve come
Recommended Resources
Getting Rich Together podcast!
Multiple Streams of Income by Robert G. Allen
CARRIE KERPEN
Sold Likeable Media for 8 Figures
Founder, The Whisper Group & Author, The Whisper Way
Carrie Kerpen is the founder and CEO of The Whisper Group, the #1 Exit Readiness Advisory Practice for Women-Owned Businesses. Prior to launching The Whisper Group, Carrie started, and scaled Likeable Media, a women-led digital agency, which was named the 6th Best Place To Work in New York City. After successfully navigating the sale of Likeable to 1200-person technology firm 10Pearls in 2021, Carrie identified The Exit Gap®, producing an annual report on the disparities in exit values of female-led companies . She is the author of WORK IT: Secrets For Success From The Boldest Women In Business and THE WHISPER WAY: The Secret Formula For Women Entrepreneurs To Scale and Sell For Life-Changing Money (May 2025), as well as the host of The Exit Whisperer, a podcast featuring exited female founders.
Words of Wisdom
8 figure exit
Helped 100s of others do the same
Recommended Resources
The Whisper Way
Built to Sell
The Exit Whisperer podcast
PANEL
The Questions You Should Be Asking, But Aren’t
LIBBY CLARK
Frmr General Counsel, Strategic Advisor
Founder, LiKeWell & Autonomy Framework
Libby Clark, Esq. is an attorney, strategic advisor, and fractional executive who serves as outside General Counsel and COO across multiple industries. She is the founder of the Architecture of Power framework, and co-chair of the NYSBA Attorney Wellbeing Task Force. She works with leaders navigating the gap between the organizations they’ve built and the ones they intended to build.
Words of Wisdom
- Trust the internal compass over the external map. The decisions that built real security for me (leaving the safety of a salary, pricing my value correctly, knowing when to walk away) came from learning to listen to my own read of a situation over the consensus in the room.
- Power and money move the same way. Where you leak one, you usually leak the other. Understanding how I was giving away authority helped me understand why I was leaving money on the table. The patterns are the same.
- The question “what does this dollar mean to me” is a filter for everything. Not what it should mean. Not what everyone else is doing. What it actually means to you — your values, your life, your future. I learned that from watching my mother stretch very little into something that felt like enough.
Recommended Resources
Women Who Run with Wolves
Essentialism
Getting Rich Together
ALVINA LO
Head of Planning & Fiduciary, BNY Wealth
Frmr Trust & Estates Attorney, 20+ Years Private Wealth
Alvina Lo serves as Head of Advice, Planning and Fiduciary Services for BNY Wealth. In this role, she leads the strategic direction, oversight, and delivery of BNY Wealth’s advice planning advisory practice and fiduciary services.
Alvina has 20+ years of experience advising high-net-worth individuals and families, family offices, business owners, and charitable organizations. Prior to joining BNY, she served as Chief Wealth Strategist for Wilmington Trust where she was responsible for wealth planning, family office services, and thought leadership development. Alvina has also served in Director positions at Citi Private Bank and Credit Suisse Private Wealth where she advised clients on domestic and international trusts and estate planning. Earlier in her career, she practiced law at Milbank LLP and was a consultant for Deloitte Consulting and Scient Corporation.
Alvina earned a J.D. summa cum laude from The University of Pennsylvania, and a B.S. in civil engineering with high distinction from The University of Virginia where she was a Thomas Jefferson Scholar. She also holds a Professional Tax Certificate in Estate Planning from New York University School of Law. Alvina is a Fellow of The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and a faculty member of the American Bankers Association Advanced Trust School. She is a recipient of the 2021 Outstanding 50 Asian Americans in Business Award by the Asian American Business Development Center and has been recognized by Crain’s New York Business as one of their Most Notable Women in Financial Advice and Worths’ Groundbreakers 2020: 50 Women Changing the World.
She is a published author and frequent lecturer at leading industry conferences for the American Bankers Association, American Bar Association, Delaware Trust Conference, Hawaii Tax Institute, and Barron’s Top Women Advisors Summit. She has been quoted in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, Bloomberg, and Business Insider. She is a member of the Executive Committee for the New York State Bar Association, Trusts & Estates Section, and an Editorial Advisory Board member for Trusts & Estates Magazine. She is currently Chair of the New York City Walentas Scholars Program for the University of Virginia. Alvina is bilingual and speaks fluent Chinese-Cantonese and basic Chinese-Mandarin.
Words of Wisdom
I’m a regular contributor to Kiplinger, and I wrote a four-part series about advice I would give my younger self. Here’s the first article, and you’ll see links to the other three here: https://www.kiplinger.com/personal-finance/careers/college/604822/financial-advice-i-would-give-my-younger-self-planning-for
Recommended Resources
Silver Spoon Kids – Eileen Gallo and Jon Gallo
Wealth 3.0 – Dennis Jaffe and James Grubman
How Women Rise – Marhsall Goldsmith and Sally Helgesen
PANEL
The Portfolio You Haven’t Built Yet: Private Credit, Private Equity, Gold & Crypto
KELLY ANN WINGET
Raised $1B+ in Private Markets
Founder & CEO, Alternative Wealth Partners
Inc.500
Kelly’s career has been shaped by the real mechanics of money. Raised in an entrepreneurial oil & gas family, she grew up in conversations about deals, risk, and ownership, then started her own career in sales at 15. Over the next two decades, she worked across construction, energy, venture-backed startups, capital raising, and in the family office world. Along the way, she helped raise nearly $1 billion in private capital across more than 250 deals, and saw firsthand how private markets really function, both when they work and when they don’t.
Kelly has sat on every side of the table as an operator inside growing companies – as the person raising capital, and as the investor deciding where it should go. That experience shaped the philosophy behind AWP, a firm built to give you the same access, education, and alignment that traditionally lived behind institutional doors. Kelly is building a system designed to shift how financial services actually work, one that aligns with the future the next generation needs and wants. She’s building it because she’s one of you.
Words of Wisdom
Have the confidence to take a little risk with your money, be intentional about where your money is invested (i.e. you can’t be vocal about climate change when your entire public portfolio is invested in mutual funds/mag7 that goes directly against that belief), and commit to the kind of investor you are going to be, passive or active (neither is wrong, but it does require a certain mindset for both).
Recommended Resources
Pitch the Bitch; Grab your Financial Future by the Bags, a variety of news sources (understand both sides of the conversation), and EisnerAmper has some great podcasts about a variety of wealth/money topics.
PANEL
Real Estate Without the Landlord: How to Invest Through REITs, Funds & Private Syndications
ANDRESA GUIDELLI
Co-Founder, Real Estate InvestHer
Bestselling Author & Podcast Host
Andresa Guidelli is a real estate investor with over 15 years of experience across multiple strategies, including ground-up construction and syndication. Originally an immigrant from Brazil, she developed a strong sense of resilience and the ability to adapt her investment strategies across different life and market cycles.
She is the co-founder of InvestHER, a national community of more than 55,000 women investors, built to support women in achieving financial freedom on their own terms. Through a top 1% global podcast, in-person conferences, and mentorship programs, she has built an ecosystem where women gain strategic knowledge, access to investment opportunities, and the support system needed to build wealth without doing it alone. She is currently building a fund designed to allocate capital across vetted, women-led real estate projects, offering passive investors exposure to recurring income and diversified real estate investments while supporting the growth of experienced operators and creating meaningful impact in local communities.
Words of Wisdom
- Clarity before action
I used to think I needed the next strategy. What I actually needed was clarity on what I wanted my life to look like. Your strategy should follow your life, not the other way around. - You don’t build wealth alone
For a long time, I thought I had to figure everything out myself. The biggest shift in my journey came when I put myself in rooms with people who challenged my thinking and supported my growth. - Ownership over information
We live in a world where information is everywhere. That’s not the advantage anymore. The advantage is knowing how to evaluate opportunities and actually take action with confidence.
Recommended Resources
Three books I recommend for anyone building wealth:
- Traction by Gino Wickman
Many real estate investors build portfolios that depend on them 24/7. Traction helps you turn your investments into a real business with systems, structure, and accountability so you can step out of the day-to-day and actually scale. - Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara
This book has nothing to do with real estate, but everything to do with people. As you grow, raise private money, and build partnerships, success comes down to understanding the psychology of people and creating meaningful relationships. - Who Not How by Dan Sullivan & Dr. Benjamin Hardy
Especially now with AI, information is everywhere. The real shift is focusing on who can help you get there faster instead of trying to figure out how to do everything yourself. This is how you start firing yourself from roles that no longer serve your growth.
ANGE MATTHEWS
LP Investor, REITs, Hotels & Private Real Estate
Founder, Happy Investor Method
Ange Matthews, Founder and CEO of The Happy Investor Method®, is an award-winning investor, personal finance expert, and wealth strategist with nearly 20 years of investing experience. She is known for making wealth-building accessible, strategic, and achievable for high earners ready to turn income into lasting ownership.
A first-generation investor, Ange began her journey earning $40,000 a year while carrying six figures in debt. Through disciplined investing, she built seven figures in passive wealth and has since become a 4x hotel owner, real estate investor, angel investor, and shareholder in 89+ companies.
She has educated nearly 30,000 individuals and partnered with organizations including Goldman Sachs, Walmart, Ralph Lauren, and the New York Philharmonic. A five-time FinCon speaker and Harvard Women of Color in Leadership honoree, she has been featured in The New York Times, Nasdaq, NPR, NBC, and more.
Her mission is to help others build wealth that works with or without them.
Words of Wisdom
- Your income is powerful, but ownership is what changes your life.
I didn’t become a millionaire from my business alone. I became one by consistently investing what I earned. Early on, I made a decision to invest 30–40% of my income, even when I was still figuring things out. Your business or career is the engine, but investments are what eventually replace you. The goal is to build assets that keep working whether you show up or not. - Structure beats emotion every time.
The market will rise, fall, celebrate, and panic, often all in the same year. What keeps you grounded is having a clear strategy. For me, that meant understanding how to allocate across funds, individual companies, and eventually private investments. Wealth isn’t built by reacting to headlines. It’s built by having a plan you trust and executing it consistently. - Let wealth be simple. Complexity is often a distraction.
Wealth is not meant to feel chaotic. Scattered accounts, unclear strategies, and constant switching is not a flex, it’s friction. The goal is to bring your money into alignment and build a structure that actually supports you. Simple, intentional, and repeatable will outperform complicated almost every time. Keep refining your system until it feels clear, clean, and easy to maintain. That’s where real momentum lives. One well-placed investment, made consistently over time, can change your entire financial trajectory.
Recommended Resources
I have a private podcast called Happily Invested that is an amazing resource for people, they can get that here: https://happyinvestormethod.com/live/
I love this compound calculator to help me with future projections of wealth and goal setting with returns in mind. https://www.calculator.net/investment-calculator.html
KELLY O’BRIEN
Frmr VP, Real Estate Investment Banking, Citi
Kelly O’Brien is a real estate investment and finance executive with experience across investment banking, principal investing, marketing, and strategic growth. Most recently, she served as Head of Investments at Wildflower LTD, overseeing investment strategy and execution. Prior to that, she spent more than six years at Citigroup in the Real Estate, Gaming & Lodging Investment Banking group, where she advised clients on M&A, capital markets, and strategic transactions across the real estate sector.
Earlier in her career, Kelly held investing and innovation-focused roles at MetaProp, along with business development and marketing positions at Golub Capital, American Express, and Northrop Grumman. She began her career supporting large-scale proposal and business development efforts at Northrop Grumman Corporation
Kelly earned her MBA in Finance and Real Estate from Columbia Business School and her BA from Brown University, where she won two D1 NCAA National Championships on the women’s crew team.
Words of Wisdom
- Pay yourself first
- It’s not different this time;if it seems too good to be true, it is.
- You have to invest with trustworthy individuals and entities.
PANEL
The Alpha Nobody Is Talking About: Women’s Sports, Health & Deep Tech
REEMA KHAN
SETI Endowment Chair, UN Ambassador
Founder & CEO, Green Sands Equity
Reema is the founder and CEO of Green Sands, a boutique venture capital firm investing in Technology, Healthcare, Space, and Frontier Tech. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, Green Sands has offices in Zurich, New York, Singapore, and Dubai. Green Sands was ranked among top 11 investors in the U.S. by Fortune Magazine in 2022. Green Sands has invested in iconic companies like Spotify, SpaceX, Airbnb, Pasqal, and Colossal. Reema also specializes in strategic advisory for governments in their branding for Foreign Direct Investment. Since 2018, Reema has been an ambassador to the United Nations for Women in Science & Technology on behalf of Royal Academy of Science International Trust. In philanthropic endeavors, Reema endowed the “Green Sands Prize” which honors an individual or organization with the potential for profound impact. She is a trustee of the SETI Institute and Chairwoman of their Endowment Committee. The SETI Institute is a scientific organization, substantially funded by NASA grants, dedicated to investigating the nature of the universe and the prevalence of life beyond Earth. She also funds the SETI Forward Award for the Carl Sagan Research Center and recently established the Green Sands AI Fund at MIT. Reema lectures at Stanford Graduate School of Business and Berkley Haas School of Business on Investment, AI, and Entrepreneurship.
ELISE KING
Managing Director, American Heart Association Ventures
Investor, Women’s Health Series A & B
Elise is a Managing Director at American Heart Association Ventures–a Series A/B fund that invests in conditions that affect women’s heart and brain health. Prior to joining the Heart Association, she spent 4 years at Human Ventures–a pre-seed and seed-stage venture fund in NYC. There, she worked in the venture studio and on the investment team. Elise started her career at Oxeon. She spent five years working across its healthcare venture studio and executive search divisions.
Elise’s first career was a professional dancer. She performed for the renowned modern dance company Jennifer Muller/The Works. She graduated magna cum laude from Barnard College, Columbia University, and is actively involved in the organization for women in VC, All Raise. The thread throughout her career has been empowering women, whether it be through supporting their VC careers, getting executives on boards, investing in their health, or investing in the care economy.
Words of Wisdom
- Know that your own life experience can lead you to new, big markets.
- Wealth building requires a mix of conservative bets and big swings.
- Don’t be intimidated by the jargon–it’s just that.
Recommended Resources
Book: Venture Deals
Podcast: How I Built This
Newsletter: Term Sheet
LORINE PENDLETON
Frmr Attorney to Prince, Jay-Z & DMX
Founder & Managing Partner, 125 Ventures
Lorine Pendleton is a seasoned venture capital investor and former media and entertainment attorney with deep expertise across sports, media, entertainment, and technology. She has been an angel and VC investor for over a decade, investing in over 40 companies.
She is the Founding Partner of 125 Ventures, a VC fund investing in sports (with a particular focus on women’s sports), media, and entertainment at the intersection of tech. Key investment areas include AI and data analytics, the creator economy, college athletics and NIL, and live and stadium tech. Previously, she was a Partner at Portfolia, where she co-launched the Rising America Fund I in 2020, targeting high-growth sectors such as sports, media, fintech, and health, and Rising America Fund II in 2022. Her notable investments include Oura (valued at $5.3B, up from $200M at entry), Canela Media (66M monthly viewers), Maven Clinic (first $1B+ women’s health company), Curastory, Goalsetter, and Rhode Island Football Club and its Centreville Bank Stadium.
She began her career in media and entertainment, working at William Morris Agency (WME) and at a leading entertainment law firm representing artists including Prince, Chaka Khan, Stevie Wonder, and the Estate of The Notorious B.I.G. She also held business development roles at startups that successfully exited to Interactive One and Oracle.
She is the host of the business podcast “The Conversation Lounge,” which interviews innovators, trailblazers, and changemakers who are shaping what’s next.
Lorine has been recognized by SportsTechX, Private Equity International, Worth, and Marie Claire. She is a member of the President’s Advisory Council for Entrepreneurship at Brown, and serves as a Special Committee Member of the University of Buffalo Foundation and a Member of the Investment Committee for New York State’s Empire State Venture Fund.
Words of Wisdom
Be a perpetual learner.
Don’t be afraid to learn about money and finance.
Recommended Resources
My First Million
The Next – Michael Sonnenfeldt (Chairman and Founder of TIGER 21)
PANEL
Fuel the Future: Investing in Private Companies Through Your IRA & DAF
PATRICE BRICKMAN
Mobilizing $326B in Idle DAF Capital
Founder & CEO, Inspire Access
Patrice King Brickman is the Founder and CEO of Inspire Access, a nonprofit organization that invests philanthropic dollars in funds and companies led by underrepresented founders who have historically lacked access to investment capital.
Previously, she was the Founder and Managing Director of Inspire Capital LLC, a venture fund launched in 2015 that invested predominantly in businesses that have historically lacked access to capital. Patrice currently serves as a Venture Capital Financing Representative of the Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) Board of Directors. She is also a founding investor in WE Capital and a founding member of both the Conscious Leadership Forum and Soul Circle. Additionally, she is a member of TIGER 21 and the Economic Club of Washington, and a minority owner in Monumental Sports, which is home to the Washington Capitals, Wizards, and Mystics.
Patrice has served on several nonprofit boards both locally and nationally, including Halcyon, Wolf Trap, Ascend at the Aspen Institute, Children’s National Hospital Foundation, the National Center for Children and Families, Peer Health Exchange, and the Washington Area Women’s Foundation. She is a limited partner in numerous funds, most notably, Lafayette Square, Rethink Impact, Black Star Fund, Revolution Growth, Arborview, Razors Edge, NextGen Partners, Sinewave and Halcyon.
Words of Wisdom
- No one is going to navigate it for you, even surrounded by experts, you have to keep asking questions, and advocating for your goals.
- Risk tolerance is real. The best advice someone gave me was to invest to the extent you can sleep at night, whatever that means for you.
- The greatest form of wealth we have is our emotional, physical, and psychological well-being, so take care of that first.
Recommended Resources
Unapologetic Wealth by Marcia Dawood
Children of Paradise: Successful Parenting for Prosperous Families by Dr. Lee Hausner
MARCIA DAWOOD
Chair, SEC Small Business Capital Formation
Venture Partner, Mindshift Capital
Marcia Dawood is the author of two award winning books, Unapologetic Wealth and Do Good While Doing Well. She is also a TEDx speaker, Podcast host, and an early-stage investor who serves as the chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Small Business Capital Formation Advisory Committee. She is a venture partner with Mindshift Capital and the chair emeritus of the Angel Capital Association (ACA), a global professional society for angel investors. She is an associate producer on the award-winning documentary Show Her the Money.
Words of Wisdom
Wealth building is not about following rigid rules—it’s about creating a financial life that aligns with your values and your vision.
Recommended Resources
The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel
Bouyant by Susie deVille
And of course, Getting Rich Together podcast 🙂
ROBERTA HURDY VALENTINE
Founder, nvstIRA, Self-Directed IRA Advocate
Frmr Director, Equity Trust Company
A nationally recognized expert in Self-Directed IRAs. Trained by one of the nation’s largest Self-Directed IRA custodians, with over $65 billion under custody. Her background spans marketing, management, and capital raising across the real estate, medical, and oil and gas industries – giving her a practical, investor first perspective that’s rare in this space.
- Investor and Capital Raiser in Private Equity
- Consultant to individuals, real estate professionals, and financial advisors on establishing and using Self-Directed IRAs
- Experienced Business Owner in Construction & Remodeling including commercial renovation and buy and hold properties
Words of Wisdom
- Entrepreneurship is in my DNA, wealth is not earned it is created
- I learned the power of my own dollar early. If I wanted something I had to earn it and that shaped me financially, mostly for the better
- Surround yourself with people playing at a higher level. After financial setbacks, my biggest shift came from finding a trusted partner or mentor whose strengths complemented mine. You don’t have to have all the answers — you have to know who does.
Recommended Resources
Rich as F*ck: More Money than You Know What to Do With (I almost didn’t read it, but I got over the title, lol) by Amanda Frances
The Greatest Salesman in the World, by Og Mandino
The Power of Zero, by David McKnight”
HOLLY RUXIN
Frmr Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley & BofA
Founder & CEO, Montcalm TCR
Holly Ruxin is a money shaman and capital markets veteran who has spent her career at the intersection of financial mastery and human transformation. She began on Wall Street in fixed income derivatives at Goldman Sachs, then trading and managing assets at Morgan Stanley, Montgomery Securities, and Bank of America before founding Montcalm TCR, a San Francisco-based impact wealth management firm she has led for over a decade. But the deeper current running beneath all of it has always been this: money is not a spreadsheet. It is a mirror. It reflects our wounds, our worth, our conditioning, and our capacity to claim what we truly deserve. Holly brings both the rigorous analytical precision of a seasoned capital markets professional and the grounded, intuitive presence of a spiritual guide;creating a rare and potent space where women can face their financial lives with honesty, courage, and sovereignty. She is also the Founder of Trevor TCR, a philanthropic foundation rooted in unconditional love and dedicated to supporting health, education, enterprise, and the arts. Holly holds an MBA in Finance from Columbia University and a BA in Economics from the University of Michigan, and she has been recognized as a World Changing Woman in Conscious Business.
Words of Wisdom
Wealth building, in my experience, only really works when you’re actively engaged and willing to put yourself at the center of it, not outsourcing decisions entirely, but shaping a system that actually reflects how you think, live, and want your capital to move. Liquidity becomes a powerful tool in that system, not just for safety but for flexibility and the ability to act when opportunities arise, especially alongside private investments. And over time, I’ve found that the real shift is moving away from optimizing individual investments and toward designing an integrated capital system where public markets, private investments, and liquidity all work together. When you’re engaged in that way, and the system is aligned with who you are, both the decision-making and the outcomes become far more resilient and consistent.
Recommended Resources
The Purpose of Capital by Jed Emerson
The Soul of Money by Lynne Twist
Donut Economics
Getting Rich Together podcast – best podcast about money that hits on multiple dimensions and levels
PANEL
Stop Writing Checks. Start Building a Giving Portfolio.
WENDY DIAMOND
Impact Investor, CEO LDP Ventures
Founder, WEDO
Wendy’s unwavering passion for technology grows from the innovation and positive social impact it will have on the world – to support the Underdog! She is excited to invest, collaborate, and advantageously revolutionize this space to benefit our planet and everyone worldwide! Wendy is an Internationally Renowned Social Entrepreneur, Impact Investor, Animal Advocate, Humanitarian, Best Selling Author, TV Personality and DO GOODer! Wendy Diamond is the CEO / Founder of the Women’s Entrepreneurship Day Organization (WEDO) / #ChooseWOMEN, a non-governmental philanthropic volunteer organization with chapters in 144 countries and 112 Universities/Colleges on a global mission influencing policy-making, and stimulating economic advancement, with a special focus on eradicating poverty, making a positive impact and creating a brighter future for women entrepreneurs worldwide!
Words of Wisdom
Integrity, purpose and passion
Recommended Resources
Cabrini, Audrey’s Children and Crip Camp – women who made a difference for millions and build wealth along the way but was not their focus:)
JESSYCA DUDLEY
Directed $50M in Philanthropic Capital
Founder & CEO, Bold Ventures
Jessyca Dudley (she/her) is an experienced social sector leader and strategic advisor who has supported individuals and organizations to shape their strategy, implementation, and learning to advance racial equity. Jessyca Dudley is a pioneering leader reimagining wealth’s role in society through community-driven leadership and equitable systems.
Words of Wisdom
1. Alignment doesn’t happen by accident—you have to design for it.
When I started Bold Ventures in 2021, I was clear that I wouldn’t build a firm that just talked about values alignment—I needed to embody it. That meant turning down clients whose work didn’t align with reparative philanthropy, structuring engagements that centered community voice, and being willing to have hard conversations about power and accountability. Wealth building and values alignment aren’t in tension—but alignment requires you to make intentional choices about who you work with, how you work, and what you’re willing to say no to.
2. Working for yourself is the ultimate act of betting on your own expertise.
I spent years working for large consulting firms, advising wealthy clients and foundations on their giving. I was good at it—but I was also watching someone else build wealth from my expertise while I executed someone else’s vision. Starting Bold Ventures meant trusting that my knowledge, my lived experience, and my relationships were valuable enough to sustain a business. It was terrifying. But working for myself meant I could finally build wealth in a way that reflected my values—not just advise others on how to do it.
3. The gap between your philanthropy and your investments is a credibility problem.
Many wealth holders I work with are generous philanthropists funding climate justice, racial equity, gender equity—but their investment portfolios tell a different story. They’re funding the very systems their grants try to dismantle. Closing that gap isn’t just about integrity (though it is that)—it’s about effectiveness. Your full balance sheet should work in service of your values, not against them. That’s what real alignment looks like.
TUTI SCOTT
Frmr Interim CEO, Tides Foundation
Author, Gender-Lens Investing & Philanthropy
Tuti Scott is an ecosystem architect, a gender avenger, and a smart risk taker who brings a 360-degree view to her work at the intersection of women, money, and embodied power. Tuti coaches’ leaders and facilitates workshops to activate women’s money power.
Currently, she works with Women Moving Millions, Freedom School for Philanthropy, and curates the Women&Money community. Tuti was a certified fundraiser for 13 years, a strategist for multiple coalitions and networks, an interim CEO twice, and is a lifelong learner and forever point guard. At the Women’s Sports Foundation, Tuti and her team raised $70 million over 15 years to build the infrastructure for equal access to sports for women and girls. She was a board member at Tides for ten years, spending five years in Board leadership and stewarding more than $1 billion for social justice philanthropy.
She authored two guides: Money, Gender and Power;Giving with a Gender Lens and Moving Money for Impact;Investing with a Gender Lens. Tuti’s latest project is activating funders and founders around Investing in Women’s Sports with the intent to “Change the Game and Fund the Future”.
Words of Wisdom
Invest in champions, trust your gut, leverage all asset classes, seek “passive” income opportunities like real estate rentals, buy life insurance early in life!
Recommended Resources
Trauma of Money, Chantal Chapman
Activate your Money, Janine Firpo
FreedomSchoolForPhilanthropy.org
