Guest Author: Lauren Klein, CEO at GirlMade
“Narrowing the gender gap in employment will increase global income per person by as much as 20% by 2030 “ (The Economist, 2014).
In the Fall of 2013, Girlmade ran a 6-week business accelerator program out of the Reno Collective co-working space on Startup Row. Six Reno startups with at least one female founder worked on scaling their businesses. The program included over 40 mentors from around the world, weekly business classes and office hours. It started as an experiment to see if we could replicate some of the most innovative startup accelerators in the world, like Techstars and Y Combinator. Simultaneously, the City of Reno was busy developing the Reno Accelerator Fund. Incidentally, the first round of funding ($20,000 to each startup) in the Summer of 2014 was granted to 10 teams, 8 of which had at least one female founder.
The launch of Reno Accelerator Fund, in addition to Mayor Hillary Schieve’s creation of a tech and innovation community group at the City of Reno, are just two examples of how forward-thinking our city is in terms of tech, economic development and gender parity. Our City’s support for women and tech, along with accelerator programs like Girlmade, will continue to inspire female leaders in our community to create innovative companies in Reno.
At Girlmade, we’re now investing in the younger women in our city and helping them to see they too can play BIG. We’re excited to announce our bi-annual Girl Empire conference for girls ages 9-21 will take place March 7 at The Grove. During the conference girls will participate in four hands-on modules that will increase their capacity for leadership, entrepreneurship and social change. We focus on seemingly basic but often overlooked skills, like: how-to present oneself with confidence while networking and how to interview for their first job.
With four out of seven City Council Members and six out of fifteen Leadership members being women, the City recognizes the importance of teaching the next generation of female leaders how-to play BIG. Mayor Hillary Schieve and Assistant City Manager Kate Thomas have even sponsored one girl each to attend the event. Mayor Schieve is also one of the keynote speakers.
Here are some of additional speakers and panelists who are supporting Girl Empire:
- Brianna Bullentini, Creator of Rawbry
- Tracy Dufur, iWealth, Vice President & Singer
- Alex Ellison, Founder and Owner, Dunce, LLC
- Mandi Holden , Poet
- Ashley Jennings, Founder, Girlmade and Girl Empire
- Ashwini Karanth, Freelance Business Analyst
- Althea Kim, Nevada Discovery Museum IT Supervisor
- Lauren Klein, Social Business Coach
- Kelly Northridge MBA, MPH, Instructor of Entrepreneurship at UNR
- Jenifer Rose, Serial Entrepreneur
- Hillary Schieve, City of Reno Mayor
- Casey Sibley, Owner/Founder of Casey D. Sibley Art + Design
- Jamie Thomas, UNR Cheerleader & Co-owner of Cross Fit Regulus
- Monica Thompson, Digital Engagement Manager, City of Reno
- Kylie Rowe, UNR Assistant Director – Ozmen Center for Entrepreneurship
- Danell Wilson-Pearlman, Owner of African Skies Travel Connection and Ubuntu Entrepreneurs
- Mollie Vandor, Product Development @ Twitter
Girlmade is a partner of Lean In and we are reaching out to other organizations such as Amy Poehlers Smart Girls and Girls Make Games to bring new opportunities to our community. Additionally, our new CEO, Lauren Klein is hosting “Office Hours” at the Ozmen Center for Entrepreneurship at UNR in order to kindle the fire for youth entrepreneurship.
Relevant Media:
- Reno Conference to Help Girls Build Confidence, Acquire Business Skills
- Plush Life TV Show, Season 7 Episode 4