Lisha brings over 20 years of demonstrated technology innovation focused on digital money movement solutions. Her career has focused on building and investing in products that serve community needs to bridge the capital divide. Lisha is currently at PayPal Ventures, where she leads the Economic Opportunity Fund, the 100M investment into diverse emerging fund managers.  Prior roles with PayPal, she led Product for the Financially Underserved Segment and Pay with Venmo product. Prior to PayPal, she worked at Wells Fargo, Kohl’s, Feedzai in various payments related roles, where she built the earliest digital financial products like online banking, bill pay, and digital wallets. 

Lisha Bell is cofounder of BLXVC, an angel syndicate of moms funding Black and Brown founders.  She is the host of the Sisters with Ventures Podcast that aims to tell the stories of women in VC. Bell is also the prior deal flow lead for Pipeline Angels, an angel group of impact investors focused on women and femmes to build over 7M portfolio. Lisha also serves as board chair for Black Girl Ventures.  She is a recognized employee resource group leader with over 20 years’ experience at Fortune 500 companies. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling, cooking, and dancing, all while balancing motherhood duties with her daughter.

Lisha holds a BSc in Business Administration, Information Systems from USC, as well as MBAs from UC Berkeley and Columbia Business Schools where she was recognized as the USC Widney Outstanding Alumna and 2013 Berkeley Columbia Distinguished Service Award recipient, respectively. She has been featured in Forbes, HuffPost, Bloomberg, Cheddar TV, and Black Enterprise. 

Asya Bradley is a Founder, Super Angel Investor, LP, advisor and board director in tech startups and emerging fund managers. 

With over 20 years of experience in tech (founding team @Synapse, founder @Kinly: Acquired by Killer Mike's Greenwood, Cisco alum) and a track record of supporting underestimated founders, Bradley is an experienced investor, operator, and fintech entrepreneur.

She is a world traveler, having lived and worked throughout Europe, the Middle East, Asia and now North America. Asya is also certified at the highest attainable level by the Yoga Alliance in Ashtanga Yoga and speaks multiple languages fluently including, amongst others, Dutch, Punjabi and Arabic.

Vanessa is a Senior Vice President on the SVB Fintech team based in San Francisco. She works with Series A Fintech companies as a Relationship Manager.

Prior to SVB, she worked as an operator at a Fintech startup and at a Fintech accelerator. In her early career days, she worked in Wealth Management at Morgan Stanley and Bank of America.

Vanessa holds an MBA from Cornell University. She's passionate about women and diverse founders and likes to spend time helping these founders succeed. In her spare time, she enjoys running, hiking, and spending time with her husband, family and friends.

Tosh Ernest is head of SVB’s Catalyst 2045 program, a platform through which the company delivers products, tools, advice and resources to Emerging Segments groups in the innovation economy with a focus on serving Women, Black and Latinx individuals. By leveraging powerful connections among founders, funders and talent, SVB is unlocking greater access to capital, professional relationships and career opportunities. In her role, Tosh is helping expand the program and increase opportunities across SVB’s core businesses. She joined SVB in 2022.

Tosh leads SVB’s efforts to extend its commitment to Women, Black and Latinx client, beyond its walls as it seeks to help transform the innovation economy. The innovation economy ecosystem offers stimulating careers and wealth generation opportunities, but due to systemic and historical barriers, there are too few women, Black and Latinx individuals who get to take part. As a company that has been at the center of innovation for 40 years, SVB is in a unique position to make its Catalyst 2045 mission a reality.

Before joining SVB, Tosh spent more than a decade at JPMorgan Chase & Co., where she founded the wealth division of the Advancing Black Pathways initiative, which focused on bridging the racial wealth gap. Tosh and her team steered the firm’s multimillion-dollar commitment to racial equity by developing strategies for the economic inclusivity of Emerging Segments groups. Additionally, she served as a strategic advisor to senior management and community leaders on economic opportunities for underserved communities. During her time with the organization, Tosh led large-scale change management and transformation initiatives through her work with various multinational teams to plan and deliver mission-critical new business products, including launching a mutual fund company that scaled to $40 billion in assets under management, a driving strategy for emerging managers, venture capital and private equity funds. Earlier in her career, she held roles at consulting firms Navigant, Capco and Accenture, specializing in post-merger and acquisition systems integrations.

Tosh earned her bachelor’s degree in accounting and management from the University of Reading in England. She was recognized as one of the 25 Influential Black Women in Business by The Network Journal in 2021.

Outside of the office, Tosh loves to volunteer for her church, travel to far-flung locations, run, bike and read.

Vanessa Kuhlor is a distinguished leader in the innovation economy, deeply committed to promoting growth and inclusivity for underrepresented founders. Her career is marked by excellence in strategic roles that focus on ecosystem management, strategic partnerships, and community building. Vanessa is particularly adept at connecting early-stage founders with the vital resources they need to grow and scale.

In her most recent role at Vouch Insurance (YC S19), Vanessa concentrated on building community within the New York Tech Ecosystem. Over her five-year tenure at Silicon Valley Bank, she was instrumental in reshaping the landscape for underrepresented founders and investors. As the Vice President of the New & Strategic Channels Team, Vanessa led efforts that greatly increased access to banking and financial services, playing a key role in fostering a more inclusive and supportive environment for innovation. Prior to SVB, she was an early operator at Inbox Health, a Startup Health company, and conducted research in the Emergency Medicine Department at Yale University.

Vanessa is a passionate advocate for equity and diversity. She actively engages in mentorship with Techstars and is a prominent member of Black Women in VC and Women in Fintech. Additionally, she serves on the What's Next Con board and advises the Young Black Technologist Syndicate. Her work and dedication illuminate her commitment to creating a more equitable and dynamic innovation economy.

Stella's career has taken her to various cities across the globe, including Jakarta, Indonesia, Bali, Singapore, and Sydney, Australia. With nearly two decades of experience in engineering and management within the energy sector, collaborating with major corporations, she has honed her expertise in strategic business development, market analysis, and fostering impactful partnerships.

Furthermore, Stella holds a significant position as a partner and investor across multiple venture capital firms, where she directs her investments towards initiatives with substantial potential for social impact. Her strategic approach underscores a steadfast commitment to fostering positive change and driving innovation.

In addition to her contributions in the corporate sphere, Stella remains actively involved in the entertainment industry. Notably, she serves as the Executive Producer of acclaimed films such as "How to Win at Checkers (Every Time)" and "Children of Srikandi." Recently, Stella assumed the role of associate producer for "Show Her the Money” a compelling documentary shedding light on the systemic underfunding of female entrepreneurs within the venture capital landscape. Through these endeavors, Stella continues to leverage her expertise and influence to amplify important narratives and catalyze meaningful societal change.

Laura Moreno Lucas is General Partner at L'ATTITUDE Ventures, leverages her exceptional network and expertise to support the firm’s deal flow and outreach strategy.

She is the Founder & CEO of Pandocap which provides strategic advisory and media services that help early and growth-stage companies access capital markets, implement and measure ESG strategies and accelerate towards an initial public offering (IPO).

Prior to Pandocap, Laura was a Managing Director at Nasdaq, leading the IPOs of Beyond Meat, Lyft, The RealReal, Airbnb, and other high-profile listings.

Laura is also a successful Latina entrepreneur having found and exited Ladada, one of the first fashion subscription startups to feature emerging new designers.

Laura is an advisor to 500 Startups, Fulcrum Ventures, and a board member at Pangea Legal and California Lutheran University.

As CEO and GP of Portola Valley Partners, John spends his days looking for and speaking with companies who are making a positive impact on people and planet, making our world a better place. He leads the company from a people-first perspective and has his legendary team of Silicon Valley superheroes on a better-together mission producing accelerated revenue, funding, and liquidity.

John takes a highly collaborative approach with founders and partners while driving an approach where everyone wins. He is directly engaged with Portola Valley Partners’ current and prospective portfolio companies. John enjoys sharing personal experiences, around success and failures, with companies in the interest of elevating their own chance of achieving success.

Prior to Portola Valley Partners, John had a few successful exits and served as an executive with HP, Lenovo, and Dell where he integrated, built, and launched businesses organically and through strategic investments and M&A.

Melissa is the Founder and CEO of The Beans, a fintech company that simplifies the path to financial success for America’s Caring Class by automating financial planning and support.

Previously Melissa cofounded Comet Labs VC, was VP of Sales at Seacliff Sales, and was on the steering committees for the Oxford Entrepreneurs of The Bay and the Oxford Angel Fund. She is also an angel investor and advisor focused on building networks for non-traditional founders.

Before charting a career in technology, Melissa worked as a researcher at the University of Oxford and developed the Economic Strengthening which has been used by the UN, WHO, and CDC to reduce the financial stress of 300 million people globally.

Melissa has a MSc, Evidence-Based Social Intervention from the University of Oxford and a BS, Political Science from Stetson University.

Wendy created The Learn Lead Lift Framework®, introduced in her award-winning and bestselling book, Learn Lead Lift: How to Think, Act, and Inspire Your Way to Greatness.

As CEO of Kadabra, Wendy leads an interdisciplinary team of experts who are revolutionizing how leaders think, what they do and how they show up to others through The Learn Lead Lift Framework® and Kadabra's unique learning solutions.

In addition to her work with Kadabra, Wendy advises and invests in early-stage companies. Her impact facilitating access to capital for historically excluded entrepreneurs is featured in the documentary film, Show Her The Money. Wendy was an executive producer for the film along with Emmy award-winning actor, Sharon Gless.

Throughout her 25+ year career in human resources, organizational development and executive development Wendy has partnered with hundreds of individuals, teams and organizations globally, propelling front-line through C-suite leaders and board members to new levels of success.

Wendy holds a Master's Degree in Human Resources and Organizational Development from the University of San Francisco and a post-graduate Certificate in Management and Innovation from Bentley College. She also holds dual Bachelor's Degrees in Psychology and Spanish from the University of California at Davis.

Wendy was previously certified as a Senior Professional in Human Resources. To learn more about Wendy, visit her Media page. For press and other inquires, email: hello@wearekadabra.com. 

Naseem Sayani is Co-Founder and General Partner at Emmeline Ventures, a seed-stage venture capital fund based in Los Angeles investing across women’s health, financial services, and sustainability with a focus on technology and innovation that is helping women live & thrive. The fund has 23 companies in its portfolio including Alloy, LunaJoy, WealthMore, and The Beans. 

Naseem’s investing and business-building experience comes from 20+ years in executive leadership roles across management consulting, agency services, venture incubators, a corporate venture capital firm, and as an active angel investor.  She and her partners launched Emmeline Ventures with a deliberate focus on unlocking new capital for female founders and bringing more women to the table as VC check writers. 

Naseem has an MBA from NYU's Stern School of Business, where she was awarded the Dean's Leadership Award two years running, and a BA from UCLA in Business Economics where she graduated cum laude.