Tiffany Bailey is President and CEO of OSC Edge, an award-winning IT services, cloud computing, and technical communications firm headquartered in Atlanta, GA. Tiffany began growing OSC Edge in her 20s by providing innovative technologies to the Federal government. Within a few years, OSC Edge grew from a two-person shop to a multimillion dollar firm with employees throughout the US and Puerto Rico. OSC Edge is the recipient of multiple awards, including Northrop Grumman’s World Supplier of the Year, reserved for only 7 of more than 6,000 suppliers. Tiffany regularly shares her experience as an entrepreneur in the Federal/DoD industry—a male-dominated market with a workforce averaging 45+ years of age. Tiffany received her Bachelors from the University of Georgia Honors College, Masters from The George Washington University, and studied abroad at Oxford University, UK.
As an aerospace engineer at NASA, Bowe developed methods to make air travel safer, cheaper and more efficient. While there, she also had visions of how to send careers into orbit — particularly those who aren’t coached and coddled. She took the idea to investors in Silicon Valley, but came out empty handed. So she began laying the groundwork for STEMBoard, which builds software and hardware products – everything from drones to algorithms for commercial banking – for government and private-sector clients. The company, which Bowe, 30-years-old, says is profitable, also works to expose underserved and underrepresented students to STEM careers using practical activities created from the real-world work STEMBoard does with clients. To date, STEMBoard has reached hundreds of students through collaborations with Historically Black Colleges and Universities, non-profits and government organizations in the U.S. and the Caribbean.
Camille is currently based in NYC as the cofounder and CEO of Kit, a community to discover, discuss, and get interesting useful products. She holds undergrad and graduate degrees from Stanford University's programs in Product Design and Management, Science, and Engineering, and has since worked as both Product Manager and Product Marketer at various tech companies over the past 10 years including Apple iTunes, YouTube, Google, and London-based startup Hailo.
Lenore F. Horton, Esq., P.C. provides legal services to a worldwide clientele of startups, small businesses, co-founders, and private investors. Lenore has been practicing for over 10 years, and has an extensive large-firm securities law background that proves beneficial to clients raising capital from passive investors. She has represented co-founders in business disputes, startups sued for millions in damages, and businesses seeking to raise capital and restructure operations. Lenore was recently recognized by Black Enterprise magazine as one of the “Top 10 Black Female Attorneys You Should Know."
Lenore holds a J.D. from Howard University School of Law, and an LL.M. in International Law, magna cum laude, from Fordham University School of Law. She’s taught at law schools in the U.S. and abroad on business and human rights issues, and is admitted to the bars of New York, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Supreme Court, and regularly practices before state and federal courts.
Samara Lynn is the tech editor at Black Enterprise Magazine. She has over a decade's experience in technology journalism, covering smart home and wireless technology; startups; business tech and more. She has also written for PC Magazine, The Wirecutter, CRN Tech and has appeared as a technology commentator on Fox Business News, National Business Report, and Reuters TV. She is the author of "Windows Server 2012: Up and Running."
At the age of 19, Jessica invented the SOCCKET ball, an energy
generating soccer ball that provides off-grid power for the
developing world. At the age of 22, she founded Uncharted Play, a renewable energy company specializing in motion-based,miniaturized power systems. A dual citizen of Nigeria & the U.S., Jessica has a degree in Psychology and Economics from Harvard University, and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Her list of accolades include Fortune’s Most Promising Women Entrepreneurs, Forbes 30 under 30 list, Black Enterprise’s Innovator of the Year, and Scientist of the Year by the Harvard Foundation.
Laura Mignott is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of DigitalFlash, a New York-based, WBE certified, brand experience agency. DigitalFlash is a fast paced, brand experience agency that combines cutting-edge digital strategy and experiential marketing, to tell stories for brands big and small. In the last six years, DigitalFlash has catered to some of the world’s largest brands like Bose, Samsung, Visa, the Government of Canada as well as numerous successful startups to create custom marketing campaigns and activations.
In December 2016, Laura launched, the Reset Podcast, where she brings on an influential friend from business, marketing, government and more and they talk about the way their industry needs to be reset. The podcast is sponsored by Bose and is holds 15 five star reviews on iTunes to date.
Years in advertising and marketing has led Laura to valuable lessons, which she passes on to next generation entrepreneurs as a leadership council member for the Young Women’s Leadership Network. Laura holds a BA in History from New York University and an MBA from Keller Graduate School of Management. Laura lives in NYC and is always on the hunt for the next great cocktail bar.
Erica Duignan Minnihan is CoFounder and Managing Partner at 1000 Angels, a private venture investment network for select accredited investors, family offices, and venture funds. Erica has been an active investor and advisor to early stage companies for 10 years, and worked on the public market side in investment banking for 8 years prior to that. Before launching 1000 Angels, Erica was a Managing Director at DreamIt Ventures in NYC. She also has served as a founding Executive Director at both STAR Angel Network and Golden Seeds. Prior to beginning a career in venture, she practiced Investment Banking at Citigroup, Credit Suisse and Cantor Fitzgerald.
Erica earned her BA in Business Economics from UCLA and an MBA in Finance with honors from Columbia Business School. She has also made regular appearances on network television for MSNBC and CNBC on “App Wars”, "Your Business" and "Crowd Rules" as a startup business expert.
Marcus Mitchell is an Engineering Director in Google’s New York engineering center in Manhattan. He works in the GeoCommerce product area focusing on payments products for buyers and sellers on the web, particularly Google Wallet, and the global payments platform that underpins all of Google’s consumer commerce efforts. In addition Marcus is also an advisor for Google’s initiatives to increase diversity in Computer Science and Engineering.
Jennifer J. Parker, as the lead consultant for Jackson Parker Communications, provides customized services that exceed expectations. The firm has been successful pitching creative angles for newsworthy stories and developing effective campaigns that incorporate print, outdoor signage, radio, internet and social media. In 2011, Ms. Parker was selected by Governor Andrew Cuomo to serve on the WNY Regional Economic Council where she served as the Chair of the Tourism Workgroup. Ms. Parker is a Board member of the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo and served for 3 years as the Chair of the Cultures of Giving Legacy Initiative, a philanthropy fund led by leaders of color. Currently she serves as the marketing chair for the United Way of Buffalo and Erie County Board. Ms. Parker is a graduate of SUNY at Buffalo Law School.
Geri Stengel, is a writer (Forbes contributor and author of Forget the Glass Ceiling Build Your Business Without One), teacher, researcher and presenter. Ventureneer is a content marketing, market research and education company that helps large corporations, government agencies and foundations develop branded programs that generate visibility, thought leadership and brand loyalty.
A graduate of the corporate world, Geri learned market research at The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones. She conducts customer satisfactions surveys, salary surveys, benefits and employee satisfactions surveys, financial best practice surveys and subscriber surveys.
Geri Stengel was a board member for the New York City Chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners for eight years and co-founder of Women’s Leadership Exchange, which trained women-led companies that wanted to grow beyond $1 million. In 2017, she was recognized as one of 17 Inspiring Women to Watch in 2017 in Inc. In 2016, she became a mentor for WE NYC and in 2015, she won the Madam C.J. Walker Business Leadership Award from the National Minority Business Council. She was named a 2013 and 2012 Small Business Influencer.
Alicia Thomas is the founder and CEO of Dibs Technology, a B2B pricing platform that is bringing true transparency to the health and wellness industry. California native, former developer turned director of data strategy for the City of New York, Alicia started Dibs in 2015 after her prior business, KiwiSweat, proved to be unscalable. Dibs uses data to maximize revenues for SMBs in real-time. Dibs strengthens the business-consumer relationship by providing complete transparency and facilitating even exchanges of value. Instead of dropping prices at the last minute, or offering secret discounts, Dibs prices every individual spot according to real-time demand. Customers are rewarded for actions that bring the business value (like booking early and often).
B.S. Math/Econ, Computer Science, UCLA
MBA Columbia University
Leslie is the strategic lead on a ~$2B portfolio with representation in over 70+ countries. She is responsible for defining brand strategy and communications, and delivering breakthrough innovation. Leslie also leads marketing capability training for over 200 plus marketers worldwide.
Prior to working at Mondelēz International, Leslie worked at Ford Motor Company in Memphis, TN and led Ford and Lincoln Mercury advertising across several states in the mid-south.
Leslie is a graduate of Florida A&M University and proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. She currently resides in New York City in her beloved neighborhood of Harlem.
How to Prep for the Next Phase: Handling Growth, Raise, Exit or Shut-down
You've gotten over the biggest hump to being an entrepreneur: starting your company.
Now that things are off the ground, how do you get to your next phase? How do you determine what that next phase should even be?
Sit down with people who've been there and get their advice on whether and how you should scale, raise money, merge, exit or shut down.
Best of Both Worlds: Finding the Balance Between Tech & Business
Creating an effective working relationship between business and technical teams is easy in theory, hard in practice.
How do you make sure you're speaking the same language and give input without undermining expertise?
How do you balance financial and market concerns with technical problems and timelines?
Unicorns: Black Women Founders Who've Raised Over $1M and How They Did It
Don't believe the hype - black women can and have raised money in tech ecosystem. Sit down with 3 woman tech founders who have each raised at least $1 million dollars to share their stories. They'll join us in a real talk session about what hurdles they had to overcome, how long it took them and what ultimately got them to yes.
Self Care: Resilience, Stress Reduction and Coping as an Entrepreneur
Being an entrepreneur is like riding an emotional rollercoaster. Managing those ups and downs starts with physical and mental health. Even the smallest changes can make a huge impact. Join mindfulness guru, Danielle Kayembe, as she gives easy-to-follow, but powerful tips to manage stress, improve focus and increase resilience.
Founder's Bazaar!
Take advantage of exciting activities brought to you by our sponsors!
- Record a video pitch for Black Enterprise's Elevator Pitch Competition
- Relax with a chair massage
- Refresh your makeup and get a new headshot
- Check out demos and presentations from our sponsors
*massage has an additional ticket cost
Our mission for this event is to encourage and support the next black female-led billion dollar company. Black Women Talk Tech is created by black women founders and designed to be focused on their specific needs. This invite-only event will bring together over 30 black women founders of promising tech companies, investors and tech veterans from around the country. The day will include panels focused on growing a startup, a pitch event featuring investors, media and incubators, structured networking and personal development sessions. Black Women Talk Tech will take place from 8AM-7pm on February 23, 2017 in New York City.