Accelerator | Connector | Investor | Advocate 4 diverse founders in San Diego

A unique Social Innovation Institute, I am the new Director (1/15/2020) of the Center for Peace & Commerce. I will be leading meaningful programs & impactful events to assist in: Innovative solutions to peace and justice challengesABOUT CPC:When we set out to create the nation's only partnership between a business school and a peace school, we knew that this new paradigm would require new thinking. So we assembled thought leaders, we studied the issues, we outlined our goals, we asked questions and then we listened. The result is a solutions-based mission and vision that we'll use to inspire the next generation of social entrepreneurs.Mission StatementAt the Center for Peace and Commerce we aim to enable students and faculty to build a more prosperous and peaceful world through innovative thinking and action, integrating business principles and effective management with positive peacebuilding and poverty alleviation.VisionCPC is a leader in preparing students and faculty to develop effective responses to complex social, environmental, and peace/conflict problems to make the world a better place.Business. Peace.CPC is a partnership between a business school and a school of peace. The Kroc School equips and empowers innovative changemakers to shape more peaceful and just communities. Learn more about the Kroc School.USD School of Business empowers ethical leaders to imagine socially innovative and fiscally sound ventures. Learn more about the USD School of Business.
    
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Kroc School at the University of San Diego

Forbes Councils is a collective of invitation-only communities created in partnership with Forbes and the expert community builders who founded Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC). In Forbes Councils, exceptional business owners and leaders come together with the people and resources that can help them thrive. To learn more about Forbes Councils, visit forbescouncils.com.Dr. Silvia Mah has been accepted into the Forbes Business Council, the foremost growth and networking organization for successful business owners and leaders worldwide. Dr. Silvia Mah was vetted and selected by a review committee based on the depth and diversity of her experience. Criteria for acceptance include a track record of successfully impacting business growth metrics, as well as personal and professional achievements and honors. “We are honored to welcome Dr. Silvia Mah into the community,” said Scott Gerber, founder of Forbes Councils, the collective that includes Forbes Business Council. “Our mission with Forbes Councils is to bring together proven leaders from every industry, creating a curated, social capital-driven network that helps every member grow professionally and make an even greater impact on the business world.”
    
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      Forbes Business Council
        
  

AD ASTRA — an accelerator program designed to scale your business.Co-founded with 2 other amazing investors: Allison Long Pettine and Vidya Dinamani.THE AD ASTRA PROGRAM*12 Weeks of Custom Curriculum*Guaranteed Investment in your Company*Formal Mentorship with Industry Experts*Your Own Champion and Personal Advocate for the 12 Weeks and BeyondWe are seeking high growth startups, led by females.“Companies with a female founder performed 63% better than those with all-male founding teams.“Geri Stengel, ForbesWomen Get It Done: Fixing The Broken Venture Capital System – forbes.com—  Y E T  —Female founders receive only  14%  of angel investments and  3-4%  of venture capital funds.(1)Let’s change that.▼
    
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adastra.ventures

She Invests! is a collaborative movement aimed to increased the diversity of female investors across the venture table. A three-pronged approach to equipping ore women to find their venture voice and activate their capital, (1) She Invests! podcasts highlights female angel investors and women VCs and their venture investments, (2) She Invests! book (published 2018) highlights the investment thesis and portfolio of active angel investor, Silvia Mah, and the collaborative rising tide of female angels, angel groups, VCs and fund managers, and (3) She Invests! learning platform for female entrepreneurs and women investors to seek wisdom from each other, find new opportunities and "venture create" / invest in each other's impact.
    
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She Invests!

Dr. Silvia Mah speaks passionately about her mission to promote, nurture, and invest in transformational startups that allow women & diverse founders to excel around the world. As a speaker, she has traveled the world delivering keynotes at Google, LatAm Conference in Chile, and more!Dr. Mah's topics of discussion include:Angel Investment / Venture Capital Topics:* Managing Mindsets and an Early Stage Investor* The Rising Tide of Women - Investing in Women * Steps to Developing an Accelerator Program * Investing in the Entrepreneur * Current Trends for Women Angel Investors Entrepreneur Topics: * It can be done: being a Passionate AND Profitable entrepreneur * Which of your ideas to keep, and which ones to throw away* How to find, select and work with the right people to help grow your business* How to combine and reformulate ideas so they optimize your unique talents* Which of your ideas will give you the best chance for personal satisfaction* Which of your ideas have the best chance for startup business success
    
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This is the show where I highlight the growing number of female angel investors, the real unicorns. My mission is to equip female angel investors with more knowledge about how to invest, finding their tribe, and collaborating. From deal flow to exits, women have been gaining experience. Let’s learn from each other. We can only improve our representation around the venture table by truly sitting at it and having a voice.* Season 1: Diverse Discussions on Trends, Initiatives, and Data (24 episodes)* Season 2: Social Impact Investment landscape (launching April 2019)
    
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Business Accelerator, supporting women via business development, education, acceleration, mentoring, and funding.  HeraLabs  is a unique business accelerator for aspiring entrepreneurial women, providing female start-ups, in all industries, a safe place to test ideas and grow their business. This is achieved through specialized DIY, hands-on, get-it-done LABS and mentoring.  As the educational arm of Hera Hub, a co-working space for women entrepreneurs, there now is a one-stop resource for enterprising women to work, connect, and flourish. Hera Labs is funded by the federal government through the SBA Accelerator Growth Fund, the City of San Diego, and corporations like Qualcomm.
    
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Hera Labs

Silvia was an LP in the 2016 inaugural US Next Wave Venture Fund and is a lead investor/GP in the 2017 US Impact Fund.One of the driving goals at Next Wave Impact is to increase diversity in angel investing and high growth entrepreneurship.  Our first pilot programs in 2015 and 2016 sought to narrow the gender gap in angel investing by providing nearly 200 women a unique learning opportunity that allowed them to build a diversified portfolio of investments, receive mentoring by women who were experienced angel investors, and participate in an education & training program around angel investing.  We completed two pilots: a US program in partnership with Portfolia and a Europe program in partnership with Go Beyond Investing and the European Business Angel Network. We also partnered with the Angel Capital Association on the education and training piece, which was supported by the Kauffman Foundation.  Our new fund, Next Wave US Impact Fund I, also seeks to increase diversity in angel investing by engaging more underrepresented groups in early stage investing.  The focus of the new fund is on impact investing and we will seek investments that achieve both social impact and financial return.  http://nextwave.ventures
    
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Next Wave Impact

Hera Angels is the first female-only angel group in San Diego that focuses on investing in female founders and female-focused businesses. The angel group was initially launched in 2014 in San Diego. Female Funders are connected with Female Founders to enable great ideas to be funded through collaborations, mentoring, and education. Angel bootcamps through partnerships with Pipeline Fellowships, Rising Tide Fund, 37 Angels, and Angel Capital Association will enable prospective female angel investors to gain the knowledge to invest wisely and female founders will gain the startup mentoring necessary to pitch to investors through Hera Labs female intensive. Hera Angels is a member of the Angel Capital Association and syndication partner of the "Angel Syndication Network" in the US Southwest.
    
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Hera Angels

Supporting Hera Hub's Franchise Growth Strategy of supporting 20,000 women in business globally in the next five years.Hera Hub's mission is supporting and creating business opportunities for women. Felena Hanson's founder vision is to empower women in the launch and growth of their business through beautiful coworking spaces and to create a strong collaborative network of like-minded women entrepreneurs.
    
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About us

  Hera Hub is a coworking space and business accelerator where entrepreneurial women can create and collaborate in a professional, productive, spa-like environment. The platform provides members with connections to other business experts, access to educational workshops, and visibility within the community... thus giving them the support they need to be prosperous. 

The Hera family includes a non-profit accelerator - www.HeraLabs.com and a funding group - Hera Angels, which produces the annual conference, www.HeraVentureSummit.com.  

Hera Hub has received national media attention from publications such as Inc Magazine, the BBC, Forbes, Entrepreneur.com and the New York Times - http://herahub.com/press. 

The company has been an early leader in the female-focused space segment - first to expand to multiple locations and first to go international.  Hera Hub currently has communities in Southern California, Phoenix, AZ, Washington, DC, and Sweden, with several other cities in the works. 

Through licensing expansion, Hera Hub is on a mission to support over 20,000 women in the launch and growth of their business by 2020.  

Felena is looking to connect with women who might be interested in exploring bringing this unique model to their city.  It’s a perfect opportunity for someone who might be ready to take a soft step out of “corporate” or who already runs a service-based company and wants to explore using the Hera Hub concept to build a strong platform for their business.  

More info: www.HeraHubExpansion.com & www.HeraHub.com

Hera Hub

In my first 90 Days, I plan to be a strategic architect; aiming to accelerate learning by listening, and achieve alignment of goals and visions to build more collaboration, connections, inclusion, and cohesion. About the organization: CONNECT is a premier innovation company accelerator in San Diego that creates and scales great companies in the technology and life sciences sectors. By creating an environment in which entrepreneurs and C-suite executives have access to the people, capital, and technology they need for success, CONNECT has assisted in the formation and development of more than 3,000 companies since 1985. CONNECT is widely regarded as one of the world’s most successful organizations linking entrepreneurs and C-suite executives with the resources they need for the commercialization of innovative products and services.
    
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CONNECT - San Diego

As a member of the growing number of female angel investors, venture capitalists and fund managers, bringing more diverse opportunities for founders and funders to connect and make concrete funding transactions is very important. Thus, the SDAC (San Diego Angel Conference) was born through robust collaborations amongst Mysty Rusk, John Sechrest (his brainchild), Will Fowler, and Victoria Lakers. As fund manager, my main roles impacting the outcomes of this experience (angel/entrepreneur education & event) are:- Recruit diverse angel investors to participate in the conference and learn to invest by doing - Develop a framework for education and due diligence structure that fits the San Diego startup culture - Assist with this fabulous team, in the creation of the first SDAC fund- Recruit diverse entrepreneurs to apply for this $200K funding opportunity- Mentor and equip the startup founders applying for the conference to become investor ready- Attend and teach events/workshops that provide education and connections on both sides of the venture table- Support the conference leadership, partners, and sponsors to bring real value to BOTH investors and entrepreneurs.
    
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San Diego Angel Conference

My impact to the UCSD innovation community is:- Deliver experiential educational programs at The Basement for all 4 tracks: Seeker, Incubator, Accelerator and Accelerator Plus. Mentor all startup teams towards their own successes, provide strategic direction to the leadership for optimal impact within the SD innovation ecosystem, and bring more resources to student teams from within the UCSD campus and larger SD community. - Design and review programs/initiatives/events to foster a more diverse and inclusive innovative culture across the UCSD campus - Strategically advise on making existing programs more aligned with needs of startups across campus, then teach and pivot for a better collective experience.- Analyze, advise and implement any new programs across campus to enrich the innovation culture- Serve as a trusted resource for all entrepreneurial programs across the UCSD campus who advise and assist startup growth for all stakeholders on campus The Basement provides space, education, mentorship for undergraduate student teams to develop their business and product concepts. The Basement’s vision is to engage UC San Diego entrepreneurs regionally and globally starting with the undergraduate student population and extending through the UC San Diego alumni network. The mission of the program is to increase entrepreneurial awareness, interest, diversity, cross-disciplinary collaboration and connections to campus.
    
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The Basement UC San Diego

The primary goal of bringing more value to The Basement in this new role was to:- Design, develop, implement, and deliver Basement accelerator program (at the time there was only 1 program: incubator) - Refine existing Incubator program track curriculum and goals.- Develop learning outcomes and metrics that could be quantitatively tracked to align with strategic initiatives/goals of startup activities at UCSD.- Advise students and student teams at the basement about key startup themes.- Analyze and refine all educational resources and workshops at The Basement for alignment to core goals- Co-Create with all stakeholders at The Basement & implement an Innovation Code of conduct.The Basement provides space and mentorship for student teams to develop their business and product concepts. The Basement’s vision is to engage UC San Diego entrepreneurs regionally and globally starting with the undergraduate student population and extending through the UC San Diego alumni network. The mission of the program is to increase entrepreneurial awareness, interest, diversity, cross-disciplinary collaboration and connections to campus.  This is in complete alignment with Alumni and Community Engagement’s Vision, Mission and Strategies, as well as the Office of Innovation and Commercialization.
    
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Startup mentor for UCSD student teams at The Basement included:- Advise on best practices for entrepreneurs, especially around BMC (Business Model Canvas) methods and practice - Provide mentorship on investor relations and investor landscape in San Diego, nationally and globally. - Listen to and provide strategic guidance to startup leaders and teams at the incubator, The Basement, primarily for undergraduate students- Provide strategic advise to The Basement leadership on mentor roles and responsibilities.The Basement provides space, education, mentorship for undergraduate student teams to develop their business and product concepts. The Basement’s vision is to engage UC San Diego entrepreneurs regionally and globally starting with the undergraduate student population and extending through the UC San Diego alumni network. The mission of the program is to increase entrepreneurial awareness, interest, diversity, cross-disciplinary collaboration and connections to campus.
    
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Pipeline Fellowship, an angel investing bootcamp for women, works to increase diversity in the U.S. angel investing community and creates capital for women social entrepreneurs. Pipeline fellows are CHANGING THE FACE OF ANGEL INVESTING by actively investing in socially-relevant ventures, creating a collaborative network of like-minded angel investors, and making smart investment decisions to impact global innovation. Through education, mentoring and practice, Pipeline fellows gain the important skills to make a group investment at the end of the fellowship program, but also continue to invest in startups, join later stage angel networks, and/or create their own angel groups, unleashing capital beyond their Pipeline Fellowship investment.
    
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Pipeline Fellowship

•	Executing commercialization assessment & business development advising for research acceleration platform•	Developing marketing communications plan and creative brief for more efficient venture capital funding proposals
    
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The Nicholas Conor Institute (TNCI)

Develop personalized medicine marketing communications plan for innovative not for profit pediatric oncology organization


Lead | Engage | Advance | Develop.Working with a dynamic launch team to stand-up a National Association of Women MBA Professional Chapter in San Diego. Lead | Propel more women into leadership positions in San DiegoEngage | Network with like-minded businesswomen and give back to the San Diego community in effective waysAdvance | Purposeful professional development programing to strengthen your skill set with meaningful mentoring opportunitiesDevelop | Smart opportunities to enhance your professional and personal life through developing a strong platform for growth
    
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Silvia is jettisoning her passion for start-ups, business strategy & market analysis allows for impacting the launch, growth, and sustainability of businesses to lead our San Diego program expansion. Connecting with innovation hubs like CONNECT and Founders Institute and local San Diego high schools with the help of Otter Cares will enable the modularized labs to be implemented with ease in San Diego classrooms and after school programs. Students will learn how to problem solve with local startups to really learn the dynamic process of entrepreneurship.http://launchur.com
    
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Teach social entrepreneurship to teens (freshman to seniors in High School) through active participation, project-based learning, discussions, and service learning. Facilitated project management instruction leads to social enterprises being created by the students for needs in their community.


About us

  WIT provides a college-credit course for high school students where they learn social entrepreneur and leadership skills through the design, launch and growth of social enterprises.  We do this through a 9 month college-credit course -  bringing together teens from different schools and inviting them to find solutions to problems facing their school, community or world. We are based in San Diego and have locations in St Louis,  NYC and  Austin. 
Throughout the 9 month course students meet with entrepreneurs and community leaders. Students earn 6 college units through UCSD.

WIT- Whatever It Takes

The Process of commercializing university discoveries needs a robust venture network of mentors, talent, expertise, and funding.  Formerly the commercialization analyst at the von Liebig Center for Commercialization and Entrepreneurship, my current focus (and passion) is fostering strategic partnerships to sustain the ongoing success of the vonLiebig Center for entrepreneurship and Commercialization (37 start-ups formed in 10 years). Securing funding for early-stage technologies and university entrepreneurs is my goal in order to enable new ventures to be formed or licensing agreements to be effectively negotiated.
    
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Recognized as one of the top 15 research universities worldwide, our culture of collaboration sparks discoveries that advance society and drive economic impact. Everything we do is dedicated to ensuring our students have the opportunity to become changemakers, equipped with the multidisciplinary tools needed to accelerate answers to our world’s most pressing issues.

University of California San Diego

*Manage the operations of the vonLiebig Center's commercialization objectives, from sourcing projects to paying of startup advisors*Develop curriculum around commercialization of university discoveries*Reinforce the strategic relationships in the San Diego innovation ecosystem, within the university and in the business/venture community.
    
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Management intern in the Information Services department at Rady Children's Hospital working on a discovery project in telemedicine.


Rady Children's Hospital

•	Evaluate and develop a revamped certificate program for entrepreneurship education.•	Modeling revenue projections through scenario planning through educational program and collaborations.


*Develop a program for service learning within the Jacobs School of Engineering, UCSD*Build relationships with not for profits in the San Diego community in order to bring innovative projects for consideration of cross-disciplinary engineering teams to solve.*Teach team engineering leadership course at UCSD.


University of California, San Diego - The Rady School of Management

Thesis on the molecular and biochemical analysis of species-specific proteins in sea urchins.

Director of the Center for Peace & Commerce (CPC) at Kroc School at the University of San Diego

Director of the Center for Peace & Commerce (CPC)

Forbes Innovation & Business Contributor

Co-Founder

CEO

Speaker

Podcast Host

Founder & Executive Director

Lead Investor/GP

Founding Member

Advisory Board Member

President & COO

Fund Manager

Student Programs Diversity Director

Curriculum Designer & Strategic Developer

Startup Mentor

Pipeline Fellow

Marketing Communications, Strategy & Business Development Advisor

Marketing Intern

President

San Diego Fellow

Instructor

Partnership Sustainability Lead / Project Manager

Commercialization Analyst - von Liebig Center for Entrepreneurism and Technology Advancement

Management Intern

Consultant / Education Coordinator - von Liebig Center for Entrepreneurism & Technology Advancement

TIES (Teams in Engineering Service) Program Director / Academic Coordinator

Outreach Coordinator

Business Strategy and Marketing

MBA

Marine Biology

- Scripps Institution of Oceanography - PhD

Biology

BS

Graduated 1991

High school