Katherine Olives
At the Zahn Center, we often celebrate the diversity of our students and their startup ideas. And each day, we witness how diversity creates innovation. But it was only two years ago that we realized, when it comes to gender, our Center wasnt as diverse as it could be. It was because of this realization that we launched an initiative with Standard Chartered Bank to address the gender gap in technology and entrepreneurship.
Its clear that the future is female, and the female leaders of this growing network will serve as role models for the young girls of today. Some of these role models include Aashna Shah and Angela Choi, the female leaders of Gleam and Frip respectively. They both spoke with Standard Chartered CEO Torry Bernsten and Vasuki Shastry, Global Head, Public Affairs & Sustainability, among other senior leaders at a recent visit to the Zahn Center. Angela told the Standard Chartered team that it was because of her experiences in the Women+Tech4NYC competition that she is able to celebrate being a Millennial, minority woman.
This year, the startups in the Standard Chartered Women+Tech4NYC track are primarily focused on making education better for the next generation of New Yorkers. From rooftop gardens to mental health curriculum, Citylabscape, Interveen, and Enrich want to pave the way for a new era of education. They aim to use technology to help young boys and girls get equal access to STEM education, stress management, and enrichment programs. Founders of Citylabscape, Interveen, and Enrich shared their ideas with sponsors at Standard Chartered Bank earlier this month at the companys annual Chinese New Year celebration.
Valerie Pholpituke, Director of Sustainability + Community Engagement of the Americas at Standard Chartered Bank was thrilled to welcome the 2017 Women+Tech4NYC teams to the annual Chinese New Year celebration. It was a great networking opportunity for the students, and the extended Standard Chartered team was very excited to learn more about how the startups plan to use technology to tackle NYC challenges.
As we kickoff Womens History Month, well share more news about the female founders in programs. Look out for more information about these specific startups in the coming weeks, and be sure to come out and support them at Demo Day in May!