Village Capital reposted this
What a fun week at Venture Atlanta Conference! The week started with a Venture Crawl, traveling across the city to visit Atlanta Tech Village, Metro Atlanta Chamber, ATDC, Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs, and The LOLA. Each of these organizations is dedicated to supporting entrepreneurs in a wide variety of ways, showing just how diverse the Atlanta ecosystem is! A huge thank you to Aly Merritt, Emma Palmer, Dr. Caroline M. Ford, Monica Delores Hooks, MBA, EDP, and Dana Xavier Dojnik; a powerhouse of WOMEN connecting the Atlanta ecosystem and impeccable hosts as we were welcomed into their respective spaces. Next up was the Goodie Nation Intentionally Good Summit, an interactive, thought-provoking space where Joey Womack encouraged us to collaborate as we discussed the values that hold a community together. Tuesday, I was so lucky to run in to multiple Village Capital alumni! Sunday Paul Adah just finished up the ADAPT program earlier this spring, and Christele Parham, MBA is a Resource alumni currently serving on our advisory board. Thank you to Slauson & Co., BLCK VC, and Collab Capital (another Resource alum) for creating such a welcoming and inclusive space that evening! The week wrapped up with Techstars Atlanta Powered by Cox Enterprises Demo Day, where I was impressed with each of the pitches we heard. I especially loved hearing a pitch from a Techstars alumni, learning more about how the program impacted their business and what’s changed in the past few years. Finally, I attended what may have been my favorite event of the week; the Female Founders + Innovators dinner. Alongside Dana of The Lola, Jenn Graham from Inclusivv hosted an incredible evening of connection, supported by a few prompts to get the table reflecting on our experiences of women supporting women. There were so many incredible founders with heartfelt stories to share, but the best shout-out went to a group of six key women who the whole room agreed were key to the ecosystem, including Aly Merritt, Kristin Slink, Allyson Eman, Jennifer Bonnett, Dana Xavier Dojnik and Jenn Graham. Thank you, Atlanta, for being so kind and welcoming to visitors from across the southeast who came to celebrate start-up with you. There are great things happening in ATL, and I can’t wait to be back in November!
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