Pledge 1%’s #WomenWhoLead series celebrates female leaders who are paving the way for the next generation. While our featured leaders come from a variety of backgrounds and industries, they are united in their efforts to promote equality for all women in the workplace. We’ve asked them to share a bit about their journey to success, as well as lessons they’ve learned along the way.
Jessica Lindl
VP Social Impact, Unity Technologies
San Francisco, CA, USA
What is your current role? Briefly describe in 1-2 sentences.
Empowering employees and creators to foster a more sustainable, inclusive world.
What’s the best part of your job? What do you enjoy the most?
Working with all of the Unity creators and customers in almost every country in the world to solve hard problems so they can change the hearts and minds of their audience. The shared power of creativity transcends cultures, boundaries, and differences.
We’ve all faced personal and professional challenges these past two years – what motivates you to keep going?
The generosity of the human spirit – for example, we had a lean team of Unity employees who worked tirelessly for 7 months to move 3 Afghan refugees out of Afghanistan to the UK to work at Unity.
What’s the best piece of advice you ever received?
Assume best intent.
What does generosity mean to you?
Personally, pro-actively sharing our talents, time and tender to leave the world in a better place than we found it – even when it means personal sacrifice.
How do you feel businesses can play a larger role in solving today’s biggest challenges? Do you have any specific stories or examples from your work or colleagues you can share?
At Unity, our impact strategy is focused on supporting the millions of creators who reach billions to shift their hearts and minds – fostering a more sustainable, inclusive world.
For example, Lual Mayen – For 22 years of his life, Lual Mayen lived in a refugee camp in northern Uganda. His parents fled from South Sudan and its decades-long civil war. His mother saved $300 as the refugee camp seamstress and gave him a laptop, he made a mobile game about peace, and it was his ticket to a new life. He migrated to Washington, D.C., and became a game developer. He started the Lual Mayen Foundation, to empower refugees with technology. With a grant from Unity, Lual Mayen Foundation is working to train displaced young refugees in Uganda and Kenya through a 12-week training program focused on 3D Art and Design, and evaluate the efficacy of the program. Each cohort consists of 125, with the aim of 500 young people.
For digital health and well-being, consider Level Ex – Doctors and other medical professionals need continuous learning and certification, usually happening in large conferences costing billions of dollars and carbon to re-skill and certify. Level Ex certifies at scale in a gamified platform built on Unity – saving $, time, and carbon with a way more engaging experience.
On the civics front, iCivics – Nationalism, fake news, and tribalism is on the rise. But there’s a proven way to fix it: invest in civic education. iCivics is a Unity experience that provides educational online games and free lesson plans to promote civics education and encourage students to become active citizens.
There are many sustainability examples – Zutari is a strong example from Africa, their mission is to co-create innovative engineering solutions that deliver real impact and enable environments, communities, and economies across Africa to thrive. Zutari is now using Unity to change the way large-scale renewable energy sites in South Africa are designed, created, and operated.
Finally, Breonna’s Garden – Breonna Taylor was fatally shot by police officers in 2020. Lady PheOnix, in partnership with Breonna’s sister Ju’Niyah Palmer, wanted to create a safe space for family, friends and a larger community to both mourn and celebrate Breonna’s life. Breonna’s Garden is a sacred space for anyone who wants to share a message of hope for Breonna’s family.
If you could describe yourself in one word what would that be and why?
Purpose-driven – I believe in the potential of the human spirit to overcome any obstacle, and most of all when our spirit is aligned with our purpose. I see business the same way, when a company’s purpose is deeply intertwined with the business model, it creates unstoppable momentum.
If you could pick a song to guide you through 2022, which song would it be?
What are you looking forward to this year? Are there any goals (personal or professional), activities, or experiences you are excited about?
Visiting grantees in Africa, Europe and Americas – hoping to see their life-changing impact in person, up close. Also, spending time with my family building a school in Senegal with a village through BuildOn.
Pledge 1%’s #WomenWhoLead series celebrates female leaders who are paving the way for the next generation. While our featured leaders come from a variety of backgrounds and industries, they are united in their efforts to promote equality for all women in the workplace. We’ve asked them to share a bit about their journey to success, as well as lessons they’ve learned along the way.
Kasey Lundquist
GP, Rise Together Ventures
Santa Barbara, CA, USA
What is your current role? Briefly describe in 1-2 sentences.
I am pioneering an integrated approach to venture and philanthropy investing through my fund, Rise Together Ventures. We pair each for-profit investment with a philanthropic budget in alignment with the company’s mission.
What’s the best part of your job? What do you enjoy the most?
I’m lucky to work at this amazing intersection of venture and philanthropy, which allows me to meet the most amazing and inspiring people who are innovating in their fields to create fast change. The entrepreneurs in both the for-profit and nonprofit sectors give me so much hope for the future of our world.
What’s the best piece of advice you ever received?
Find both a mentor and a sponsor. They are different: while mentors may help you network, sponsors will actively include you in their networks. They fulfill different purposes, but are equally important.
How do you feel businesses can play a larger role in solving today’s biggest challenges? Do you have any specific stories or examples from your work or colleagues you can share?
Increasingly, businesses are playing a larger role in solving today’s biggest challenges, more than any time in the past; and I strongly believe that entrepreneurs are best suited to become the change agents of our society. That belief is core to Rise Together Ventures, and we look to back founders whose missions go far beyond revenue. Ryan Peterson of Flexport is a great example of an entrepreneur who is simultaneously disrupting an archaic industry – global trade – while leveraging his business’s core capabilities to deliver impact throughout the world via Flexport.org.
If you could describe yourself in one word what would that be and why?
Curious – in fact, that word has appeared on every one of my performance reviews! I find great energy in learning about people’s backgrounds, what challenges them, and what motivates them.
Pledge 1%’s #WomenWhoLead series celebrates female leaders who are paving the way for the next generation. While our featured leaders come from a variety of backgrounds and industries, they are united in their efforts to promote equality for all women in the workplace. We’ve asked them to share a bit about their journey to success, as well as lessons they’ve learned along the way.
Analía Pérez
Salesforce Consultant, Certa Global Corp.
Durazno, Uruguay
What is your current role? Briefly describe in 1-2 sentences.
I am in the role of functional tester for a project with Vlocity.
What’s the best part of your job? What do you enjoy the most?
Meeting new people, working with people with different cultures and nurturing myself with different experiences.
We’ve all faced personal and professional challenges these past two years – what motivates you to keep going?
Like arrows, when more difficulties pull us back, later we have to move forward. It’s the only way to move on.
What’s the best piece of advice you ever received?
Never give up, the best is yet to come.
What does generosity mean to you?
Help others achieve their goals and stand out. Be available to the other beyond the employment relationship that is generated.
How do you feel businesses can play a larger role in solving today’s biggest challenges? Do you have any specific stories or examples from your work or colleagues you can share?
I think that job reconversion has been a challenge in recent years, and in that sense, Salesforce has collaborated to position and help women grow in this field. In my particular case, it opened the doors to a new world, full of growth and many opportunities, by mixing the experiences of previous studies with the opportunities offered by telecommuting and particularly the Salesforce industry. This has helped me maintain a better balance in my personal and work life.
If you could describe yourself in one word what would that be and why?
Funny, because I think life is better with a smile on.
If you could pick a song to guide you through 2022, which song would it be?
What are you looking forward to this year? Are there any goals (personal or professional), activities, or experiences you are excited about?
Just keep growing
Dear 1% Coalition Members,
Pledge 1%’s #WomenWhoLead series celebrates female leaders who are paving the way for the next generation. While our featured leaders come from a variety of backgrounds and industries, they are united in their efforts to promote equality for all women in the workplace. We’ve asked them to share a bit about their journey to success, as well as lessons they’ve learned along the way.
Kayla Cartwright
Executive Team, ADAPTOVATE
Florida, USA
What is your current role? Briefly describe in 1-2 sentences.
As one of the first ADAPTOVATE employees in the US and the first woman on the North America Executive Team, I have been grateful to help grow the firm’s presence and impact in the Americas. We have nearly quadrupled in size in the past two years and have done so while maintaining high employee engagement ratings and being certified as a “Great Place to Work” (c) in 2021.
As a lead for our client engagements, I lead teams of consultants & coaches in order to drive transformation for our clients. As a trusted advisor for senior executives, I leverage my skills in relationship building, diplomacy, facilitation, and operationalization to serve as a guide through ambiguous periods of transformation.
At ADAPTOVATE, we support the transformation of traditional organizations and teams into Agile organizations through a culture and mindset change. We do this by coaching teams, managers, and senior executives to make their organization deliver better outcomes, faster. We support the building of learning cultures by facilitating training in a practical and engaging way to make change sustainable.
What’s the best part of your job? What do you enjoy the most?
The best part of my job– the part that brings me energy–is working 1:1 via coaching conversations with both clients and internal team members. I’ve spent my entire career coaching, and I love nothing more than being able to help others envision what is possible for themselves and their teams, and to unearth assumptions that might otherwise block them on their path to achieving what is possible. Each individual has unique strengths and identities that, when considered deeply, can allow us to unleash our fullest potential for ourselves, our organizations, and society at large.
What’s the best piece of advice you ever received?
Listen. Check for understanding.
What does generosity mean to you?
To me, generosity means that you are generous in whichever way you are able– by sharing your time, talents, treasures in ways that others truly need. I believe in being generous with my feedback, energy, and ears–I love being a sounding board for others and helping people get specific about what is working for them and what they should do to evolve.
Community engagement is important to me. I grew up watching my grandparents volunteer their time as union presidents and volunteer coaches. My mom volunteers her time and energy on various community boards and is generous with her coaching of others in her field. I volunteer and lead in a variety of community organizations across Miami and am grateful that ADAPTOVATE is generous with its time, talent, and treasures via the Pledge 1% Initiative and our pro bono consulting and coaching engagements.
How do you feel businesses can play a larger role in solving today’s biggest challenges? Do you have any specific stories or examples from your work or colleagues you can share?
Absolutely. Businesses, especially large enterprises, provide employment and goods/services for hundreds of millions of individuals within the US, and impact our daily existence in countless ways. Given their impact, what businesses say, and more importantly, DO, can directly impact today’s biggest challenges. One example that comes to mind is the role of business in encouraging democratic institutions. If businesses are vocal about the importance of encouraging civic engagement (voting), and back it up with action (giving paid time off and transportation to voting sites), then employees, customers, and communities will bear witness and act. If businesses follow their values when deciding where to open new offices or locations, then they can convince political leaders to lessen legislation that negatively impacts communities. Businesses and business leaders help set the tone in society, and their investment, voice, and actions are critical to solving today’s biggest challenges.
If you could describe yourself in one word what would that be and why?
My one word would be “adaptive”.
As I thought about this question, I asked one of my team members for his take, and he said “adaptive” is the first word that came to mind, and I wholeheartedly agree. I believe my strength is my ability to navigate a variety of different cultures, environments, and situations quickly, and to be able to add value and learn with ease. I’ve worn dozens of different hats across my career, lived/worked in 4 countries and partnered with thousands of individuals across the globe, and as a student of anthropology, have learned about many cultures; I apply this context in whatever interaction I am in to make others feel comfortable and drive impact.
It’s also notable that our company name, ADAPTOVATE, is a mashup of the words “Adapt” and “Innovate,” so I’m grateful to work with a team that takes adaptation and innovation seriously and allows me to bring my strengths to work.
If you could pick a song to guide you through 2022, which song would it be?
I love this question! I’m opening my Spotify to see my “On Repeat” algorithm playlist.
“Keep it light” by Jack Harlow is one of my most-played so far in 2022, and I think it will continue to guide me through 2022. I’m committed to shining a light on others, hearing feedback without taking it personally, and trying to bring good energy to any situation I am in, even as I continue to push for more. The end of the track also features a sample of Jack’s mother encouraging him to pause and reflect on the impact he has already made on people’s lives. My mom gives me the same advice frequently, so it’s a good remind to just enjoy the moment and the journey:
“Take some moments today during the shoot to look around
Look at the faces of all the people you’ve brought together
Watch their reactions
Look at the joy on their faces
Take a moment to really absorb what you’ve created
What you’re creating
And try to savor it”
-Maggie Harlow voiceover on “Keep it Light” by Jack Harlow
Is there anything else you’d like to share?
If you’d like to connect, my email is kayla.cartwright@adaptovate.com.
Pledge 1%’s #WomenWhoLead series celebrates female leaders who are paving the way for the next generation. While our featured leaders come from a variety of backgrounds and industries, they are united in their efforts to promote equality for all women in the workplace. We’ve asked them to share a bit about their journey to success, as well as lessons they’ve learned along the way.
So-Young Kang
Founder & CEO, Gnowbe
Singapore and the US
What is your current role? Briefly describe in 1-2 sentences.
I’m the “Chief Energizer” so my main role is to energize our team, clients, partners, investors and broader ecosystem to catalyze everyone to create interactive social experiences online.
What’s the best part of your job? What do you enjoy the most?
Seeing my team stretch and grow into their potential. I love seeing people awaken to new possibilities for themselves and the amazing creators we design Gnowbe for.
We’ve all faced personal and professional challenges these past two years – what motivates you to keep going?
This crazy idea that we can really make a difference in changing how people create and engage with content in more human ways – social, interactive, reflective.
What’s the best piece of advice you ever received?
Breathe. It’s so important to stop, pause and breathe to take it all in. One day at a time.
What does generosity mean to you?
Giving of yourself (time, resources, expertise) even when no one is looking.
How do you feel businesses can play a larger role in solving today’s biggest challenges? Do you have any specific stories or examples from your work or colleagues you can share?
One of the biggest global challenges we are facing is a rapidly increasing mindsets and skills gaps. At Gnowbe, we understand that one key way to address this is by empowering creators – trainers, educators, coaches and thought leaders – with next gen authoring tools to design learning experiences that can actually shift mindsets, develop behaviors and build skills. This has been a huge gap so it’s exciting to be able to stand in the gap.
If you could describe yourself in one word what would that be and why?
Catalyst. I’m very purpose-driven and have made it my life-mission to try to solve really large global issues and bring as many people as I can towards making a positive impact.
What are you looking forward to this year? Are there any goals (personal or professional), activities, or experiences you are excited about?
Launching a $10M Scholarship to empower anyone to develop micro-learning instructional design (MID) skills to design more engaging, effective shared digital experiences.
Pledge 1%’s #WomenWhoLead series celebrates female leaders who are paving the way for the next generation. While our featured leaders come from a variety of backgrounds and industries, they are united in their efforts to promote equality for all women in the workplace. We’ve asked them to share a bit about their journey to success, as well as lessons they’ve learned along the way.
Eja Batbold
CEO/Cofounder at Tomyo Edtech
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
What is your current role? Briefly describe in 1-2 sentences.
I oversee the operations and fundraising side of the business. Now the company has 23+ employees so it is nice to see other people step up and take over some of my plates.
What’s the best part of your job? What do you enjoy the most?
When we receive messages to our social accounts, comments on our pages from customers/students who demand the next courses and more content on our educational platform. Such comments make our work so worth it to actualize the impact and see our product is reaching rural parts of Mongolia.
We’ve all faced personal and professional challenges these past two years – what motivates you to keep going?
Online education has never been this relevant and due to pandemic, our technology and product played critical role in closing the gap in educational content delivery to both urban and rural students. We saw in increase in our products from 50K to 350K users in the past 2 years. That’s real impact, that’s what motivates me.
What’s the best piece of advice you ever received?
If you think you cannot, you never will.
What does generosity mean to you?
Sharing the knowledge and opportunity to those around you.
How do you feel businesses can play a larger role in solving today’s biggest challenges? Do you have any specific stories or examples from your work or colleagues you can share?
We initially started as a mobile app platform for educational content creator to share and teach anyone. We saw great traction and special demand from rural parts of Mongolia because it was not something they had access physically in their small towns. And then year 2, other educational institutions such as Asia Foundation, Women Business Center, Memory Words, Science of Yoga started using our core technology to service their communities digitally too. Now, we have launched more than 10+ platforms white labeled and each serving their communities and providing information instantly across the country, actually all over the world (Mongolia, Korea, Japan, US)
If you could describe yourself in one word what would that be and why?
My name is Eja Batbold, and I really like my last name Bold. I have social media handles as “theboldstory”.
If you could pick a song to guide you through 2022, which song would it be?
Don’t Stop Me Now by Queen.
What are you looking forward to this year? Are there any goals (personal or professional), activities, or experiences you are excited about?
This year, we got investments from US based VC and I am now in LA, USA expanding our operations in the land of opportunity. I am excited about our first 2 US clients apps that we launched for them and also some deals we are progressing in the pipeline. It is an exciting year to be here.
Is there anything else you’d like to share?
It is such exciting times that now kids in Mongolia and likewise kids in the US are watching the same YouTube content and they are getting instant information. If we can double down on the educational content aspect with such powerful technology, we can help millions of people to reach their full potential despite their economic/country status.
Pledge 1%’s #WomenWhoLead series celebrates female leaders who are paving the way for the next generation. While our featured leaders come from a variety of backgrounds and industries, they are united in their efforts to promote equality for all women in the workplace. We’ve asked them to share a bit about their journey to success, as well as lessons they’ve learned along the way.
Jessamine Chin
Sr. Director Social Innovation, ESG Office, VMware
San Francisco, CA, USA
What is your current role? Briefly describe in 1-2 sentences.
As Senior Director of Social Innovation in VMware’s Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) Office, Jessamine drives social impact strategy that progresses towards a more sustainable, equitable and secure digital future for all.
What’s the best part of your job? What do you enjoy the most?
Over the past 10 years at VMware, I’ve had the opportunity to imagine and build initiatives that serve VMware’s stakeholders from employees to customers to the broader community. Not a single day has been the same and I am continually learning and growing in the process.
We’ve all faced personal and professional challenges these past two years – what motivates you to keep going?
These past two years have brought many challenges, especially with a family with small children – and what keeps me going is both them and the recognition that I and my family has much to be grateful for.
What’s the best piece of advice you ever received?
Create your own door.
What does generosity mean to you?
Generosity means recognizing where one has abundance in their life and sharing it with others.
How do you feel businesses can play a larger role in solving today’s biggest challenges? Do you have any specific stories or examples from your work or colleagues you can share?
Today’s biggest challenges are systemic and require action from all stakeholders, especially business. I believe that when a company takes into account environmental and social factors into their business strategy, it creates more long-term and sustainable value. For example, at VMware, sustainability has long been inherent in our technology solutions. As companies virtualize their digital operations, they benefit from lower costs, increased flexibility, and more resilience—but also a reduced carbon footprint. VMware has helped its customers avoid more than 1.2 billion metric tons of carbon emissions to date. (“Enabling More Agile & Sustainable Business through Carbon-Efficient Digital Transformations,” August 2020. ). We know the world needs more – and as VMware drives towards the outcome of a more sustained digital future, we are further integrating efficiency and decarbonization into the products and services we create.
If you could describe yourself in one word what would that be and why?
Compassionate perseverance (I know, it’s two words!). I value how things are done and the intention behind them; it’s about taking into account the needs of others while striving towards a difficult or sustained goal.
What are you looking forward to this year? Are there any goals (personal or professional), activities, or experiences you are excited about?
I’m currently in the Aspen Institute’s First Mover’s Fellowship program – each fellow is focused on a project with both business benefit and positive societal impact. My project is focused on the intersection of building people’s digital capabilities and product sustainability as a unique talent differentiator. I have been reinvigorated both personally and professionally by the Fellowship, especially by how it’s refreshed my own capabilities in addressing new challenges.
We believe that category-defining companies of the future will be largely “mission driven” with societal impact as a core pillar of company culture. Our mission is to catalyze societal impact for venture backed companies and to bridge the divide between catalytic philanthropy and the innovation economy.
Rise Together Ventures is a next generation venture franchise that is pioneering a novel and integrated approach to venture philanthropy and venture capital investing. We invest in high-growth, for-profit companies led by mission-driven founders; and we empower these entrepreneurs to catalyze social impact within the culture of their companies by providing them with philanthropic capital in parallel with an equity investment (which we call “Philanthropic Mirroring”).
We began testing our model in mid 2021 and to date, our novel investment strategy has earned us allocations in oversubscribed financings where we have invested alongside top-tier firms such as a16z, Founders Fund, Softbank, Summit Partners, Shasta Ventures, and MSD Capital. We have found that both founders and investors are willing to carve out allocations for us based on the strategic value and social capital that comes with our Philanthropic Mirroring capability (see end of document for two recent examples).
The vision for Rise Together Ventures, and our Philanthropic Mirroring framework, was born out of the unique perspective and backgrounds of our two founding GPs. Both partners have had significant experience in philanthropy, venture capital, and startup operations. On the venture capital front, we have built thematically focused venture funds, invested in venture funds, founded companies, and have played operating roles in venture backed companies. Collectively, we manage a portfolio of 60+ direct investments and 10+ LP positions. On the philanthropic front, we have managed family foundations, served on non-profit boards, founded a non-profit and foundation, and are active partners in some of the largest and most innovative global philanthropic communities.
We are positioned at the intersection of a number of converging trends and we are prioritizing partnership in an effort to capture and scale social and financial alpha.
- We are entering a new period of innovation with respect to the structure and composition of venture capital, where new entrants and novel capital models are starting to disrupt the innovation landscape.
- There is a generational shift of both private and institutional investors who are seeking to engage in some form of ‘impact’ investing, while simultaneously searching for philanthropic strategies that can replicate the discipline, innovation and impact of their investment strategies. In short, the for-profit and nonprofit capital markets are converging.
- There is a growing demand for companies of all sizes and stages, not just corporations, to give back to society and refine their approach to Corporate Social Responsibility. Beyond the demands of public perception, enterprises are being challenged to attract a new generation of talent that is demanding meaningful work, with purpose beyond themselves.
Our commitment to bridge the gap between catalytic philanthropy and venture capital is driven by our belief that capitalistic innovation is the most powerful engine for mutual benefit and societal impact, and we seek to champion the idea that “doing well by doing good” is the best approach to value creation. Rise Together Ventures will connect, and mutually leverage, for-profit and nonprofit pools of capital – with the ultimate goal of creating outsized financial and social returns.
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FAQ with commonly asked questions regarding the Philanthropic Mirroring concept:
What is a Philanthropic Mirror (PM)?
A Philanthropic Mirror is a pool of philanthropic capital that is allocated alongside an equity investment in a for-profit company and strategically and collaboratively deployed on behalf of said company.
What is the purpose of a Philanthropic Mirror?
The purpose of a Philanthropic Mirror is to amplify the social impact initiatives and capabilities of a for-profit company by leveraging the power of catalytic philanthropy and its ability to strengthen corporate culture and social impact.
What can I use my Philanthropic Mirroring budget for (and what can I not)?
The PM budget needs to be deployed in collaboration with a public charity or foundation and is most strategically valuable when deployed in strategic or thematic alignment with the company’s mission. We work alongside our portfolio companies to decide the best use of the philanthropic capital and we can get creative on how to deliver the best outcome. In some cases, it will be a donation to a mission-aligned nonprofit; in other cases, it will be a bespoke in-house initiative that we co-create.
Do you take equity from the company from this philanthropic investment?
We take equity in exchange for the investment from our venture fund, however the philanthropic capital is deployed separately and does not impact the balance sheet or cap table of the company.
Is there a timeline for when a company needs to utilize my Philanthropic Mirroring budget?
No. It is evergreen, and many companies will in fact not want to deploy it right away.
When is the best time to use the Philanthropic Mirroring budget?
It varies by company; some companies may deploy it in association with an upcoming fundraise announcement, and others may deploy it in conjunction with a marketing campaign, while others may deploy it as part of a new product or service launch.
Do I need to use my whole budget for only one impact initiative, or can I fund multiple initiatives?
You can use it for multiple initiatives, and at different times.
How much time does a founder or company need to dedicate to deploying the PM budget?
We aim to keep the time commitment to a minimum, and engage the company/founders as much or as little as they desire. We have a vast network in philanthropy and broad experience with non-profits, so we can offer close guidance throughout our entire relationship.
What are some examples of Philanthropic Mirroring that you’ve completed with other portfolio companies?
- Example 1: Formative. Series A investment in a for-profit edtech company; philanthropic mirror is building and seeding a teacher fast-grant program for their teacher community to empower these educators to continue to innovate in the classroom.
- Example 2: Flexport. Series E investment in a for-profit digital logistics company; philanthropic mirror is a donation to a foundation that delivers aid to disaster areas as well as helps companies limit their carbon emissions.
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Contact Info:
Kasey Lundquist Reiter, General Partner, Rise Together Ventures
Taylor Adams, General Partner, Rise Together Ventures