Journey To Lead

As the first in her Florida-based family to go to college, Jomayra Herrera quickly realized that her parents were right: Education would become a powerful lever in her life. She was the first in her high school to attend Stanford, graduating with honors before collecting a masters in education. Jomayra resolved to make that personal lever work for others, dedicating her professional life to democratizing access to education and opportunity, primarily through venture capital. “I want to create a north star for the girl I was,” she says. She gained experience as an impact driver at Laurene Powell Jobs’ Emerson Collective and was listed on the Forbes “30 Under 30” list. After two years at Cowboy Ventures she joined Reach Capital as a partner, investing in early-stage technologies across learning, health, and work. Reach’s portfolio companies range from offering free tutoring for students to improving access to pediatric specialty care.   In 2020, Jomayra wrote a thesis on the history of labor markets and the need to inject security into the flexibility of today’s evolving gig economy. The Substack version led to a Reach investment and Jomayra’s position on the board of WorkWhile, providing workers with access to flexible shifts and benefits like free telehealth and training. Now Jomayra is using her thought leadership and investment savvy to find solutions for a broken healthcare system, which she experienced first-hand after being diagnosed as pre-diabetic. “For me, this is personal,” Jomayra says. In 2021, she founded Reach Roadrunners, a yearlong fellowship program bringing together founders, operators, and practitioners focused on innovation in education and the future of work. The community now numbers 100, spawning new startups and opening capital opportunities. Jomayra’s impact goes beyond Reach Capital: She is also president of the nonprofit SomosVC which is on a mission to increase the numbers of Latinos in venture capital. (Despite being the country’s fastest growing minority group, Latinos represent just 1% of venture employees.) “I’ve been the first or the only in so many rooms,” Jomayra says. “I want to change that.” Do you know a mission-driven woman on the cusp of top leadership who could scale her impact via Journey To Lead? Nominate her or tell her to apply at: https://lnkd.in/eGQTeuk7. Fellow headshot captured by Heather Crowder

JOURNEY is grateful for the inspiring women leaders in our community and beyond who are driving change. Your passion and determination motivate us daily—let’s continue uplifting and empowering one another. #WomenWhoLead #Leadership #Gratitude

"To really drive change in venture, we need to start with ownership.” That sentiment was top of mind when Jennifer Keiser Neundorfer co-founded January Ventures nearly seven years ago with her partner Maren Bannon. After earning a BA from Harvard and an MBA from Stanford, Jen’s early career was notable for her success as an operator, launching digital ventures and businesses at 21st Century Fox and YouTube. Drawn by the desire to build early-stage companies, she left big business to focus on the thrill of taking new ideas and technologies from 0 to 1. Jen was also seeing, first hand, the closed-loop cycle of venture capital: the same VCs were investing in the same types of founders, building wealth for the same small circles, and leaving a lot of value on the table. “For an industry obsessed with innovation, there’s been surprisingly little of it.” “January” is about changing that. It’s the start of the year, where the fund invests in the earliest stages of tech startups with the potential to define categories. It’s also the start of new patterns with today’s outlier founders redefining what it means to be a successful founder.  “With a certain pedigree, network or geography,” Jen notes, “it is easy to unlock capital. If not, it can be nearly impossible—even for the highest potential founders with the best ideas.”  Only 11% of venture partners are women, and 75% of VC firms have no female investing partner. Little wonder that only 2% of VC dollars flow to female founders (a number that is even lower for women of color). January Ventures democratizes access to financial, social, and emotional capital, runs a fellowship program, shares data on founders, and offers advice through Jen’s podcast, Beyond the Cap Table. Jen credits her rise to a Cuban immigrant mom whose family had to start their lives over in New York when she was 9. Her mom’s relentless work ethic and immense gratitude—combined with her management consultant father’s teachings on listening hard and always seeking feedback—shaped Jen’s high ambitions, “working like crazy to get there and taking nothing for granted.”  Today, Jen mentors founders at TechStars and SomosVC, and describes January Ventures as running on “the brains and grit of founders out there who are dreaming big, taking huge risks, and working tirelessly to create something out of nothing." Do you know a mission-driven woman on the cusp of top leadership who could scale her impact via Journey To Lead? Nominate her or tell her to apply at: https://lnkd.in/eGQTeuk7. Fellow headshot captured by Heather Crowder

Lori Castillo Martinez’s lifelong passion for recognizing and developing talent always starts with building great teams. “I was raised to believe that to achieve goals you need to be a leader that brings others along,” she says. A first-generation college student, her leadership started early – as captain of basketball and softball teams at her San Jose middle school. Lori credits her ambition, confidence, and strong networks to attending an all-girl’s high school. After obtaining a BA and Masters from the University of San Francisco, she took her leadership experience to Intel, joining the tech giant’s first ethics and compliance team. Lori joined Salesforce in 2018 as VP of global employee relations after entrepreneurial positions at Verisign, WMware and McKesson. An early pioneer in ethics and compliance, she built global functions in all three companies from the ground up. As Salesforce EVP and Chief Equality Officer,  Lori's assignment from the top was simple to say, complex to achieve: “Drive scale.” “In every role, I’ve focused on small wins that add up to big impact,” she says. Now Lori has an ambitious new “scout and scale” role as the global head of talent growth and development: How to rethink talent in an era of AI. This ardent fan of live music is undaunted by her mission to dive into an uncharted tech revolution at a company with a global workforce of nearly 73,000. And Lori is thinking beyond the walls of Salesforce as she contemplates greater societal impact, “I am determined to lift others as we rise, making sure we bring everyone along on this once-in-a-generation transformation to our AI and agentic future.” Do you know a mission-driven woman on the cusp of top leadership who could scale her impact via Journey To Lead? Nominate her or tell her to apply at: https://lnkd.in/eGQTeuk7. Fellow headshot captured by Heather Crowder

"Prevention is cheaper than treatment." - Karen Fang, Bank of America's Global Head of Sustainable Finance, on why the world needs to invest more in climate-resilient infrastructure. Congratulations to Karen, JOURNEY Member from our Fellows class of 2022-23, for making the TIME 100 Climate list of the Most Influential Climate Leaders in Business! https://lnkd.in/dYq_4aDW Photo-Illustration by TIME (Source Image: Courtesy Karen Fang)

Jennifer Xia Spradling often reflects on the role of luck in life—especially the divide between the lucky and the unlucky—and how to even the playing field for those with less fortune in their lives. It's a belief that fuels the company she co-founded, FreeWill, which is on a mission to accelerate charitable giving. Nonprofits,the third-largest employer in the U.S., tackle massive challenges such as cancer, climate change, and poverty with limited resources. "The issue," Jenny says, "isn’t a lack of human capital—U.S. nonprofits employ 12 million people—but a lack of funding." Today, FreeWill is the country's largest provider of wills and trusts, enabling clients to integrate charitable donations into their estate planning at six times the national average. Jenny's personal story of luck begins with flats of apples her parents purchased from Costco—a reminder of the stark contrast with their childhoods in China's Cultural Revolution-era countryside, where they were so poor that siblings would share a single apple once or twice a year. In contrast, Jenny grew up north of Seattle in a warm and secure environment, the daughter of well-educated parents, attending a top-rated high school. But summers spent visiting relatives in China – who were still living in poverty—grounded her in the reality of inequality. "I could never understand why I got to live this life, while kind, smart people I met there used holes in the ground as toilets," she recalls. After earning a BA in Applied Mathematics from Harvard and an MBA from Stanford, Jenny honed her strategic skills at Bain and McKinsey before co-founding FreeWill seven years ago. Her aim is to capitalize on the "great wealth transfer"—the largest movement of money in human history—as baby boomers pass down their wealth. Jenny’s goal is to raise at least $1 trillion for high-impact nonprofits. So far, FreeWill’s platform has facilitated over $10 billion in philanthropic commitments. "We’ve successfully encouraged mass affluent boomers to make significant charitable commitments," Jenny notes. "Our next challenge is engaging high-net-worth individuals in estate planning through our new product for financial advisors, Estately. I want to flood nonprofits with the resources they need to make a lasting impact." She adds, "I believe that charitable giving is one of the best ways to redistribute wealth from those who have been lucky to those who have not.” Do you know a mission-driven woman on the cusp of top leadership who could scale her impact via Journey To Lead? Nominate her or tell her to apply at: https://lnkd.in/eGQTeuk7. Fellow headshot captured by Heather Crowder

"Talent is everywhere. Opportunity is not,” is a mantra often repeated by Meta senior director Alex-Handrah Aime. Expanding economic mobility for all is a defining trait of Alex’s super-charged career from Goldman Sachs to private equity in Africa to global head of Meta’s network investments, where she now oversees the launch of the 2Africa subsea cable—the world’s largest—bringing much needed internet infrastructure to billions across Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. Her work has also supported Meta’s emerging market digital infrastructure and connectivity investment programs, which improved internet access for hundreds of millions. Alex’s journey began in the working-class enclaves of Port-au-Prince, Haiti and Brooklyn, NY, a world far removed from the global platforms where she now drives innovation and change. The daughter of immigrants who traded professional aspirations for survival—her accountant father took work as a line cook and taxi driver while her mother toiled in a Long Island factory—Alex's intellect and grit led her to the Bronx High School of Science, an academic powerhouse known for spawning Nobel Prize winners, and a gateway of opportunity for many determined immigrant families. From there, she earned a Harvard BA in biochemistry, followed by a law degree and MBA from Stanford. As she scaled the heights of Wall Street and Silicon Valley, she worked across four continents. Alex’s upbringing has shaped her world outlook—don't be limited by other people’s limited expectations—and her leadership style—focus on inclusion and challenge conventional thinking to drive lasting impact. As a passionate angel investor, she champions underrepresented founders, while her board positions with leading African companies, as a former private equity executive, have solidified her role as a catalyst for continental growth. She is currently a member of the investment committee of one of Africa's largest early-stage venture funds. From her base in Los Angeles, Alex extends her impact as a commissioner on the county's Workforce Development Board, spearheading initiatives for economic equity and digital inclusion. “My life story could not exist anywhere but the U.S.,” she says, and for that reason is deeply committed to contributing via public service. In this AI-driven era, Alex views digital access as the new frontier for equity and unlocking economic opportunity; if we’re intentional, technology can be an enabler for historically marginalized and under-invested communities. Alex isn't just opening doors. She's building new pathways to success, ensuring that talent, regardless of origin, has the power to transform our world. Do you know a mission-driven woman on the cusp of top leadership who could scale her impact via Journey To Lead? Nominate her or tell her to apply at: https://lnkd.in/eGQTeuk7. Fellow headshot captured by Heather Crowder

Food waste is the No. 1 contributor to climate change, creating even more methane than cows or cars. Christine Moseley, Founder & CEO of Full Harvest, is on a mission to change that, applying her considerable entrepreneurial heft in raising capital and building startups to scale the first business-to-business produce marketplace that helps farms sell their "full harvests." Today, 25% of all edible produce does not leave the farm level, making on-farm food loss the largest portion of the global food waste problem. “At Full Harvest, we are completely disrupting, and bringing online for the first time ever, one of the largest, oldest industries that everyone in the world depends on—the $1 trillion produce industry, while also solving the largest portion of the #1 contributor to climate change,” she says. Christine grew up in Bradenton, Florida (recently hit by Hurricane Helene & Milton) with a mother who is the Founder & CEO of an investment management firm and a father who was President of The Boys and Girls Club and Kiwanis. “The combination of entrepreneurship and impact is in my blood,” she says. At the University of North Carolina, Christine—who played competitive piano from age 5 to 17—was determined to democratize music education and launched a non-profit pairing underserved children with college student music teacher volunteers. Musical Empowerment is still going strong over 20 years later, with eight chapters nationwide. Currently, her company Full Harvest works with some of the largest food & beverage companies, retailers, and farms in the world and now sells all grades of produce, including the world's largest selection of surplus and imperfect produce. The marketplace has helped food businesses save up to 10-30% off on costs and up to 95% of their procurement time, while helping farms to increase profit by up to 12% per acre. To-date, the company has sold over 125M pounds of surplus and imperfect produce, most of which would have otherwise gone to waste, and has plans to become the Amazon of produce for businesses. Christine received an MBA from Wharton Business School, and gained more than 15 years in the logistics and food industries before launching Full Harvest. Christine has appeared on lists like Fortune’s “Most Innovative Women in Food & Drink,” Forbes’ “Woman Crushing Tech” and “Most Innovative Agtech Startups.” She has raised over $40 million and become a leading authority on agriculture’s role in climate change—and what needs to change. “Our vision is a world where there is 0% food waste and 100% 'full harvests,’ where all edible produce grown goes towards consumption,” she says. To learn more, check out www.fullharvest.com or www.christinemoseley.com. Do you know a mission-driven woman on the cusp of top leadership who could scale her impact via Journey To Lead? Nominate her or tell her to apply at: https://lnkd.in/eGQTeuk7. Fellow headshot captured by Heather Crowder

When Wendy-Kay Logan’s mother, a nurse, made the brave decision to leave Jamaica for better opportunities, she left her two young daughters behind while navigating the US immigration system. While gone, a Category 5 hurricane devastated the family’s hometown of Kingston; friends and family stepped up to keep the girls safe. That combination of a mother’s sacrifice for her children, and a community coming together to support a family’s dreams for a better future, left an indelible mark on Wendy-Kay, her leadership at Google—and her aspirations to become a CEO. Growing up in Texas, the family struggled financially—“layaway” offered its own lessons in the value of saving and sacrifice. As an immigrant, Wendy-Kay climbed an impressively steep higher-ed ladder without the benefit of connections, collecting a BA with honors in computer science from Rice University, and an MS in computer science and MBA from MIT. A career blend of tech prowess and business training led to jobs at Motorola, National Instruments, Raytheon, and McKinsey before she landed at Google. Along the way, Wendy-Kay uplifted other women of color, to “lift as we climb.” Activating technology for good has been a hallmark of Wendy-Kay’s career as a Google executive. She was on the frontlines designing contact tracing systems to slow the spread of COVID-19. She has advanced data privacy protections for billions of G-Mail users, spearheaded initiatives in developing countries to bring more communities online, and oversaw a communications platform enabling consumers to seamlessly chat with millions of businesses.  Little wonder that this proud Jamaican Texan is in demand as an strategic tech advisor to CEOs and C-Suites. “My goal,” she says, “is to raise the ceiling of human ambition, potential, and capability through technology.” Do you know a mission-driven woman on the cusp of top leadership who could scale her impact via Journey To Lead? Nominate her or tell her to apply at: https://lnkd.in/eGQTeuk7. Fellow headshot captured by Heather Crowder

Talia Goldberg, a General Partner at Bessemer Venture Partners, rose to the heights of a mostly-male world without connections, experience, or female mentors. During her 11 years as a venture capitalist with her own impressive track record, she has developed an appreciation for technology’s profound ability to better human lives. "It's small teams of ambitious innovators who can bend and change the world," she says. Talia was born on New Mexico’s Zuni reservation where her doctor parents served the local communities. She grew up in Portland, Oregon, attended the University of Pennsylvania and Wharton, and was on the founding team of a startup before finding her mission at Bessemer. She partners with promising teams whose companies can better the way we live and work, and democratize access to knowledge and well-being. Nearly half of her investments are with female founders. “I work with founders everyday who inspire me,” she says. Talia led investments in and or serves on the boards of Perplexity, Papaya Global, Rupa Health, Supermaven, Syndio, and ServiceTitan, among others. As a venture capitalist in a fast-changing world, Talia’s recipe for success is “how to maximize opportunities – and knowing when to strike. Bold is called for today.” Do you know a mission-driven woman on the cusp of top leadership who could scale her impact via Journey To Lead? Nominate her or tell her to apply at: https://lnkd.in/eGQTeuk7 Fellow headshot captured by Heather Crowder