VC Intensives for the Toigo Foundation

The Toigo Foundation was founded to help reduce the barriers to entry minority MBAs too often face, and provides support from the classroom to the boardroom. In my work for The Toigo Foundation, I develop curriculum for current MBAs to evaluate venture capital as a career path.  I have spent my career in different roles across the innovation ecosystem - at venture firms, as an operator, and at the industry’s trade group the National Venture Capital Association where I had the opportunity to work closely with Nancy Sims, President and CEO of the Toigo Foundation and we have continued our work together. I designed curriculum to enable Toigo Fellows to learn more about venture capital, to evaluate whether the field might be the right fit for them, and how to prepare for an interview with a venture capital firm.

In addition, I selected venture capital investors representing a range of perspectives — firm founders, general partners at long-standing firms, emerging venture fund managers, and corporate venture capital investors. Speakers included Lisa Calhoun, Founding Managing Partner of Valor Ventures in Atlanta and Kate Mitchell, Co-Founder and Partner of Scale Venture Partners, Tanvi Lal of Intuit Ventures, M. Jaione Maiz, PhD, MBA of Anzu Partners, Arpan Punyani of Garuda Ventures, Reynaldo Kirton of Forgepoint Capital, Santi Subotovsky, General Partner, Emergence Capital and a Toigo alumni, Peter Liu, Founder and General Partner of Revelry Venture Partners and Matt Blodgett, Founder and General Partner of Praxis Ventures.