FWL Ep. 067 - Stella Miranda

Stella is Senior Software Developer at Unbounce. Previously, she served as Software Architect at Hearst and Chief Technology Officer at Mi Aguila. Stella is also the co-organizer of RubyConf Colombia.

Over the span of over 15 years’ experience as an educator, counselor, coach, mentor and leader in multicultural ecosystems, Blanca has honed in on how to create and cultivate spaces where people with diverse stories can feel safe and experience transformational growth. Blanca is well known for successfully launching multiple innovative programs, as well as creating the culture and ecosystem to support and sustain those programs. Growing up in the U.S. and Chile, navigating across cultures and codes became natural and key to Blanca's career. Her creativity and aptitude for communication have helped her to be successful in implementing specialized and sustainable education and mentor programs in diverse communities, across divides. After leading the award-winning BIG Incubator in Atlanta for digitalundivided, Blanca has been working as a coach and educator for emerging entrepreneurs, as well as an expert educational program designer and ecosystem builder in the Atlanta tech entrepreneurship space. Blanca is the CEO and founder of BCG Innovation, an innovative program design consultancy, and co-founder of Flagship Founders, an educational platform for emerging entrepreneurs. She leads Startup Education and is the EcosystemBuilder-in-Residence for The Intentionally Good Project and recently led the Walker’s Legacy PROSPECTUS Accelerator.

Femi is a Board Certified Coach and Consultant who is passionate about helping leaders unlock their potential. In her current role at YSC Consulting, she utilizes her expertise in cognitive psychology and applied data analysis to provide leadership insights, executive coaching and top team development to a range of Fortune 500 companies. She also partners with organizations to develop bespoke initiatives to promote workplace inclusion and drive impact. Prior to joining YSC, Femi was part of Catalyst’s Diversity and Inclusion practice, where she helped companies diagnose talent management gaps, identify best leadership practices, and create equitable workplaces in which talent can thrive. She is a champion of inclusion and diversity. Femi earned her Ph.D. in Psychology at Boston University, MSc in Cognitive Neuropsychology at University College London, and BA in Psychology at Cornell University. She’s lived in Lagos, Cleveland, London, Boston, and New York City; she feels most at home in London and most herself in NYC.

Esteban is the president and owner of the franchise ActionCOACH Ecuador chapter. He has a long experience in the corporate world in one of the large business groups in Ecuador (Grupo Futuro). His purpose is to help entrepreneurs and business leaders by sharing his experience and knowledge so that everyone generates a positive impact on their ecosystems. He wants to teach people to live in a world of infinite possibilities connecting their BEING away from their EGO. He has an MBA from IE (Instituto de Empresa) as well as a certificate in Business Coaching and Reingeenering of Unconscious thoughts (RIP Reingenieria del Pensamiento Inconsciente).

David Homan is the Vice President of LunaClipse Media, a company focused on the intersection of commercial media and impact/philanthropy, as well as the NEXUS NYC Ambassador and CEO of Orchestrated Connecting, LLC. David is a composer/pianist and impact-focused activist focusing on the relationships at the intersection of wealth, community, and philanthropy. Through his platform, Orchestrated Connecting, he writes, lectures, and hosts a Podcast focused on Relational Value, alongside maintaining a community of influencers whose platforms span major conferences, communities, and sectors with a focus on diversity, inclusion, and action. As a composer, he has 8 CDs, and his music is played on the radio worldwide, as well as part of shows in Discovery Channel, etc.

Carolina Castaneda is the Director for Europe of Federacion Nacional de Cafeteros de Colombia B.V. (FNC BV) since August 2016. FNC BV is the subsidiary for Europe of the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation (FNC) in Colombia. The FNC represents over 540,000 Colombian coffee growers. As director for FNC BV, Carolina oversees FNC´s coffee sales to Europe, promotes the image of Café de Colombia, and coordinates fundraising for projects that improve the living conditions of Colombian coffee farmers and the environment. Carolina started working for the FNC in risk management projects in October 2006 in Bogotá, Colombia.In April 2007, she moved to New York to work for Colombian Coffee Federation Inc., FNC’s branch in North America.  She started as Director of Investments and Special Projects, managing green coffee sales and the 100% Colombian Coffee Program. At the beginning of 2015, she was appointed Senior Director of Green Coffee Trading for North America. Before joining the coffee business, she worked at Colombia’s Central Bank (Banco de la República), Bancolombia, as well as at the Organization of American States (OAS) in Washington DC.

Alejandra Y. Castillo is the CEO of YWCA USA which serves 2.3 million women and girls around the country with a network of over 200 associations. YWCA plays a dual role as both a social service provider and an advocate for reform and justice. Alejandra has over two decades of professional experience in Washington, D.C., having served in senior leadership in two presidential administrations. Given her policy, legal and business expertise, she has worked in various public, private and non-profit settings. In 2014, Alejandra was appointed by the Obama Administration to serve as the national director of the Minority Business Development Agency, becoming the first Hispanic American woman to lead the agency. In that role, she helped secure financing and capital in excess of $19 billion and created or retained over 33,000 jobs. Alejandra holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the State University of New York at Stony Brook in economics and political science; a Master of Arts degree in public policy from the Lyndon Baines Johnson School of Public Affairs, the University of Texas at Austin; and a Juris Doctorate from American University, Washington College of Law. Alejandra is an active member of various civic and professional organizations and currently serves on several boards. She considers herself an example of the American dream and is proud to have raised two amazing nieces she calls her daughters. A long-standing and committed resident of the District of Columbia, Alejandra is a supporter of the arts and an avid international traveler.

Jeremy Courtney is the founder and CEO of Preemptive Love, a global organization providing relief, jobs, and community to end the war. His newest book, Love Anyway, casts a bold vision for how we can heal all that’s tearing us apart. Jeremy is a sought-after speaker and authority on peacemaking, conflict resolution, and the integration of activism, spirituality, and leadership. He lives with his family in Iraq.

Ivelyse Andino is an Afro-Latina health equity innovator born and raised in The Bronx. She is the founder and CEO of Radical Health and a Commissioner on the New York City Commission on Gender Equity. Ivelyse enjoyed a fledgling career in health tech, pioneering some of its first digital health solutions, including bringing the first mobile app prescribing platform to market and working with global clients such as National Health Service (NHS London) and Kaiser Permanente. While she routinely trained oncologists on new drugs, she found herself unprepared when her mother was diagnosed with cancer. This forced her to directly and intimately confront the systemic healthcare disparities she knew that existed. In founding Radical Health — the first Latina-owned and operated Benefit Corp in NYC — she has sought to combine her expertise in healthcare and her passion as a community organizer. Coming from a historically marginalized community herself, it was important for Ivelyse to initially build Radical Health by bringing together her neighbors around her kitchen table and hearing first-hand from voices — including the undocumented, women of color, elderly, young people, and LGBTQ — who are otherwise (figuratively and) literally never given a seat at the table to have a say in their own healthcare destiny. Through Radical Health, Ivelyse is committed to the task of transforming healthcare by facilitating health literacy and self-advocacy, as well as forging a relationship between meaningful face-to-face conversations with cutting-edge technology.

Lucas Simons is the Founder and CEO of NewForesight and SCOPEinsight. NewForesight is an International operating strategic consultancy company dedicated to turning sustainability challenges into market opportunities. SCOPEinsight is a business intelligence company dedicated to set the world standard for making Farmer Organizations more professional. SCOPEinsight developed a unique and scalable model that measures and tracks the professionalism of farmer organizations and agribusinesses. The model generates meaningful data insights that have informed the policies and strategies of over 2500 farmer organizations and agribusinesses, 60 NGOs, donors, governments, corporations, and financial institutions in 36 different countries and 26 sectors. He is author of the successful book ‘Changing the Food Game – Market Transformation strategies for sustainable agriculture’. And he teaches frequently at business schools and Universities on the topic of market transformation and systemic change management.