RESCHEDULED DT | WISTEMM & Kauffman Foundation Presents- Close the Gap for Women in STEMM: The Entrepreneurial Path -Part II of Series

Join WiSTEMM and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation for the second in a multi-part series designed to explore how to support the makers, doers and dreamers in STEMM. We believe entrepreneurship offers women unique opportunities.  Female founders in STEMM are needed to help close the workforce gap and Kansas City's vibrant startup community is ready to welcome you. 

In Part I Kathleen Boyle Dalen, Chief Talent, Integration and Culture Officer at Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, facilitated a panel discussion with experts and local entrepreneurs about how they got their start with their own businesses, how to mitigate the fear of not having that perfect idea, and misconceptions surrounding entrepreneurism.  Panelists included: Maria Flynn, President & CEO Orbis Biosciences; Dominique Davison, Founder/CEO PlanIT Impact; and Chrys Sullivan, CEO Useagility.

In Part II Kathleen will move panelists further into the mechanics of starting a business by identifying the vast resources that the metro area holds, including an entire ecosystem devoted to entrepreneurial resources.  Panelists on February 22nd include: Sherry Turner (Women's Business Center), Jenny Miller (KC Sourcelink) and Michelle Markey (FastTrac, Kauffman).

Michele Markey
Field Executive, Kauffman Foundation
Michele Markey is a Field Executive for the Kauffman Foundation. Michele is the author of SheVENTURE, Success Strategies for Female Entrepreneurs a book to help women as they launch, develop, and grow businesses. Michele is an internationally recognized speaker, serving as a featured speaker for the U.S. State Department’s Women’s Entrepreneurship in the Americas, a program that aims to increase women’s economic participation. Additionally, Michele has been a guest contributor for MSNBC, MarketWatch, Bloomberg News, The Wall Street Journal, and many other national & local publications. Prior to joining the Kauffman Foundation, Markey was the vice president of Kauffman FastTrac. Markey has worked with hundreds of businesses to develop their learning and development strategy, including Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville Store, University of California Berkeley, The Gap, Sprint and Coca Cola.

Jenny Miller
Network Builder, KCSourcelink
As Network Builder for KCSourceLink, Jenny Miller is responsible for the entire KCSourceLink network, from Resource Partner relationships to entrepreneurial outreach to special event. Jenny talks with entrepreneurs and business owners to see where they are in their business and where they want to go. She then directs them to the right resource that can help them get there and identifies gaps in the network that can be filled by collaborations. She also promotes KCSourceLink through community speaking engagements and the oversight of high-profile entrepreneurial events such as Global Entrepreneurship Week.
 
Sherry Turner
President, Women’s Employment Network
With a variety of experiences from corporate management to business development to entrepreneurship, Sherry Turner now serves the Kansas City metropolitan area in a leadership role with the Women’s Employment Network, the Women’s Business Center, Women’s Capital Connection and WE-Lend.  Mission alignment of these organizations creates financial independence for women in our community through sustained employment, the advancement of women business owners in all stages of their businesses and access to capital through micro lending and equity investments.