We invite you to join us at The Woods House in Hazelwood for a special, in-person, panel discussion event with local leaders. Have the chance to listen in on an exciting discussion centered around startups, tech and social impact!
Meet these fantastic founders and leaders, learn more about the valuable work they are doing within their organizations and the social impact they each have on the community! During the discussion, you will hear firsthand about how they got started, the mission behind their organizations, their own personal journeys as founders, and then there will be time for you to ask your questions at the end.
Coffee & Conversations: How to be a Changemaker
Entrepreneurship, Tech & Social Impact
Priya Amin (speaker), CEO & Founder of Flexable
Damola Idowu (speaker), CEO of Toyz Electronics
Daniel Little (speaker), CEO of involveMint
Jennifer Apicella (moderator), President & CEO of Build412 Tech
Complimentary coffee and light bites provided by The Woods House. Face masks and social distancing strictly enforced. This event is free and open to the public. Registration is required and attendance is very limited, so please be sure to attend once registered (or cancel so that another may take your place.)
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Priya Amin
Priya is an entrepreneur, TEDx speaker and mother to two boys, Ronin and Kirin. She holds an MBA from the University of Arizona, and worked as a product and brand manager at corporations such as IBM and Nestle. In 2012, she left her high powered career to be home with her two boys, and never looked back. After successfully launching and running a marketing consulting firm called ROKI, she began looking for ways to continue fostering creativity and entrepreneurship among women. She launched Flexable, LLC in 2016 and was accepted to the 16th cohort of the AlphaLab Accelerator program in 2016. Flexable has gained regional and national attention for providing innovative childcare solutions, most notably on-site childcare at offices and events. Since the onset of the COVID-19 global pandemic, Flexable pivoted to offering Virtual Childcare hosted by fully vetted Flexable Facilitators to keep kids 3-10 years old engaged, so working parents can take back their schedule.
Damola Idowu
Damola is an innovator, author, journalist, songwriter, musician, engineer, entrepreneur, publisher, executive, educator, technologist, and performing artist, with 25+ years of activity in the hip-hop community. He serves as CEO of Toyz Electronics, a startup at the Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship at Carnegie Mellon University. He has commercialized and distributed millions of copies of multi-media products he created. These products reached over 20,000 points of sale across 6 continents in over 30 countries. He pioneered the intersection of Hip-Hop and comic books with Da Great Deity Dah and the intersection of Hip-Hop and Business with Owners Illustrated Magazine.
Daniel Little
Daniel is the CEO at involveMint, an organization that builds community exchange networks - marketplaces for community service and local businesses - in low income communities. These enable communities affected by systemic challenges and inequalities to transform into vibrant, healthy, and thriving places. He holds a BS CEE degree from Carnegie Mellon University and is well versed in the nonprofit sector, strategy and client relations through his work as an AmeriCorps NCCC and VISTA alum. His pitch for involveMINT won the Google for Entrepreneurs Startup Weekend Competition in 2015.
Jennifer Apicella
Jennifer is a leader, co-founder, speaker, collaborator, facilitator, community builder, advocate and connector. Currently she is the President & CEO of Build412 Tech and Program Director for the Pittsburgh Robotics Network. In her current work, she is dedicated to increasing awareness of all the amazing programs, people, resources, businesses, opportunities, and innovations relevant to our technology business ecosystem. When she isn’t in Zoom meetings, hosting tech networking events, volunteering with getWITit Pittsburgh (Women In Tech) or responding to a mountain of emails/messages, she enjoys drinking too much coffee, sleeping, all-things science fiction, and spending time with her husband, son and two dogs.