Women’s Entrepreneurship Summit

This annual event, hosted by the UF Warrington College of Business Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center, offers inspirational stories and lessons learned from successful women entrepreneurs. The event provides opportunities for women to connect with peers and other successful women business leaders to foster a community of women in entrepreneurship where they benefit through mentoring, network building, start-up and career advice, internships and role models.

2022 Summit

Better Together: Women Co-founders, Collaborators, and Changemakers

Friday March 25, 2022
10:00 AM – 11:45 AM
Offered virtually via Zoom

Learn about, share and celebrate the empowering potential of women’s entrepreneurship.

The UF Entrepreneurship & Innovation Center and the Collaboratory for Women Innovators invite students, faculty, staff, and members of the UF community to attend the Women’s Entrepreneurship Summit. This event offers inspirational stories and lessons learned from successful women entrepreneurs. The event provides opportunities for UF women to connect with peers and other successful business leaders to foster shared learning and community-building, as well as networking, mentoring, start-up and career advice, and career connections.

This event is free and open to all students, faculty, staff, grads, friends, and community members. Click on “Join Us” to register & receive the Zoom link.

The 2022 virtual event will feature:

  • Seyi Falade
    Seyi Falade

    MC

    Vice President of Cornerstone Barricades, a Maintenance of Traffic (MOT) service provider specializing in road construction and safety. As Vice President, Seyi Falade leads business development, strategic planning and general management oversight at Cornerstone Barricades, Inc. Seyi spearheaded the launch and growth of Cornerstone Barricades due to her keen ability to identify strategic partnerships which helped establish credibility in the local construction community. As a firm believer in community outreach and education, Seyi presently serves as on the Development Committee with Alachua Habitat for Humanity and as a Guest Lecturer at the University of Florida’s Warrington School of Business. Seyi earned her Bachelor of Science from the UF’s College of Health and Human Performance in 2003. After graduation she served as an AmeriCorps Literacy Coach for at-risk youth in the Alachua County School Board system. In 2005, she was awarded the Segal AmeriCorps Education Award for her leadership and community service. Ms. Falade then honed her business acumen working with the NBA, IMG and 3M. In 2011, she graduated from HULT International Business School – London with a Master of Business Administration.
  • Berthrhude Albert
    Dr. Bertrhude Albert

    Keynote

    Dr. Bertrhude Albert is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of P4H Global. She is a Ph.D. graduate from the department of Agricultural Education and Communication at the University of Florida with a specialization in Extension Education. As a Haitian American, Dr. Albert finds herself enamored by the story of the Haitian people and is committed to seeing countries rise to their full potential and destiny through sustainable development and human capacity growth. Throughout her academic journey, Dr. Albert has received several awards such as UF’s Hall of Fame, UF’s Teaching Assistant of the Year, the International Outreach Award, and has been awarded UF’s 40 Under 40, among many others.

    Under the leadership of Dr. Albert and Dr. Zelaya, P4H has grown to become the largest teacher training nonprofit in Haiti, now operating in all 10 of the country’s geographical departments and already having trained nearly 8,000 educators across Haiti. P4H also partners with various organizations to support the improvement of educational quality in Haiti, including Food for the Poor, the Inter-American Development Bank, The Digicel Foundation, and the University of Konstanz in Germany.
  • Priscilla Zelaya
    Dr. Priscilla Zelaya

    Keynote

    Dr. Priscilla Zelaya is the Co-Founder and Chief Operations Officer of P4H Global. She is a Nicaraguan-American committed to eradicating abject poverty around the world. Dr. Zelaya received her BA and M.Ed degrees from the University of Florida in Elementary Education and her Ph.D. in Agricultural Education and Communication. Between her Masters and Ph.D. degree, Dr. Zelaya taught 2nd grade at a Title 1 school in Gainesville, FL. Priscilla drew upon her rich experience as a former elementary school teacher to create P4H’s innovative educational programs and to lead the curriculum development, evaluation design and training design for P4H. Dr. Zelaya was awarded UF’s 40 Under 40 in 2020

    Under the leadership of Dr. Albert and Dr. Zelaya, P4H has grown to become the largest teacher training nonprofit in Haiti, now operating in all 10 of the country’s geographical departments and already having trained nearly 8,000 educators across Haiti. P4H also partners with various organizations to support the improvement of educational quality in Haiti, including Food for the Poor, the Inter-American Development Bank, The Digicel Foundation, and the University of Konstanz in Germany.
  • Vassia Daskalakis
    Vassia Daskalakis

    Panelist

    Vas is a former JPM Investment Banker who moved from New York to Nairobi to raise capital for startups & SMEs across East Africa with investment advisor, I-DEV International. She subsequently built up an early stage ed-tech startup as Growth Manager, helping to refine their model to achieve product-market fit for Pan-African expansion. Africa AI Labs developed organically from her work at a Kiambu orphanage to stop high school graduated orphans from returning to the slums from which they were rescued.
  • Pearis Bellamy
    Pearis Bellamy

    Panelist

    Pearis Bellamy, M.S. is a counseling psychology doctoral candidate at the University of Florida. Pearis’ research and clinical interests include trauma specifically intimate partner violence, sexual violence, and racial trauma. In 2020, Pearis dreamed up Academics for Black Survival and Wellness, alongside her mentor, Dr. Della Mosley, in hopes of providing healing and support for Black people through collective action in academia. The initiative has garnered over 15,000 participants from across the world who are participating or have participated in anti-racism trainings centered on accountability and action (non-Black participants) and healing and wellness workshops and experiences (Black participants).
  • Alison Webster
    Alison Webster

    Panelist

    COO and co-founder of Plaine Products (a certified B Corporation), on a mission to eliminate single-use plastic from the bathroom. Plaine Products are toxin-free, vegan products in reusable aluminum bottles that are sent back to be refilled.
  • Liz Getman
    Liz Getman

    Panelist

    Founder & Director of Inspiration at Rise Collective, a media agency for change that uses an inclusive and equitable approach to digital marketing.

  • Khe Hy
    Khe Hy

    Women entrepreneurs, leaders, and changemakers matter

    Khe Hy is the founder and CEO of RadReads, an online education platform that helps professionals lead productive, examined and joyful lives. Khe is creator of the $10K Work productivity framework and teaches the popular cohort-based course Supercharge Your Productivity. RadReads provides guides, trainings, and coaching for over 30,000 professionals to help them gain back free time, scale their impact, and make their little dent in the universe.

    Before founding RadReads, Khe spent 15 years working on Wall Street and was one of the youngest Managing Directors at BlackRock. He’s been called Oprah for Millennials by CNN and the Wall Street Guru by Bloomberg and his work has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, TedX, Barrons, Time Magazine and Quartz.
  • Anna Sampson
    Anna Sampson

    Carbon, Water, and Waste Calculating & Offsetting Expert & WES Offsetting Partner

    Anna Grace Sampson is the director of We Are Neutral (a pending B Corp), an environmental nonprofit that assists individuals and organizations with understanding, reducing, and managing their comprehensive carbon footprints. She received her Masters in Sustainable Architecture from the Savannah College of Art and Design in 2009 and completed the required 5,600 Intern Development Program hours to become a licensed architect. She has since used her creative and mathematical education to fight climate change in the nonprofit sector. Anna is a volunteer energy auditor, TEDx speaker, guest lecturer, and mentor to young professionals.
  • Payal Khurana
    Payal Khurana

    Moment of Mindfulness

    Like many entrepreneurs, Payal Khurana considers herself devoted. Her deepest devotion? Supporting others to serve the moment with intention and unwavering presence. She was born in India, raised in Tampa, Fl and went to the University of Florida to get her BS in Computer Engineering. She spent 8 years working in healthcare IT and living all over the country, and then returned to Gainesville to co-found Starter Space, a co-working space. She later created a 6-week mindfulness program to support others with tools to move through disconnection, distraction and dissatisfaction. In 2018, she founded and invited thousands of people into the doors of Gainesville’s very first mindfulness studio, The Mindful Co, a company supporting others to serve the moment with intention and unwavering presence. Currently, Payal is working on her first book and continuing to focus on supporting others to practice power differently through presence.
  • Andrea Scher
    Andrea Scher

    Moment of Wonder

    Andrea Scher is an author, artist and life coach whose work is driven by her belief in the transformative power of creativity for joy and wellbeing. For nearly two decades, through her award-winning blog Superhero Journal, her Creative Superheroes podcast, and her bestselling e-courses, Andrea has thrilled others with their own power to find magic all around them.

    Her new book, Wonder Seeker: 52 Ways to Wake up Your Creativity and Find Your Joy (HarperCollins) straddles the world of creativity and mindfulness – playfully inspiring readers to live more vibrant lives full of presence, joy and connection.
  • Brandi Sadler
    Brandi Sadler

    Moment of Movement

    In August 2019 Brandi opened Wildflowers Yoga, in the heart of Gainesville’s Grove Street district. In addition to running the studio, Brandi teaches weekly classes and workshops, holds cacao classes and ceremonies, is the lead teacher for the Wildflowers Yoga alignment based 300hr yoga teacher training in Gainesville, is a Prema breathwork facilitator, and co-teachers other 200 & 300 hour trainings at various sacred locations around the world. Brandi teaches a range of weekly classes from Ashtanga and flow to Inversions and yin. In each of these classes, Brandi will encourage you to find a deeper awareness of the body, mind and breath connection which helps to clear the mind to move into a greater state of equanimity in life.

Presented by:

  • Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center, Warrington College of Business
  • UF Center for Gender, Sexualities, and Women's Studies Research
  • Collaboratory for Inclusive Entrepreneurship

Partners:

  • Inclusion, Engagement, Excellence: We Are Warrington, University of Florida
  • Women in Business Association

News

Past Speakers

Photo Album: 2017 Women’s Entrepreneurship Symposium

Questions?

Dr. Kristin Joys
Program Director
352.273.0355 | Email Kristin

Make a Difference Sponsorships

Sponsor scholarships for deserving women who could not otherwise attend. Contact Kristin Joys.