Author: hello_waffa

Lucinda Duncalfe is the founder of AboveBoard, an executive hiring platform connecting qualified executives with full-time and board opportunities. Study after study proves that installing leaders with different backgrounds serves shareholders, employees and the broader society. But the current approach to executive hiring depends too often on closed networks and processes with no transparency, a strategy which leads to a lack of diversity in hiring.

Lucinda is revolutionizing the way leadership roles are filled – opening them up on an inclusive platform so that everyone qualified has access rather than just those in existing networks. AboveBoard creates a fundamental shift in the dynamic of executive hiring, one that is overdue and can have far-reaching social impact.

Lucinda has had a truly remarkable career, beginning in the male-dominated tech startup industry of the mid-90’s. She’s founded three companies and led many others. Lucinda has earned accolades at the highest levels in the start-up world – like EY’s Entrepreneur of the Year and Enterprises Award’s CEO of the Year – and is much in demand as a public speaker. She has traveled the world – including a trip kayaking north of the Arctic Circle as part of leadership training. And to top it off, Lucinda is also a  Shotokan Karate instructor. And in 2017 she was named Senior Women’s Kumite US National Champion at the International Shotokan Karate Federation! 

Read more about Lucinda and her experiences building AboveBoard here.

If you are a Penn/Wharton female founder and would like to be highlighted in an upcoming WAFFA newsletter, just click here to provide us with info/photo.

BoCa Flavor, Caribbean-infused blends for everyday consumption from recent Wharton MBA graduate Jelece Morris. Read more about Jelece here.

We’ve created a special marketplace to highlight the wide range of innovative products and services developed by the WAFFA Female Founder community.

For example, this holiday season you can honor your favorite TroubleMaker with a gift of Trouble merchandise and recognition. Trouble was co-founded by Bari Harlam (Wharton BS, Masters AND PHD!) who is committed to accelerating progress on closing equity gaps for women and girls. Read more about Bari Harlam here.

Use code WAFFA5 to get 5% off of your order. AND, keep in mind that 100% of profits go to organizations that promote gender equity. Click to shop here.

Browse, shop, enjoy and share! And, if you are a Wharton or Penn alumnae and would like to be included in the Female Founder Shop, just fill in this form.

In 2017, Yinka Taiwo-Peters founded YTPshop, a contemporary African-inspired fashion brand for women. With no formal training and less than $200, she taught herself to design all products in the U.S. as she established a network of female artisans to manufacture in Nigeria, where she was born. Today, she has a small all-female team across Nigeria and the U.S. who continue to build and develop the brand. Read more about Yinka and her story.

All YTPShop products are ethically handcrafted by female artisans in Nigeria and the prints are sourced from West African markets. The brand celebrates the authentic African experience and adorns confident women with bold aesthetics and colors. Be sure to check out YTPshop in the WAFFA Female Founders store. Use promo code WHARTON for 20% of all products. Shop here.

In 2014, Camille Genise Heart was desperately seeking advice and products for her super curly hair. Camille realized as she studied the industry that the challenge wasn’t so much of a hair problem, it was more of content overload and navigating all the products out there. Camille began working on developing a whole new kind of brand for the indie beauty community. 

FELOH (Fell-Oh) is a conscious and inclusive social marketplace just for beauty. When users post their content in this social community, they get rewards called “curl coins” to shop the marketplace, where independently owned beauty brands list their products to sell.

This past August, Feloh launched their improved MVP version and to date have 200 users, 60 selling partners and 2,000 quality-made beauty products in the marketplace. They’ve have won two pitch competitions already and are raising their first pre-seed round now. Read more about Camille Genise Heard here, shown above (right) with co-Founder and COO Jacqueline Baron.

Support sustainably made and BIPOC businesses this holiday season by shopping Feloh in the WAFFA Female Founders store. Use promo code GO QUAKERS to get 15% off any order between 11/26-12/18/21.  Shop here.

We’ve created a special marketplace to highlight the wide range of innovative products and services developed by the WAFFA Female Founder community.

For example, this holiday season be sure to check out Eddi, a thoughtfully designed 100% plastic-free “hand washing system.” As Forbes reports, Eddi is disrupting “the otherwise staid hand soap market with elegant steel dispensers paired with hand soap refills packaged in highly recyclable, lightweight aluminum bottles.”

Co-Founders Sarah Pura WG’13 and Jamison Pereira WG’16 were struck by the fact that despite a growing plastic waste crisis, retail shelves are still stocked with single-use plastic. So they build Eddi to deliver to customers an enduring dispenser with simple refills in plastic-free, easy-to-recycle format. While sustainability may be the selling point, the brand woos customers with its aesthetics. Fast Company says – “This startup will make you fall in love with your hand soap dispenser.” 

Right now, an $82 starter set is just $65 (a 20% savings), plus use promo code HOLIDAYVIP for an extra $20 off at checkout. And use WHARTONPROUD for $10 off at other times. Click to shop here.

Browse, shop, enjoy and share! And, if you are a Wharton or Penn alumnae and would like to join the 50+ products/services in the Female Founder Shop, just fill in this form.

We’ve created a special marketplace to highlight the wide range of innovative products and services developed by the WAFFA Female Founder community.

For example, with jerky being such a popular snack these days, we’re excited to try this meat-alternative 100% plant based mushroom jerky, a new product called munchrooms. Made from whole, non-GMO shitake mushrooms, this handcrafted jerky has the subtle umami of mushrooms, the flavor of freshly ground spices and a meaty, satisfying texture.

munchrooms was founded by Gina Shia WG’19, whose snacking obsession led her to discover a variety of plant-based snacks during a work trip to Asia. Later, while researching mushroom cultivation techniques in Taiwan, she built a partnership with a small, multi-generational business to bring tasty, savory mushroom-based jerky with big flavors and real ingredients to the US.

They are super low in fat, carbs and calories, and high in nutrients like vitamin D, vitamins B2 and B3, potassium, copper and selenium, a powerful antioxidant which helps strengthen the immune system and prevent damage to cells and tissues. Right now, a 4-pack Tasting Kit is just $25 (normally $35.80) plus free shipping for all orders over $50 with code FREESHIP.  Shop the WAFFA Founders Store here.

p.s. And be sure to send Gina good luck – munchrooms is competing in this week’s NOSH’s Pitch Slam, the leading business pitch competition for the food industry. Presented by 301INC, the venture capital arm of General Mills, the competition features 11 of the hottest startups in packaged food, all creating innovative products spanning a wide range of categories. 

If you are a Wharton or Penn alumnae and would like to join the 50+ products/services in the Female Founder Shop, just fill in this form.

Audrey Greenberg is Co-founder, Executive Managing Director and Board Member of the Discovery Labs Center for Breakthrough Medicines. Discovery Labs is a three million square foot integrated life science innovation hub located in the heart of Philadelphia’s “Cellicon Valley.” The Center for Breakthrough Medicines is a contract development and manufacturing organization enabling the rapid development and commercialization of advanced therapies.

Coming from a family of doctors, Audrey always had an appreciation for scientific ingenuity and as an MBA student at Wharton, became drawn to starting a business that contributed to the greater social good. She learned about the challenges researchers face – while they do groundbreaking work in the lab, they may struggle to scale the manufacturing process required to obtain FDA approvals. Discovery Labs offers an end-to-end solution through the Center for Breakthrough Medicines – helping to streamline the path to approval by supporting manufacturing, funding, equipment, processes, and people. Companies can utilize their capital for innovation rather than the infrastructure and manufacturing, and ultimately that leads to more affordable treatments for patients.

Audrey serves as a subject matter expert in building regional bioinnovation hubs – she’s spoken at over 50 global conferences and is quoted in over 100 articles in the past two years. Read more about Audrey here.

If you are a Penn/Wharton female founder and would like to be highlighted in an upcoming WAFFA newsletter, just click here to provide us with info/photo.