Speaker

Mercedes Bent (Harvard College ‘10)

Partner, Lightspeed Ventures

Mercedes Bent is a Partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners, a venture capital firm based in the Bay Area. Previously she served as an executive at a VR startup and a General Manager at General Assembly (acquired, 2018) where she oversaw a multi-million dollar business line. She has an MBA and a Masters in Education from Stanford University and an AB from Harvard University. She serves as a board member for the non-profit Birthright AFRICA and in her free time she enjoys off-roading in her Jeep. She is an African- American of Bermudian, Grenadian, and Colombian heritage and was named a 40 under 40 for Tech Diversity.

Speaker

Jazmin Medina (HBS ’15)

Principal, NewView Capital

As a former founder and investment banker, Jazmin brings unique insight into company building, product strategy, and finance. Prior to joining NewView Capital, she was co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Bundler TV, a media-tech startup in Los Angeles. Previously, Jazmin advised C-level executives on product and go-to-market strategy at Warner Bros and Jaunt. She began her career at Goldman Sachs in New York, where she worked as an investment banker and for the Chief of Staff to the CEO.

Jazmin holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BS in Finance from Arizona State University, where she serves on the Next Generation Council to the ASU Foundation Board of Directors. She also serves on the Board of Directors for Topia and is a Board Observer for Node.io.

Speaker

Carolina Huaranca Mendoza

Advisor, Kapor Capital

Carolina Huaranca Mendoza is currently an Advisor at Kapor Capital, an early stage seed fund. She joined Kapor Capital as a Principal in 2016 and focused on identifying early stage investments and partnering with entrepreneurs to grow their companies. While at Kapor Capital she was a generalist investor, but had a particular interest in the future of work, future cities, GovTech, and education. Prior to becoming a Principal, she was an Entrepreneur in Residence (EiR) at Kapor working on a tech platform for teacher professional development.

Carolina began her technology career as a Sales & Product Marketing Manager at SchoolNet; which was sold to Pearson for $230MM. In 2012, she founded Spriggle, a marketplace that helped parents identify STEM inspired products for children ages 3-9.

To date, she has shared her investment experience on over 50 stages, including SXSWEdu, SOCAP, Aspen Institute Latinos & Society Program, and NPR: How I Built this Summit. Carolina has also been recognized by Hispanics in Philanthropy (HIP) as a Latino Leader and Cosmo Latina Fearless Award Winner alongside Jessica Alba. She has also been featured in TechCrunch, CNN Money, SF Chronicle, and USA Today. You can always find Carolina on Twitter at @carohuaranca

Moderator

Brittany Williams (HBS ’18)

Deputy Chief of Staff, Intel Capital

Brittany is Deputy Chief of Staff and research assistant for Intel Capital, Sports, and Emerging Growth Incubation. In this role, she helps oversee operations and strategic initiatives across the organization.

Brittany joined Intel in summer 2017 through the Accelerated Leadership Program. Prior to becoming Deputy Chief of Staff, she was a Business Development Specialist on Intel’s Virtual Reality, Gaming and Esports group. In that role, she was primarily responsible for managing and driving financial return on Intel’s esports relationships, primarily with the National Basketball Association and the International Olympic Committee.

Brittany started her career in financial services, where she developed extensive experience across investment banking, credit risk management, and corporate ratings advisory functions at Citi and Goldman Sachs. She gained international experience by spending several years in London, where she joined Goldman Sachs and expanded her client reach across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. She also is founder and CEO of an admissions consulting company.
Brittany holds a BS in Systems and Information Engineering, with a minor in Business, from the University of Virginia and an MBA from Harvard Business School.