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Rita Astoor
Head of VC Business Development, Carta
Rita Astoor is head of VC Business Development & Product Advisor at Carta. She also teaches a course on Venture Funds at UC Berkeley School of Law. Prior to joining Carta, Rita was an investment funds associate at Latham & Watkins in New York City. She obtained her B.A. at UC Berkeley and her J.D. at NYU School of Law.
Asya Bradley
Partner, Mendoza Ventures
Asya Bradley is Senior Partner at Mendoza Ventures, an early and growth stage Fintech, AI, and Cybersecurity venture fund that provides an actively managed approach to VC. Roughly 75% of our portfolio consists of start-ups led by immigrants, people of color, and women. Previously founder of Kinly (fka: First Boulevard): The Unapologetically Black, Digitally Native, NeoBank Building Generational Wealth for Black America. With over 20 years of experience in tech (founding team at Synapse, co-founder, Kinly, Cisco alum) and a track record of supporting underestimated founders, Bradley is an experienced investor, operator, and fintech entrepreneur. Bradley is a champion of diversity and gender balance in the workplace and works tirelessly to promote women, minorities, LGBTQ+ and other underrepresented communities. She is also an angel investor, advisor and board member of numerous startups. She is a world traveler, having lived and worked throughout Europe, the Middle East, Asia and now North America. Asya is also certified at the highest attainable level by the Yoga Alliance in Ashtanga Yoga and speaks multiple languages fluently including, amongst others, Dutch, Punjabi and Arabic.
Kandice Cota
Member, Trac VC
Kandice Cota, of Trac VC was one of the first ten VCs at Intel's venture fund, Intel Capital. She has been working with some of the biggest brands in fintech(PayPal, Morgan Stanley), e-commerce and fashion (Target, Macy's, Walmart, Shiseido), sustainability (VF Corporation), entertainment (CBS, MGM, NBC News, Oxygen), travel(Hyatt Global), mobility(Samsung Electronics, Hyundai Motor Company, Nokia) and numerous technology brands to bring research and design leadership to product design teams and innovation strategy to the C-level of worldwide companies. In her current role, she is leading Design for Trac VC's unicorn platform while helping to shape the fund's future portfolio. She is a creative, product and design executive developing consumer lifestyle brand experiences for omni-channel, multi-modal brand and product launches. She passionately combines design, strategy, hybrid research, analytics and product expertise to elevate the craft of design, product and engineering thru innovative research with a keen ability to elevate legacy and startup brands.
Alyssa Rausch
Senior Tax Manager, EisnerAmper
Alyssa Rausch is a Senior Tax Manager in the Private Client Services Group with more than 15 years of experience in providing comprehensive tax compliance and advisory services to high net worth individuals, closely held businesses and their owners, S corporations and partnerships. Prior to joining the firm, Alyssa was an accountant with a regional accounting firm and was responsible for the review of tax returns, tax research and finding solutions for tax clients. Alyssa is an active author, and her work has appeared in New Jersey Business Magazine on the Affordable Care Act. In addition, she has written on the topics of Income Tax Savings Opportunities for Special Needs Families, New York Special Accrual Rules, Home Sale Exclusion, Private Foundations vs Donor Advised Funds and Qualified Opportunity Fund.
Sara Ledterman
Managing Partner, 3+ Ventures
Sara Ledterman is Managing Partner at 3+ Ventures, an early-stage Interval fund. Currently focused on investing in female-led teams, Ledterman is dedicated to changing the landscape of venture funding for a more equitable future for people and the planet.
Mehwish Shafi
Senior Manager VC, Carta
Mehwish is a Senior Manager for Venture Capital services at Carta, Inc. She focuses on operations and underwriting of financial products and banking solutions for venture capital funds. Before becoming an operator, Mehwish worked as an underwriter and portfolio manager at Cerberus Capital Management (Middle Market Lending) and venture debt at a boutique firm in the Bay Area. Her passion for private capital solutions and enthusiasm to support founders has molded her career today. She is an advocate for women investors as well as founders and serves as a committee member for 100 Women in Finance Next Gen chapter for Northern California.
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