Students at Princeton have innovative ideas that can be brought to the market and improve lives. Impact Hub New York Metropolitan Area will host a one-hour panel session that will highlight fundraising insights in the social impact sector, including a panel of innovators who will share their entrepreneurial journeys working towards one or more of the Sustainable Development Goals. The session will give students a chance to think about their own skills, passions, and impact ambitions.
Who can attend?
This event is open to undergraduate students, graduate students, faculty and staff. Lunch will be served and registration is required.
Hosts
John-Paul Parmigiani (JP) - Impact Hub New York Metropolitan Area, CEO & Co-founder
Witnessing the events of 9-11 as a teenager, JP decided to dedicate his life to making the world a better place. JP has lived in 7 countries on four continents, learning about international relations, conflict resolution, economic development and entrepreneurship. He Co-founded and led Impact Hub Accra as Founding CEO for its first three and a half years before stepping back as Board Chairman. JP is a member of the New York Programing Board for StartOut (the LGBTQ entrepreneurship network) and serves as the President of the US-wide National University of Singapore, LKY School of Public Policy alumni chapter.
Archana Shah - Impact Hub New York Metropolitan Area, COO & Co-founder
After spending the first 18 years of her career in the financial services sector, first at J.P. Morgan and then at Morgan Stanley in various client facing and product development roles, Archana left Morgan Stanley in 2012 to pursue her passion for social innovation full-time. She joined Grameen America as a Director in Development, during which time she also chaired the New York chapter of Women Advancing Microfinance (WAM) for several years. For the past six years, Archana was the Associate Director at the Wilson Center for Social Entrepreneurship at Pace University, managing the day to day operations of the center and running programs for the university community of students, staff and faculty while engaging with the lower manhattan nonprofit ecosystem. In January 2020 she joined the founding team of Impact Hub New York Metropolitan Area.
Panelists
Aurora Chiste, Founder of Ray Power Africa and Maakola
Aurora is a serial social entrepreneur who has focused on achieving global sustainability through innovation and empowerment. She is the founder of Ray Power Africa and Maakola, using solar power to make energy accessible and affordable, and fashion to shine a spotlight on female fortitude through a modern concept of luxury.
Her career spans the tech world from Silicon Valley to innovative energy and economic solutions across the world. In addition to her work in Ghana and Washington D.C., she also serves as head of strategy for Plug The Sun, a Hong Kong-based company that utilizes proprietary technology to produce portable solar power solutions.
Jonas Günther, Co-Founder, New Farmers
Jonas Guenther is the Co-Founder of We Are The New Farmers. We Are the New Farmers is a 21st century urban farm, using technology to grow one of the most sustainable and nutrient-dense foods on Earth – the microalgae Spirulina – in the middle of New York City.
Akanksha is an Officer on the Business Council for the United Nations program housed at the UN Foundation. She focuses her efforts on global business engagement on Sustainable Development Goals. She is an Environmental Studies graduate from the University of Waterloo in Canada and has worked at the nexus of business and sustainability across diverse sectors including tourism & hospitality, energy & environment and healthcare for 6+ years. She specializes in carbon accounting, stakeholder engagement on sustainability issues and corporate sustainability research and reporting.
Grace Lee, CEO & Founder, Wishpoints, Inc.
Grace Lee is a serial entrepreneur, angel investor and subject matter expert with 20+ years of experience in product development and launch, predictive analytics, business design, healthcare, technology innovations, and customer, patient, & business data analytics in Pharmaceutical, Biotechnology, and Healthcare. She is the founder of Health Enovations, Inc and Wishpoints, Inc. She serves as an advisory board member to startup companies with focuses on social impact, healthcare, and travel. Grace is a Pipeline Angel Investor who evaluates, invests, leads due diligence on behalf of other investors, and advises companies on startup business design and execution in health tech, travel tech, and female founded businesses. She is an Executive Consultant for VPs and C-levels in designing and integrating businesses and technology innovations
Isabelle Swiderski, Founder and Creative Director, Seven25; Co-founder & Managing Director, Lezervations
Isabelle has been helping accelerate the impact of values–based organizations through design for the past twenty years in North America, Europe and now, Africa. She founded Seven25 ten years ago and holds a joint MBA from Brown University and IE Business School and an MA in Design from the Royal College of Art. She taught design at Emily Carr University for over 10 years and uses this experience to facilitate workshops for accelerators and universities, as well as Seven25’s clients, exploring where design & business build on each other to solve problems.