7 Boston Social-Preneurs you need to follow
Boston is a city that introduced lots of change to the world, and these seven figures are making sure Beantown continues to be at the forefront of social change.
Kara O'Connor Miller - Manager at WEBOS
Even though it's the cradle of liberty, the city of Boston has not always been an even and equal playing field. But in a surprising move, led by Kara, the municipal government decided to change that from within, by opening WEBOS - an organization dedicated to helping women entrepreneurs find their way through the business world. But O'Connor Miller didn't stop there, moving on to create Women on Main - dedicated to helping Boston's women business owners as part of the Boston Main Streets initiative.
The lesson? Work with the powers that be, not against them.
Lauren Abda - Founder of Branchfood
Eating healthy is hard. Everything is filled with preservatives, chemicals, and other stuff we don't even know. It seems we're bombarded with bad food choices. So how do we fix this problem? Well, Lauren decided the only way to fix it is to bring food companies together, and make sure they work with each other. Branch Food is a co-working space and event list dedicated for food companies, to, as they call it "Fix the broken food system."
The lesson? Help the experts help the world through co-operation.
Amanda Bradford - Founder and CEO of The League
Self-proclaimed "Alpha Female" Amanda realized that having high standards is not a bad thing despite everyone trying to convince her otherwise. Instead of being frustrated, she built The League - the now infamous dating app where users go through extreme vetting according to looks, jobs, financial status, height and anything else. Not everyone gets into the League, and even those who do may not get matched as users can choose to be visible only to those people who are up to their own high standards. Amanda herself rejects accusations of elitism, saying there's nothing wrong with not wanting to waste your time.
The lesson? The path to success can be via unpopular ideas, as long as they fill a need.
Diane Hessan - Founder of Rev Retreat Boston
Part award, part event, part retreat, Rev Retreat Boston is dedicated to honoring Female VPs in and around the city. Only VP and Director level ladies are eligible - no founders and CEOs allowed. Diane, with her extensive business background and Harvard Business School education, created this new type of award ceremony to connect VP-level ladies from across Boston in a casual setting.
The lesson? An old concept in a new form can create exciting results.
Kate Brodock - Founder of Women 2.0
Women 2.0 needs no introduction. The amazing Boston-based brand does anything in its power to change the face of leadership in today's business world. Kate, however, is another story. This renaissance woman currently holds six positions, most in mentorship capacities, trying to help others around her make better choices and build better businesses.
The lesson? You don't have to do just one thing to reach your goal.
Jonathan Kay - COO of Apptopia
Jonathan is the head of operations whose favorite thing is "efficient processes". Apptopia is an app-intelligence platform that helps developers and marketers understand what their competitors are learning from their own data - essentially using your competition's data to stay one step ahead of them.
The lesson? Data is one of the best assets a business owner could have.
Gesche Haas - Founder of Dreamers//Doers
Gesche started out by founding Trailblazer Ventures, a lab dedicated to increasing the number of successful start-ups run by women. Her real passion comes from the lab's first product, Dreamers//Doers – a "high-impact community of entrepreneurial, trailblazing women. It empowers women to do more, together, by making it extremely efficient and effective for women to use each other as a resource." Gesche has created multiple ventures dedicated to creating successful leadership by women.
The lesson? The idea you started out with can lead to even greater ventures.
While all businesses need to make a profit, these social changers are helping to ensure the playing field is equal, and that leading companies are doing whatever they need to, to make the world a better and healthier place.
The companies I mention or link to in this post are just examples that I thought you'd find useful – I don't endorse them or their services. I have no affiliation with them and make no representation about their services.