by Claire McGovern, Strategic Initiatives Manager, Pipeline

We’ve all heard the saying, “Two heads are better than one,” but, it wasn’t until I met Rachael Chong and Jane Slusser, the partnership that heads up Catchafire, that I really believed it. Friends since college, Rachael and Jane combined their passions and skill sets to change the world of volunteering. Rachael Chong, Founder and CEO, is ablaze with energy and drive to innovate the volunteer world. For Rachael, every professional can volunteer their skills and every nonprofit has a real need for skilled volunteers.

Edited by: Ghazel Ghazaleh Abassalian, Pipeline

Catchafire connects nonprofits with professionals who can provide the expertise that they are looking for. In turn, professionals are matched with a nonprofit that needs their specific skills, in turn creating a meaningful volunteer experience. Jane Slusser, Vice President, is the peanut butter to Rachael’s jelly. When Jane joined Catchafire, she had the opportunity to apply lessons learned from her time spent organizing volunteers for the Obama campaign.

I caught up with Rachael and Jane on another hot New York summer day. They had fun with the #womaninnovator interview, bouncing answers off one another and finishing each others’ sentences. They shared the back-story of Catchafire’s launch and what makes them women innovators.

Claire McGovern is Pipeline’s Strategic Initiatives Manager. Her responsibilites include managing Pipeline’s social media presence, content creation, and producing the #womaninnovator series. She also manages Pipeline’s volunteers. Claire’s posts will document her summer at Pipeline and her observations as she navigates through her own personal pipeline.

By: Ghazel Ghazaleh Abassalian, #womaninnovator Video Editor, Pipeline

I found out about Pipeline through a friend of mine, Jennifer Lauren. The last time we met we had many conversations about women’s position today in the Western world, but also in the Middle East. One day I received an email from her mentioning Pipeline and that they were looking for a video editor. I went to check out Pipeline’s website and didn’t hesitate for a minute to apply.  

I volunteer as Pipeline’s #womaninnovator Video Editor because:

After having graduated from art school with a major in Audiovisual Art, I really wanted to get more involved doing film and montage for issues that matter to me. Pipeline discusses what I care about. By becoming a video editor for Pipeline[’s media campaign #womaninnovator], I can do what I like to do, which is montage, while working with amazing women who share my ideals. This way I get to help to show something that carries a message and people should really hear about. 

I [was] born in Iran but [was] raised in the Netherlands. My parents fled Iran when I was just a few months old. Growing up with an active and involved mother who raised my brother and me I’ve always been aware of women’s situations in society, especially in the Middle East. 

We live in a male-run world where more and more women are starting to rule the business world, the household on top of that plus maintaining a family life. Still women are in a position where they need to struggle for equality. 

My definition of a #womaninnovator: 

She has a vision of what she wants. Being an open individual she is curious to learn to know and get better, I see her taking charge of her own life. She has the ability to take action, however challenging it may feel at the time, that may mean feeling a bit scared or anxious but deciding to take action anyway in the knowledge it will get a lot easier next time. A women innovator does not let fear stand in her way.

by Claire McGovern, Strategic Initiatives Associate, Pipeline

My very first week working at Pipeline, I found myself on the red carpet at Manhattan hot spot Santo’s Party House for the GIRLS WHO ROCK benefit concert. This is where I first met the lovely Tammy Tibbetts, Creator of She’s the First. Female recording artists Kat DeLuna, Lenka, MoZella, Shontelle, Cara Salimando and Kelli Pyle, along with DJ Kalkutta, made music to make a difference for She’s the First, raising funds to support girls’ education in Africa.  She’s the First is a global education campaign that sends girls to school around the world, so they are able to become “the first” to achieve their goals.

Edited by: Ghazel Ghazaleh Abassalian, Pipeline

Despite the inevitable stress of putting on a benefit concert and the chaos of the red carpet, Tammy was poised and friendly as she answered my questions that evening. Fast forward a month later, Tammy Tibbetts sat across from me at In Good Company to formally define what a #womaninnovator is to her. In true woman innovator fashion, Tammy wears many hats these days. She works at Hearst Digital Media on the site DonateMyDress.org. The huge success of this creative site, that gives girls the chance to attend prom who otherwise couldn’t, set off a light-bulb in Tammy’s head. She’s the First is a directory of nonprofits that seek sponsors to send girls to school, capitalizing on social media and creative marketing. As full as her plate is, Tammy invites women and girls who are looking to become innovators to reach out to her and join the conversation about #womeninnovators.

Claire McGovern is Pipeline’s Strategic Initiatives Associate. Her responsibilities include managing Pipeline’s social media presence, content creation, and producing the #womaninnovator series. Claire’s posts will document her summer at Pipeline and her observations as she navigates through her own personal pipeline.

by Claire McGovern, Strategic Initiatives Associate, Pipeline

Cynthia Hellen, co-founder of GIRLS WHO ROCK and board member of She’s the First, sat down with Pipeline to discuss the role of women in innovation. I quizzed her on what her definition of a woman innovator is, why she is passionate about women’s issues, and what advice she had for girls who want to grow up into innovators. Here are her excellent answers!

CM: Can you please introduce yourself and your current projects.

CH: Sure! My name is Cynthia Hellen, and I am one of the founders of GIRLS WHO ROCK. I also sit on the board of She’s the First. GIRLS WHO ROCK is a project designed for She’s the First. It brings together creative communities. Simply, we use our social media as a way of getting the word out and bringing together all these creative individuals under one roof to give back.

CM: Sounds interesting and very innovative! Tell us a little more about how GIRLS WHO ROCK is breaking new ground.

CH: By using social media, GIRLS WHO ROCK relies on Twitter, Facebook fans…We do a lot of blogging. We connect with our beneficiaries online, like AfricAid, what we do is bring what we know about social media and share it. We get people to join us, let them play with it, and have them come to us if they want to do something more.

CM: Explain your role at She’s the First.

CH: I am one of the board members. I manage ideas, meetings, and connecting. I make sure that She’s the First and Tammy Tibbetts, the founder, are connected with individuals who will help.

CM: Why are you involved in this work? Why is it important to you?

CH: The reason why I am involved with women and innovation in general is that I think we have advantages over men. Like being able to listen and going into anything that we do and focusing. We can take a project, take an idea, and mold it as far as what we see and hear from our supporters’ suggestions and ideas. With these projects, like GIRLS WHO ROCK and She’s the First, we try to use everything that is given to us…Building that communication and collaboration with people who are as passionate as you. Innovation is taking what we have, but not forgetting that there are bigger issues at hand. We as women have an important role. We can be that change…women have the initiative to create something ten times better than what they started out with.

CM: What is your definition of a #womaninnovator?

CH: A woman innovator is what I see from the people that I surround myself with. I am going to mention Tammy Tibbetts. I think she’s confident, she has a purpose, and she has a passion. My mother, who is one of the best role models that I have. She has been persistent in business. She is so focused. Natalia [Oberti Noguera], she is a great mentor when it comes to sharing the knowledge that she knows, and making sure that she not only is a guide for those who are seeking that advice, but is also a friend. A woman innovator brings a lot of who they are into any project. They are not afraid of failure. It is about going for it. And knowing that it may not work out. She goes with her idea and she continues on.

CM: How are you a woman innovator?

CH: I simply show and bring who I am into the work that I do, to the projects and the people that I collaborate with. To me, it’s important to find people who you click with, who will drive you and who will give you that push when you need it. I can realize an idea and make it into an action…We had only two months to prepare GIRLS WHO ROCK. We were open to every person who was interested in the idea…we let it be theirs [our supporters], too. When it comes to sharing an idea and letting it grow, you have to share it. You can’t keep it to yourself. If you do, it will never grow. That is why I am a woman innovator: I share and I connect.

CM: What advice would you give to girls who want to become innovators?

CH: My advice for girls, young and older, would be to find your passion, and I think you’ll find your passion in who you are. Find your purpose. If [you] step outside of [y]our comfort zones, if [you] really take a look at what’s going on around us, I think you’ll be able to connect your passion with a great purpose. I do believe in collaboration, so meet as many people as you can. Get involved in volunteer work. It’s the learning that comes with the people you meet…I would suggest you volunteer, you collaborate, you find your passion, and you pursue a purpose.

CM: What is your #womaninnovator mantra?

CH: My mantra is not giving up and going for it.

Claire McGovern is Pipeline’s Strategic Initiatives Associate. Her responsibilites include managing Pipeline’s social media presence, content creation, and producing the #womaninnovator series. Claire’s posts will document her summer at Pipeline and her observatinos as she navigates through her own personal pipeline.

by Claire McGovern, Strategic Initiatives Associate, Pipeline 

Smart. Bubbly. Eclectic. Artsy. Fun. Friendly. Innovative. These are all words to describe Tara Pyle, Pipeline’s fourth interviewee for the #womaninnovator series. I met Tara outside of In Good Company (IGC), and we slipped into a nearby café to conduct our interview. She carefully answered each of my questions thoroughly and honestly.

I learned that, up until last month, Tara was the Senior Marketing and Events Manager at the Center for Architecture in NYC. At the Center, Tara managed event production for meetings and events, as well as coordinated the Center’s marketing. She has a BA in Art History from Vassar College. Tara realized, however, that she wants to start her own business, “a socially conscious venture.” As a woman innovator, Tara understands the importance of constant learning and growth. This philosophy led Tara to enroll in the TBL Mastermind (formerly the NYWSE Mastermind-Mentoring Initiative) where she had the opportunity to get feedback from other women in transitional periods of their career pipelines and received support from TBL Mastermind’s Program Director, Janet Wise*. Now, Tara is headed to the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth to earn her MBA. One of her many aspirations while at Dartmouth: show those guys in suits that she means business.
  
*Janet Wise is an experienced facilitator who has spent the past ten years creating, designing, and managing professional development programs for Fortune 500 companies

 
Claire McGovern is Pipeline’s Strategic Initiatives Associate. Her responsibilites include managing Pipeline’s social media presence, content creation, and producing the #womaninnovator series. Claire’s posts will document her summer at Pipeline and her observatinos as she navigates through her own personal pipeline.

by Claire McGovern, Strategic Initiatives Associate, Pipeline

Geri and I met on a sunny summer morning at Le Pain Quotidien in midtown. Over coffee, we discussed her career pipeline as the Founder of Ventureneer.com, an online education and peer support community. Among her many roles, she takes great pride in her work as a mentor. “I play more of a coaching role,” she noted. As a mentor, Geri works with the TBL Incubator (formally the NYWSE Incubator), Columbia Business School, and NYU Stern School of Business. For Geri, it’s important that her mentees think through their problems themselves. Cultivating a woman innovator requires a mentor to actively listen and provide feedback, and Geri happily fills that need.

Does she identify with the term “woman innovator”? She had to think about her definition first. Is she entrepreneurial? Yes. Starting a business where no one has gone before? Check. Concentrating in social innovation and corporate responsibility? Oh, yeah. Geri said, “I didn’t think that I fit into it, but as I put my own definition to it I said, ‘Yeah, I am a woman innovator. Yeah, I am!”

Claire McGovern is Pipeline’s Strategic Initiatives Associate. Her responsibilites include managing Pipeline’s social media presence, content creation, and producing the #womaninnovator series. Claire’s posts will document her summer at Pipeline and her observatinos as she navigates through her own personal pipeline.