Braid was a community for women entrepreneurs that aimed to build women’s economic independence.
→ 2016 – 2021
→ My role: founding, team management, event organization, community management
→ My role: founding, team management, event organization, community management
As a part of my role as a Business Development Analyst for
the Provo Mayor’s Office of Economic Development, I managed relationships between the City and local startups
and tech companies which meant that I attended many tech and startup community events.
I was often one of very few women at these events and wanted to know why. I gathered a group of women
business leaders to collect their insights on this question. One idea
that surfaced from the focus group was that current mainstream startup and tech
event programming were not designed with women in mind.
I put together a proposal for a city sponsored program of
business skill building workshops and networking events called Braid. The idea behind the name Braid is that one strand is easy to bend and break but when you weave many strands together, they become strong. With Braid, I hoped to create a space for women to develop skills and build relationships that would increase their economic impact.
Upon senior leadership approval, I launched Braid in January 2016. Over the next 5 years, I grew the community from 0 to 2,500+ members on an annual budget of < $600.
As the many strands of community wove together, the economic
strength of our community did increase. As a result of the physical and digital space that I created through Braid, I saw women get jobs, find new clients, connect with mentors and mentees, and plug into resources that in many cases had a life changing impact. The largest economic impact for one single member reported was over $100,000.
Additional programs that launched with Braid as a starting
point are Provo Girls Summit, a career fair for girls ages 8-12 years old, Women Who Build, a collaborative women’s business summit, and the Sego Awards, Utah’s 1st awards for women founders and CEOs.