Our quarterly Office Hours with Purpose events connect women entrepreneurs with experts, investors and veteran entrepreneurs in a curated and intentional way. We brief both the entrepreneur and the mentor ahead of time to ensure participants get the most out of their time and walk away with the insights and answers they need. 

Our April 23 event is going virtual! Each woman entrepreneur will be matched with three mentors for three 30 minute virtual sessions. They will be scheduled on April 23 according to your mentor’s schedule. 

 
Thank you to our sponsors Charles Schwab, McGinnis Lochridge, Pioneer Bank and The Riveter for making this event possible.

How it works: 

       

• Review the list of mentors and their area(s) of expertise.

• Prioritize your top focus areas and mentors you’d like to meet virtually for 30 minutes each.

• Complete registration and selection form.

• The answers to your questions will be shared with your matched mentors. 

• A few days prior to the event, you will receive the list of your assigned mentors. Your mentors will email you regarding scheduling your 30 minute sessions on April 23.

• Come prepared with questions specific to your mentors.

• Virtually meet with each of your mentors on April 23.

• Fill out the feedback form. 

Tickets:
 

We typically charge a nominal fee of $15 for members and $25 for non-members to participate in our Office Hours With Purpose event. However, given the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, we understand many individuals and companies have been left in financially challenging positions. If you would benefit from this event but cannot afford it, we encourage you to contribute on a pay-what-you-can-basis. We appreciate your support to allow Women@Austin to continue to provide meaningful programming to women founders.

Guidelines:
 

• Don’t be late! Be respectful of your mentor’s time. You will be given your schedule prior to the event. Be sure to check that you can use the appropriate technology beforehand.

• Make the most of your time. You will only have 30 minutes with your mentor, so don’t spend too much time introducing yourself. Your mentor will be briefed on you and your company prior to the meeting.

• Come prepared. Research your mentors before meeting with them and have your questions ready. 

• Respect the relationship. Our mentors are passionate about helping women entrepreneurs, but their time is extremely valuable. Please do not follow up with mentors independently unless they have indicated a desire to continue communicating. 

Meet Our Mentors!
 

Amanda Nevins, CFO Alert Logic

Area of Expertise: Finance / Accounting, Scaling, Operations, Investment, Team Building and Culture

Beth Goff-McMillan, CEO, SKG

Areas of expertise: Sales, Scaling, Team Building + Culture, Marketing, Operations

Carla Stanmyre McDonald, Founder and CEO, Dynabrand 

Areas of expertise: Marketing/Strategy, Scaling, Fundraising/Investment, Team Building/Culture, and Sales

Cristina Silingardi, Austin Managing Director, vcfo

Areas of expertise: Finance + Accounting, Scaling, Operations, Fundraising + Investment, Team Building + Culture

Donna Day, Senior Vice President, Pioneer Bank

Areas of Expertise:  Finance + Accounting

Frankie Arvelo, Startup Counsel, Arvelo PLLC

Areas of Expertise:  Fundraising + Investment, Legal

Jan Ryan, Serial Entrepreneur & Executive Director of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, UT Austin

Areas of expertise: Fundraising, Scaling, Sales, Being a First-Time CEO

Kerry Rupp, General Partner, True Wealth Ventures

Areas of Expertise: Scaling, Operations, Fundraising + Investment, Tech

Linda Albornoz, SVP, Head of Digital Cross-Enterprise Platforms, Charles Schwab

Areas of Expertise: Digital Experiences / AGILE Development practices and teams, Scaling, Hiring CIO, Leading digital teams.

Linda Ginac, CEO, TalentGuard 

Areas of Expertise: Marketing, Sales and Team building

Lisa Matulis-Thomajan, Development + Luxury Real Estate Specialist & Former Owner of Delish

Areas of Expertise: Fundraising and investment, team building / culture, and marketing

Maria Miller, Co-Founder / COO, Life by Spot

Areas of Expertise: Sourcing and relationship strategy, business process redesign, strategic roadmap development, negotiations, operations, and building technology platforms.

Marissa Tarleton, CEO, RetailMeNot

Areas of Expertise: Tech, Operations, Sales, Team Building + Culture, Marketing + Communications 

Martha Todd, Partner, McGinnis Lochridge

Areas of Expertise: Legal, Fundraising + Investment, Team Building + Culture

Melissa Swerdfeger, CEO + Founder, Methodize Austin - Professional Organizing Services

Areas of Expertise: Marketing + Communications, Team Building + Culture, Organizing Your Life

Mellie Price, Managing Director, Dell Medical School at UT Austin, Co-Founder, SoftMatch + Capital Factory

Areas of Expertise: Finance / Accounting, Scaling, Fundraising/Investment, Sales, Bootstrapping, Partnerships

Patti Soch, CFO, Datical

Area of Expertise: Finance + Accounting

Rajiv Bala, Managing Director, Bala Investments

Areas of expertise: Scaling, Fundraising + Investment, Team Building + Culture, Tech

Sara Brand, Founding General Partner, True Wealth Ventures

Areas of Expertise: Scaling, Operations, Fundraising + Investment, Tech

Shubhi Rao, Former CFO, Dosh

Areas of Expertise: Finance + Accounting, Scaling, Operations, Fundraising + Investment, Tech

Tala Matchett

Areas of Expertise: Operations, Real Estate, Sales, Fundraising + Investment, Team Building + Culture

Thank you to our generous sponsors!