There are more than 582 million people in this world in the process of starting or running their own business per the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, a survey covering 65 economies. Entrepreneurs drive economies by creating jobs, solving big problems through innovation, mobilizing unused resources and building the capital base of economies. The key question is how can policymakers support and accelerate entrepreneurial growth? Join us for a deep dive into how entrepreneurs are hacking global economies and how we can leverage their contributions.
K. Shelly Porges is a successful serial entrepreneur and investor as well as a global entrepreneurship advocate. She is a sought-after strategy expert advising many organizations ranging from governments to corporations to NGOs, as well as Managing Director of Reservoir Q Global LLC. She served most recently as the National Finance Co-Chair for the Ready for Hillary PAC before joining Hillary for America. She is also the President of the North American Jury for the Cartier Women’s Initiative Awards, on the Advisory Board for Global Entrepreneurship Week, and an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Georgetown University.
She is the former Senior Advisor, Global Entrepreneurship Program (GEP) at the U.S. State Department, a program she expanded to almost 150 countries, under Secretary Clinton. Prior to joining GEP, she launched the State Department’s Global Women’s Business Initiative to promote women’s entrepreneurship worldwide.
Before joining the State Department, she had a distinguished career in the private sector, including both corporate and entrepreneurial ventures. Her ten-year stint at American Express culminated as executive head of marketing for American Express Canada, prior to three years as chief retail marketing officer for Bank of America during a historic turn-around. Ms. Porges founded or co-founded a number of start-up ventures including one sold to Wachovia Bank; Third Age Media, the leading Internet portal for baby boomers; Scudder Weisel Capital LLC, a joint venture between Thomas Weisel Partners and Zurich Scudder Investments, one of the largest asset managers in the world; and Global Payments Experts LLC, a payments industry advisory firm.
Ms. Porges also serves on the International Business Advisory Council for the President of Cyprus, the boards of the Global Banking Alliance for Women and on the National Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, and the advisory boards for early stage com-panies StartUp Cup, a global network of accelerator programs; Tiatros, a medical solu-tions platform; Distributed Sun, a commercial solar company and Cornerstone Capital, an institutional investment firm for impact investors. As a recognized expert on entrepreneurship, innovation and leadership, she has spoken at events all over the world.
Ms. Porges holds both a BS and MPS degree from Cornell University.