Civic Engagement Collective

We are proud to present our ELC New Member Class of 2025! Join us in welcoming this exceptional group of leaders to The Executive Leadership Council. Their dedication, expertise, and impact continue to drive meaningful change in corporate leadership and beyond. 61 new ELC members have been officially inducted: AJ Barkley, AJ Jones II, Alice L. Jolla, Andrez Carberry, Bentina Terry, Bradley Knox, Candi Castleberry, Carolyn Butler-Lee, Cassandra Lee, Cat Tucker, Charmaine Riggins, Colette Honorable, Corey Bailey, Corey Lee, Daniel Brown, Elena Richards, Ernest Adams, Frank Brown, Fredrick Walker, Gene Todd, Halimah DeLaine Prado, Harry Caldwell, Hubert Allen, James Bennett, Jason Blake, Josetta Jones, Kelvin Dender, Ken Washington, PhD, Kitty Chaney-Reed, Kristi Rodriguez (Martin), Kristy Williams Fercho, Larson Richardson, Lloyd Plenty, Machell Mims, Malik Ducard, Melanie Boulden, Michael Parker, Mike Watson, Nadine A., Nakeya Shelton, Pamela Everhart, Peter Muriungi, Phyllis Turner-Brim, Preston Hopson, Robert Ladd, Roger G Arrieux Jr., Sean Lee, Shanda Hinton, Shar Douglass, Sherry Cassano, Shurawl Sibblies, Stephanie Childs, Tamara Asamoah, Teresa Clarke, Tom Shropshire, Toni Townes-Whitley, Tony Byers, Tony M. Edwards, Tutu Agyare, Viveca Fairbanks-Henderson, and Vusa Mlingo. Read more: https://lnkd.in/e_WDgA8D

Your LinkedIn post doesn’t start when you hit publish. It starts 30 minutes before. Most people post and pray. (And hey—prayer is great. Just maybe not about LinkedIn ??) Here’s the engagement strategy I teach clients who want visibility, leads, and real traction: 1???The 30-Minute Pre-Engagement Rule (a.k.a. Content Seeding) Don’t just drop your post cold. Warm up the feed. Before you publish, comment on 5–10 posts from people you want your content to reach. When you engage with them, you trigger LinkedIn to surface your upcoming post in their feed once it goes live. ?? Pro Tip: Prioritize → Your ideal audience → Past engagers → Active accounts with good reach (they help amplify you if they engage) This is how you train the algorithm to pay attention. 2???The 15-Minute Post-Boost Once you publish, your post enters a test phase. It’s tracking: → How fast you get engagement → Whether people stick around (dwell time) → If the comments spark back-and-forth conversation So when the comments start coming in, don’t ghost. Reply quickly. Ask questions. Keep the thread alive. Every interaction signals to LinkedIn: “This post has value.” 3???The First 3-Hour Window Is Critical Your post gets a short trial run. If it performs, it gets pushed to a wider audience. If not, it gets buried. Remember: LinkedIn is in the business of keeping people on the platform. It rewards content that does the same. Your job in this window: ?→ Keep the engagement active ?→ Drop a thoughtful comment on your own post to extend the conversation. ?→ Send it to a few trusted peers and say, “Would love your POV on this.” (Don't spam though. Make it relevant.) Bonus: Save outbound DMs for people who actually care about the topic.? You’ll get better feedback and avoid annoying your network. Most people treat LinkedIn like a billboard. Top performers treat it like a system. Which of these tactics do you already use? Which one will you try next? ??

After 5+ incredible years at Lightspeed, I’m stepping back to build something new. I’ll be staying on as a Venture Partner and continue working with my portfolio companies. I’ll be sharing more about what I’m doing later, but in the meantime I want to thank those who made Lightspeed such an incredible experience. Thank you to Jeremy Liew, Ravi Mhatre, Barry Eggers, Bejul Somaia, Nicole Quinn and Alex Taussig for being my champions and mentors at the firm. I’ve had an *incredible* experience building a portfolio and body of work at Lightspeed. From relaunching the scout fund with Barry to launching LATAM investing with Alex and refocusing on preseed / people investing with Bejul and Arif, I have loved both building the firm of Lightspeed while also investing in exceptional founders. Lightspeed is where I learned to fall in love with greatness. In every form. Excellence is a choice, and studying its intricate inputs every day, constantly raising the bar, is the lesson of a lifetime. Thank you to the founders who chose me as a partner. To quote a favorite line from one of my fellow board members “we have seen some STUFF.” Thanks for letting me into the trenches and helping battle it out. I have learned SO much from my founders: * Bin Chen, Sherman He, Marlene Garayzar, Nick Chen, Guangyu (GY) L. of Stori taught me the ins and outs of credit and relentless execution * Betsie Larkin and Igor Lebovic of Honeylove taught me how to stay on your island and sweat the details? * Tobias Francis Heaslip of Atlas showed me being a sales machine, knowing capital markets cold, and the power of founder market fit * Pamela Valdes of Beek/Musa showed me what a resource magnet / force of nature looks like * Thomas Brunskill and Pasha Rayan of Forage showed me mission first, impeccable "being on top of it," and having a nose for timing? * Nicolas Gimenez and Caterina Carre?o of Fidu showed me extreme sales tenacity?and making hard decisions fast * Sergio Jimenez Amozurrutia and Ricardo Rafael Bueno of Flink showed me courage and inventiveness? * Daniel Ruhman of Cumbuca showed me regetch creativity and innovation, a vision of a future finance world hardly no one can imagine Thank you also to Lisa/Ju, Jack/Zedd, Shanthi, Sam, Rodri, Shane, Janine, Charlie for your partnership and others we never announced, but founders you know who you are! Thanks for an incredible chapter.

Our thanks to Black Women On Boards members Alyssa Harvey Dawson, Mich Razon, Sherice Torres and Lakecia Gunter for an enthusiastic "Yes, our pleasure to help!" That came when the NYSE kindly asked if they could arrive hours early on our event day to share their perspectives in interviews on the historic trading floor with Judy Khan Shaw for Floor Talk and with Kristen Scholer for NYSE Live, who were a joy to partner with. Links to follow soon. For now, we join in saluting all who are passionate about lifting others as they climb. These four senior executives being great examples. #BWOBatNYSE

Michael Seibel, an influential Black entrepreneur and investor in Silicon Valley, is transitioning to a "partner emeritus" role at Y Combinator. He made the announcement late Wednesday on his X account after more than 12 years at the famed startup accelerator. “This role allows me to continue to do office hours with the 1000+ companies I’ve worked with in the past decade while giving me the free time to explore new adventures,” he said on X. “It also means that the W25 batch was my last batch funding new YC companies.” Seibel first joined YC as a partner and Ied the accelerator at YC from 2016 to 2024. Notably, last year, Seibel stepped back into a less operational group partner ahead of this week's announcement. Read the rest of the UrbanGeekz story here https://lnkd.in/ezvB48VH

For more than two decades, Harvard University and Year Up United have worked together to expand access to meaningful career pathways—demonstrating that when talent and opportunity connect, incredible things happen. A little over a week ago, at the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences-Year Up United Forum, we celebrated what this partnership produced so far: over five hundred YUU interns finding their place within Harvard’s ecosystem. Current interns, Harvard leaders, internship managers and alumni filled the room, including Scott Jordan, Tiffany Jadotte, EdD, MBA, ACC, Etaine Smith, Christian Wisecarver, Kristen L. Pope and Dotty Soares-Timas —each person a testament to what happens when we invest in skills-first career pathways. I won’t soon forget hearing from Jessica Villar Villar, a Year Up United alum who once walked through Harvard’s doors as an intern and now sits at the table as a Staff Assistant at the Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. She’s not alone—so many of our alumni have gone from interns to colleagues, mentors, and decision-makers, proving that talent and drive—not just a résumé—define success when given the right opportunity. This idea is central to why Year Up United exists—not just to place interns, but to open doors that once felt closed, to shift perceptions of what talent looks like and to build a future where pathways like this aren’t the exception—they’re the expectation. To the Year Up United interns who earned their place at Harvard: You belong. Your hard work, determination, and skills brought you here, and your impact will only continue to grow. To Harvard University and the champions across its schools and divisions who continue to advocate for these opportunities: Thank you for believing in this mission and in the power of skills-first hiring. And to every company wondering if investing in early talent really works—just look at this partnership. Two decades in, the proof is undeniable. #Leadership #SkillsFirstHiring

?? I’m beyond excited to share that I’ve been accepted into the newest cohort of the Goldman Sachs One Million?Black?Women:?Black?in?Business?program! This is more than just a milestone—it’s a game-changer for my business and the impact I want to make. While Black Women are starting start businesses at the fastest rate of any demographic (Black women start 17% of all new businesses)—but access to capital, resources, and support still lags behind, which impact the legacy and impact of these enterprises. Programs like this help close that gap, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to level up my strategy, scale my vision, and continue building a business that empowers others. I’m ready to do the work and lean into learn all I can. To every Black woman entrepreneur out there—keep pushing, building, and betting on yourself. The world needs what you’re creating. If you are a Black Female Business Owner and CEO, the Fall Cohort application is open. Link ????????? #BlackInBusiness #GoldmanSachs #Entrepreneurship #ScalingUp #BlackWomenInBusiness #DreamBig #OMBWBlackInBiz

??A Brand New Thing?? For years, I’ve worked alongside some of the greatest champions in sports—personalities who don’t just win on the field but also actively build legacies off of it. Through that experience, I’ve developed unique perspectives on what it takes to succeed, whether in business, brand-building, strategic partnerships and so much more for leaders looking to expand their market impact. Now, I’m sharing those perspectives with you through the release of my brand new newsletter–CHAMPION TAKES! Champion Takes is my personal space to break down the moves, frameworks, & insights I’ve collected over the years working with the greatest Champions of Industry—from innovative approaches to how the best stay ahead. These are my POVs that fuel the work I do at Champion Strategies(.co). From the strategies shaping the game, from how to turn influence into enterprise to the business decisions that create lasting impact. If you’re Talent-affiliated (athlete/personality/entertainer), brand leader, or business leader at a firm looking for real-world insights and proven strategies, this is for you. Subscribe below to get those “takes” straight to your inbox…bi-weekly or something like that ;). First issue releases on 3.20 [?? Sign up here: https://lnkd.in/eBQ784pY ]

I am honored to be selected for ATTN: x The Female Quotient's inaugural Women in AI Creative Cohort - a 6-month program for rising women leaders in media, marketing, and entertainment. This opportunity will allow me to develop my AI skills, receive invaluable mentorship, and connect with a community of inspiring women shaping the future ?? A 2020 World Economic Forum report reveals that women hold only 26% of data and AI positions in the workforce, highlighting the need for initiatives that promote diversity and amplify women’s voices in AI - a mission I’m eager to advance as I collaborate and grow alongside my fellow cohort members. Huge congratulations to the amazing women trailblazing this field! #WomeninAI Nile Johnson Tahseen Rabbi Lindsay Campbell Amber Efé Tingle Susannah Fogarty Aliah Davis-McHenry Jessalin Lam (林 子 明) Francesca Ernst Khan Leslie Koch Allison Zilbershatz Meredith Hassett Lara Brand Jamyla Willer Emily Kirkpatrick

This #WomensHistoryMonth, I reflect on one of the women who shaped my life — my wonderful mother, Marie Therese. She moved to the U.S. from Haiti to work as a nurse, paving the way for our family’s future. Through tireless dedication, she not only cared for others in her profession but also worked relentlessly to ensure my siblings and I had access to the best education and opportunities. Her strength, humility, sacrifice and unwavering belief in us made all the difference. She is the reason my sister, brothers and I are who we are today. Her life is a testament to the profound impact women—mothers, mentors and leaders—have in shaping our world. To all the women breaking barriers, uplifting others and forging new paths—thank you. Your strength and resilience inspires us all. #RiceUniversity #Inspiration #Leadership