Project W

Anastasia Alen and I had a great time attending the ABA Forum on Entertainment and Sports Industries last week and hosting a Women in Entertainment breakfast on behalf of RiseTogether, a Project W initiative at Davis Wright Tremaine LLP! Also, a shout out to Kraig L. Marini Baker on his interesting and timely panel at the conference: Virtual Lawyers: Practicing Law in a World with AI, Side Hustles, Smart Devices, and Remote Teams.

Congratulations Golden Seeds! Yesterday, Golden Seeds celebrated 20 years of empowering women entrepreneurs.?Under the leadership of Loretta McCarthy and Jo Ann Corkran, Golden Seeds has grown from 12 members to over 1,100 members, and during the past two decades Golden Seeds members have invested $185 million in over 250 companies that have gone on to raise $2 billion. Golden Seeds has led the way in advancing gender equity in the venture ecosystem.?They have inspired so many other organizations – including Project W – that work to elevate women entrepreneurs. Golden Seeds is an ecosystem builder, and its members generously give their time and insights to support like-minded organizations that share their vision.?At Project W, we are deeply grateful to the many Golden Seeds members who have been such committed and valued champions of and contributors to Project W:? Paula Bennett. Marcia Dawood, Janet DeFrino, CEPA, Gwen Edwards, Carolyn Fikke, Iris Fujiura (she/her), Cheryl Kallem, and Peggy Wallace, NACD.DC. ? Congratulations to all at Golden Seeds for 20 years of groundbreaking work.

Attention founders! Our friends at the Fixer Advisory Group have launched their new program - The Founders Program | Powered by Fixer. This program is designed for early-stage founders in industries like fashion, beauty, consumer goods, wellness, and lifestyle, who are looking to scale their businesses with the support of top industry experts.?Fixer Advisory is a boutique legal and management consulting firm founded by powerhouse women with deep expertise running global brands.

Say hello to Zo? Levin (The TP Queen), one of the incredible founders in Project W’s Women Entrepreneurs Boot Camp | WEB. With 15 years of experience growing brands, Zo? decided to apply her expertise to the tree-free paper market by combining innovative, fun designs with a mission to improve the environment, saving over $100 million gallons of water and 4 million pounds of trees this year.?Her company, Bim Bam Boo, sells sustainable toilet paper, paper towels, facial tissue, and wet wipes in 3,000+ stores nationwide and online.

RiseTogether, a Davis Wright Tremaine LLP Project W initiative, is a proud sponsor of this year’s American Bar Association’s Bright Lights, Big Opportunities: Best Bets in IP, Sports, and Entertainment Law conference, taking place from November 14-16 at Resorts World in Las Vegas. RiseTogether’s co-chairs, Cheryl Wei and Anastasia Alen, will be hosting a breakfast on Saturday, November 16, so please stop by and connect with us! RiseTogether connects women in media and entertainment, helping us rise together in the industry.

Meet Piersten Gaines another talented founder in Project W’s Women Entrepreneurs Boot Camp l WEB. By making quality haircare accessible to all women, Piersten is on a mission to transform the hair care industry that has historically excluded ethnic hair textures.?Her company, Pressed Roots, is a chain of luxury silk blowout bars that specialize in and celebrate highly textured hair, using a proven and repeatable technique (The Pressed Roots method) that avoids damage and gets customers out of the salon in under two hours.

Say hello to Emma Walbridge, one of the incredible founders in Project W’s Women Entrepreneurs Boot Camp | WEB. Combining her childhood love of gaming with her background in hospitality and her passion for guest service and creating unforgettable experiences, Emma founded Gameway (Airport) to blend tech, entertainment, and travel into one unforgettable journey.?Gameway is the world’s first premium video game lounge located in airports.?Why wait when you can game?

Meet Mahsa Vazin, PhD one of the amazing founders in Project W’s Women Entrepreneurs Boot Camp | WEB. Mahsa is a nanoscientist and was a member of the early R&D team at Impossible Foods that developed Impossible Foods’ first product. Mahsa’s experience at Impossible Foods and her inspiration to make the world a better place for pets and all other animals were a combined force that inspired her to found PawCo Foods.?PawCo Foods is the first AI optimized fresh plant-based pet food company, on a mission to offer healthy, tasty, sustainable foods for all dogs.

Introducing Nancy Kalish, another talented founder in Project W’s Women Entrepreneurs Boot Camp (WEB). Nancy is a certified health coach and a health journalist who combined her knowledge of healthy eating and a sweet tooth to found Rule Breaker Snacks.?The company makes delicious, soft-baked cookies and bites from chickpeas.?Their products are 100% plant-based, free from gluten and the top eleven allergens, and have reduced sugar content.

Say hello to Manon Martin, another talented founder in Project W’s Women Entrepreneurs Boot Camp (WEB). With a degree in patternmaking for women’s fashion from Lycee de la Mode in France, Manon has spent her career in fashion from patternmaking to technical design.?She founded Les Aimants to reimage the wedding dress shopping experience through technology that uses a 3D body scanner and digital dress builder to deliver a precise made-to-measure fit and an on-demand manufacturing supply chain to deliver product faster.??