How Women Invest

Cecily Mak, General Partner at a human-first firm centered on mindfulness, applies contemplative practice, behavior-change expertise, and advocacy for alcohol-free living to advise founders creating products for intentional human flourishing.

Subha Rajana is a Venture Partner at 3i Partners with over 25 years of experience in software project management, software development, and strategy. She is a founding LP at How Women Invest, an early-stage venture firm focused on female founders and female investors, and serves as a board member for Pratham Bay Area Chapter, a nonprofit organization supporting education, culture, and women empowerment. Her investment interests include climate tech, Web3, and AI applications.

Susan Akbarpour is an entrepreneur and investor who has founded several technology and media startups over a 30-year career. She holds an MSc in Management from Stanford University Graduate School of Business and focuses on consumer-centric technologies. At Candou Ventures she sources, develops, and supports early-stage startups in SaaS, AI, blockchain, and consumer internet.

Erika Cramer rose from mailroom roles to lead 100+ M&A deals and runs a $10M fund with $25K minimums recruiting first‑time female LPs as sourcing partners, advising founders on liquidity.

Aury Cifuentes is a Principal on the Investment Team at How Women Invest, where she has led over six investments in women-led startups across seed to Series B stages. Previously, she invested in commerce, fintech, health, and AI companies at Plug & Play Ventures and held a manager position at Bloomberg in New York. At How Women Invest, she leads founder community initiatives including fireside events, the VC Trailblazer dinner series, and founder roundtables.

Brittany Feehan is the founder of Feehan Advisory, where she provides fractional head of investor relations services and advises venture funds on capital formation and fundraising operations. Her background includes building investor relations functions, developing business development strategies, and designing operational systems for growth-focused organizations. She works with clients on investor relations, capital formation, member experience, CRM strategy, and growth operations.

Founder and General Partner at 2045 Ventures leading early-stage technology investments, with over two decades of finance experience including a VP role at Dimensional Fund Advisors. She teaches venture capital as an adjunct professor at USC Marshall and holds an MBA from Berkeley-Haas, an MA from USF, and a BA in economics from USC.

Christina Bui is Vice President of Managed Business Solutions at Robert Half and Protiviti, where she leads engagements combining strategic advisory capabilities with talent solutions for private equity, venture capital, and corporate clients across finance, operations, technology, and risk. With over 30 years of experience across technology, healthcare, engineering, construction, consulting, and financial services, she has held roles including Founding Managing Partner at Cailan Ventures and Chief Revenue Officer at Kranz Consulting. Bui serves on multiple boards including Son Foods and the Association for Corporate Growth, holds degrees in International Relations and French from the University of Virginia and Corporate Finance from Johns Hopkins University, and has been recognized by the San Francisco Business Times as one of the Most Influential Women in Business.

Julie Candelon is a fractional CMO and VP of Demand Generation who works with B2B technology companies ranging from Series A to Fortune 100 enterprises. With over 15 years of marketing leadership experience, she specializes in go-to-market strategy, demand generation, marketing operations, and AI-enabled processes across organizations in transition, including those fundraising, scaling, or entering new markets. Her background spans AI, DevOps, cloud, cybersecurity, and enterprise SaaS sectors, with previous work at companies including NVIDIA, Amazon, and RingCentral.

Kathleen Osborne is founder and consultant at Kamel PR, a firm providing public relations services to B2B technology companies and venture capital firms. She advises early-stage startups on communications strategy and serves as a member of the WPO Tampa Chapter.

Lata Setty is an inaugural investor and member of the LP Advisory Committee at How Women Invest Funds I, II, and III. She has experience in venture capital, angel investing, legal technology, patent litigation, and board service. Setty is involved with efforts to expand access to venture capital for female and underrepresented founders.

Lupe Augier serves as Data, Automations & Systems Lead and Salesforce Administrator at How Women Lead. With bilingual capabilities and experience in process analysis, Augier works across departments on operational projects and has presented designs to stakeholders. The role focuses on automations, systems management, and operations support.

Nancy Hayes is a management consultant and angel investor with experience across corporate, nonprofit, and academic leadership. She previously served as a senior executive at IBM, CEO of the STARBRIGHT Foundation and WISE Senior Services, dean of the College of Business at San Francisco State University, and CFO of SF State. Since 2014, Hayes has been an active angel investor with a portfolio exceeding 30 women-led companies and has served as Managing Director of Golden Seeds; she also co-founded MoolaHoop, a rewards-based crowdfunding platform for women-owned businesses, and provides advisory and mentoring services to entrepreneurs and women executives.

Nicole White is Founding Principal Emerita and Advisor at Newfront, where she provides risk management and benefits consulting services. She specializes in strategic planning, organizational development, employee benefits consulting, and cost control. White is also a founding LP at How Women Invest, serves on multiple boards, and is active as a venture capital and angel investor.

Susan Schroeder is Director of Marketing and Communications at How Women Lead and works as a Fractional Chief Brand Officer with growth-stage companies. With over 20 years of experience in brand development, marketing strategy, and communications, she advises founders and executives on positioning, narrative development, and brand strategy. She has published two newsletters on Substack and a memoir titled Closer to the Sun: Her Brain Tumor. My Brain Surgery. The Year I Lost Both of Us.

Katera Mujadidi is Head of Investor Relations and Capital Formation at ACME Capital, where she leads fundraising and investor relations efforts. She has over 13 years of venture capital experience, including senior positions at Vivo Capital, Northgate Capital, and Pantera Capital, with a focus on building and scaling investor relations departments. Her work spans fundraising and investor relationship management across institutional investors in the U.S., Europe, Asia, MENA, and LATAM regions.