Pod - Entrepreneur of the Year

Company: Pod, Manhattan Beach,CA
Company Description: At Pod we believe in the power of real connections. The first generation of social media apps have encouraged us all to take our friends, put them online and communicate with them online. At Pod we are on a mission to do the opposite. We want to bring people together.
Nomination Category: Entrepreneur Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Entrepreneur of the Year - Computer Software - Up to 500 Employees

Nomination Title: Dr. Jo Webber

In early 2019, Dr. Jo Webber founded a company dedicated to providing a social networking environment that allowed people to discover each other and connect based on shared interests and location. The design from the start was to respect and protect the privacy of members and not share or sell member data with any third parties. In essence creating a new generation of social networking apps built with safety and privacy from the beginning. The app was released in Q4 2019 and membership quickly rose to over 100,000. In early 2020 as COVID struck, Jo focused on securing funding for Pod and closed a $5m round in June 2020. In September 2020, Dr Webber acquired a nine year old services company that was focused on reducing the STEM talent gap and helping companies build diverse STEM talent pipelines.

This company; STEMconnector has hundreds of members across the world including many of the worlds leading technology, defense, biotech and retail companies. STEMconnector also includes a movement called Million Women Mentors designed to encourage the mentoring of girls and women in STEM. Dr Webber worked to quickly create a cohesive branding for Pod, STEMconnector and Million Women Mentors and ensure the retention of key personnel and clients. Since the acquisition, Dr Webber has led the productization of STEMconnector services and the development of a SaaS application using the core Pod technology to serve STEMconnector corporations and universities. The first phase of this solution was rolled out in Jan 2021 to the STEMconnector memberbase.

In 2020 the inequalities that have existed in our society for many years surfaced through a series of shocking events. This set the landscape for a much needed deeper discussion and plan of action on diversity, equity, and inclusion.Now, in early 2021, for the first time, virtually all leading companies and many smaller companies are scrutinizing their levels of diversity, equity and inclusion, and strategizing how to build for a more diverse and inclusive future. Dr Webber directed the STEMconnector research team to quantify the level of diversity in STEM and create the first annual State of DE&I in STEM report. This research was performed during the final quarter of 2021 and was made available to all corporations in early 2021 to help companies, colleges and schools open STEM career pathways for all.

See attachment