In light of current events, we see a paradigm shift in migrating offline communities to online communities. Many of us community builders are wondering “what’s the best way to build community in an ever-changing world?”
Join us for a conversation with community builders from diverse backgrounds in VC, startups, and big tech companies on sharing best practices and new ways of cultivating and nurturing communities during these times.
If you are building a community at a startup or VC this is an event for you!
In this virtual panel, you'll hear from three community professionals about their experiences with online and offline communities.
We'll spend the first 10 minutes going over ground rules and doing quick introductions and then delve right into the discussion with our speakers. We will send out details on how to join the session day-of. We encourage you to submit any questions beforehand when you register.
As First Round’s Community Lead, Serena spends her days working to create meaningful human connections at every community event they host, each online interaction they enable, and every mentorship relationship they make happen. She's driven to find innovative online and offline ways to engage and delight their founders by infusing every interaction with warmth and generosity.
With over 20+ years of enterprise development experience at companies like Samsung, Amazon, Microsoft, MLB, HBO, New York Jets, and more, Jesse is an expert in Mobile and Web development as well industry trends around the adoption and ethics of AI and machine learning. In addition to his development background, Jesse has a masters in interactive computer art from the School of Visual Arts. He can be found on twitter at @jessefreeman.
Pedro developed his career at Zendesk, where he spent his last 6 years. Zendesk provides software for customer experience to a wide range of customers worldwide. On his latest venture at Zendesk, Pedro leads the Startup Initiatives team, enabling the growth of more than seven thousand early-stage startups through the Zendesk for Startups Program. He also built a partnership ecosystem with top leading Venture Capital firms, Accelerators, Incubators and other tech providers like Brex, Stripe, AWS and Segment. When he is not talking tech he is exploring the outdoors on a surfboard, skiing on the slopes and learning different cultures.
Fernanda Baker is Head of Ecosystem for Samsung NEXT in Silicon Valley. She focuses on building and maintaining relationships with key players in the SV tech ecosystem, planning and executing events and partnerships, and helping run several founder-focused programs and initiatives. In a previous life, she was helping connect Brazilian founders and investors to the Silicon Valley tech ecosystem. She is passionate about building relationships and helping founders build, grow, and scale their businesses worldwide.
Mia is a community aficionado and currently serves as the Community Lead for Samsung NEXT based in New York. She focuses on building and maintaining relationships with key players in the NY tech ecosystem, planning and executing community events and programming, and helping run several founder-focused programs and initiatives. Mia is passionate about building relationships and communities in and out of tech and believes in communicating and connecting authentically to do so.
Bo Ren is an investor, writer, TEDx speaker, and advisor. She is currently the Head of NY Ecosystem at Samsung NEXT where she helps grow, scale, and incubate startups in the NYC tech ecosystem. In a previous life, she built products at Facebook, Instagram, and Tumblr, leading the redesign for core creative tools at Tumblr, launching Facebook Notes, and Instagram monetization tools.