Liz Koser

One of the driving goals of Next Wave Impact is to increase diversity in angel investing and high growth entrepreneurship. Our first pilot programs sought to narrow the gender gap in angel investing by providing nearly 200 women a unique learning opportunity that allowed them to build a diversified portfolio of investments, receive mentoring by women who are experienced angel investors, and an education & training program around angel investing. We completed two pilot programs: a US program in partnership with Portfolia and Go Beyond Investing and a Europe program in partnership with Go Beyond Investing and the European Business Angel Network. The Angel Capital Association also partnered with us on the education and training piece, which was supported by the Kauffman Foundation. Second funds are now underway in both the US and Europe. We have also set up a 501c(3) nonprofit organization, the Next Wave Foundation, which will focus on building out the education and training programs, as well as a global network of women investors and entrepreneurs (and the men who support them). The Next Wave Network is a global movement to increase women’s participation in angel investing as an asset class. It has been developed to provide an enriching investment experience; including an investment portfolio in start-ups, an education of the investment process, and the development of a global angel community of successful business women across the US, Europe, Africa,Middle East, Asia, and Latin America.

Launched in 2006, Amazon Web Services (AWS) began exposing key infrastructure services to businesses in the form of web services -- now widely known as cloud computing. The ultimate benefit of cloud computing, and AWS, is the ability to leverage a new business model and turn capital infrastructure expenses into variable costs. Businesses no longer need to plan and procure servers and other IT resources weeks or months in advance. Using AWS, businesses can take advantage of Amazons expertise and economies of scale to access resources when their business needs them, delivering results faster and at a lower cost. Today, Amazon Web Services provides a highly reliable, scalable, low-cost infrastructure platform in the cloud that powers hundreds of thousands of businesses in 190 countries around the world. With data center locations in the U.S., Europe, Singapore, and Japan, customers across all industries are taking advantage of our low cost, elastic, open and flexible, secure platform.

One of the driving goals of Next Wave Impact is to increase diversity in angel investing and high growth entrepreneurship. Our first pilot programs sought to narrow the gender gap in angel investing by providing nearly 200 women a unique learning opportunity that allowed them to build a diversified portfolio of investments, receive mentoring by women who are experienced angel investors, and an education & training program around angel investing. We completed two pilot programs: a US program in partnership with Portfolia and Go Beyond Investing and a Europe program in partnership with Go Beyond Investing and the European Business Angel Network. The Angel Capital Association also partnered with us on the education and training piece, which was supported by the Kauffman Foundation. Second funds are now underway in both the US and Europe. We have also set up a 501c(3) nonprofit organization, the Next Wave Foundation, which will focus on building out the education and training programs, as well as a global network of women investors and entrepreneurs (and the men who support them). The Next Wave Network is a global movement to increase women’s participation in angel investing as an asset class. It has been developed to provide an enriching investment experience; including an investment portfolio in start-ups, an education of the investment process, and the development of a global angel community of successful business women across the US, Europe, Africa,Middle East, Asia, and Latin America.

Impinj (NASDAQ: PI) helps businesses and people analyze, optimize, and innovate by wirelessly connecting billions of everyday things—such as apparel, automobile parts, luggage, and shipments—to the Internet. The Impinj platform uses RAIN RFID to deliver timely data about these everyday things to business and consumer applications, enabling a boundless Internet of Things. If it’s a thing, our platform can connect it. Impinj enables digital transformation by extending the Internet’s reach from the cloud, through edge connectivity devices, all the way to physical items. Our broad partner ecosystem uses our platforms best-in-market products, capabilities, and technology to build IoT solutions that bring visibility and automation to intelligent systems. Wirelessly connect everyday items. Identify, locate, and protect them. And deliver data about those items to applications like inventory management, asset management, and shipment verification. Why become an Impinjineer? At Impinj, you will find an innovative, passionate, curious team that is constantly pushing ideas forward and creating technology that positively impacts the world. Our employees enjoy competitive benefits, a flexible & collaborative work environment, and the knowledge that they are making a difference. Diversity & Inclusion We recognize our responsibility to use our platform, voice, and influence to seek out injustices and ensure that Impinj becomes a model of D&I. That responsibility starts from within. As a result of sincere, months-long discussions, our team members decided on these goals to bolster Impinj’s diversity efforts: * Diversify our hiring process and seek out applicants from diverse backgrounds
 * Maintain an inclusive, respectful workplace where team members from all backgrounds feel supported and have opportunities for development * Participate in our community * Actualize and commit to our D&I strategy through our newly formed cross-divisional Diversity Action Team.