Alumni from the Rady School of Management share how they used their degrees to disrupt their industries to bring innovative ideas, products and programs to the market.
Silvia Mah – Inspiring Diversity in Entrepreneurship
Have you noticed an influx of women raising their voices and taking their seats at the entrepreneurial table? It is women like Silvia Mah (MBA ’10) who are helping make that possible. Through her various organizations focused on supporting women in the startup world, she has helped with the launch of more than 120 female-led business endeavors.
Mah serves as the Executive Director of Hera Labs, a business accelerator dedicated to helping women-led businesses launch and grow. Hera Labs is not your typical accelerator. Founded on principles of innovation, support, community and collaboration, Hera Labs was created to encourage diversity in entrepreneurship by providing women access to mentors, education and capital to ignite female-led innovation.
With a background in biochemistry, Mah initially came to the Rady School to enhance her business acumen and expand her network. After a few courses highlighting entrepreneurship, Mah caught the entrepreneurial bug and worked to develop mystartupxx – an accelerator housed in the Rady School dedicated to helping women create and launch business ideas.
“My time at Rady transformed my business decision-making process, challenged me to think big and dream of a different world where funding opportunities are not dictated by our gender or color,” Mah said.
The success of Hera Labs has led to a number of additional resources for female entrepreneurs added to the lineup. Hera Labs recently partnered with Seed San Diego and Product Rebels, to launch Ad Astra, a 12-week business accelerator for female founders with revenue-generating businesses. Throughout the program, participants gain access to funding and clarity on their product, customers, and market, so they leave with a compelling business case that leads to subsequent investments.
“Rady supported me tremendously in the launch and growth of a business accelerator made for female change-makers and innovators. I cannot begin to express my gratitude to Rady, the faculty and the students for creating a safe place to grow ideas for maximum impact.”