StartOut SF is proud to present a very special evening devoted to women in entrepreneurship.  Part of StartOut's mission is to increase the visibility of lesbian entrepreneurs, and to strengthen the lesbian entrepreneur network. "Women In Entrepreneurship" is designed to help meet this goal.

We begin the evening with a networking reception of cocktails and hors d'oeuvres at the offices of our event host, Pillsbury.  Our expert panel will then discuss issues of significance to women entrepreneurs in general, and lesbian entrepreneurs in particular. 

Whether you're in the early stages of an entrepreneurial career, an experienced entrepreneur looking for new perspectives, interested in making the leap into entrepreneurship or you advise entrepreneurs, join us for an insightful and fun evening of networking and conversation with inspiring women.  (Note: While this evening is focused on the issues facing women in entrepreneurship, men are welcome to attend this event.)

The evening agenda is as follows:

5:30-6:30pm - Networking Cocktail Hour

6:30-7:30pm - Women in Entrepreneurship Panel

7:30-8:30pm - After-Panel Reception

In addition, we are pleased to announce a LIMITED NUMBER OF SEATS for a post-event networking dinner with several of the panelists and StartOut board members hosted by our panelist Traci Des Jardins at her fabulous restaurant Jardiniere. A portion of the dinner proceeds will go to StartOut as a tax-deductible contribution.

We are honored to have a fantastic group of highly accomplished entrepreneurs on our panel:

TRACI DES JARDINS, Co-Founder and Chef, Jardiniere

Raised on a farm in California's San Joaquin Valley, Traci Des Jardins developed a deep love for the earth and it's bounty. The Des Jardins dinner table featured produce from the garden and game from the land in dishes reflecting her heritage - Mexican on her mother's side, Lousianian-French Acadian on her father's. Traci began baking with her mother at age six. While she was a student in veterinary studies at the University of California, she realized her true calling was the kitchen. She left Santa Cruz to follow her heart.

Though she never had a job in a restaurant before, through sheer determination she convinced Joachim Splichal, then at 7th Street Bistro in Los Angeles, to hire her. Within two weeks she was running a station in the kitchen. Says Des Jardins, "I was lucky enough to start with one of the best chefs in the country. He had an uncompromised discipline and standard of excellence and for me there was no turning back." With Splichal's encouragement and recommendations she apprenticed in Europe with many of the French greats, including Michel and Pierre Troisgros, Lucas Carton, Alain Ducasse and Alain Passard.

Back in the States, Des Jardins worked at Montrachet in Manhattan before returning to California as opening chef de cuisine of Splichal's Patina. She moved to San Francisco, where she had always wanted to live, and opened Aqua with George Morrone and Elka Gilmore. In 1997, she opened her own restaurant, Jardinière.
Now one of the most acclaimed and respected chefs in the country, Des Jardins has been honored with numerous awards. She was a James Beard Foundation "Rising Star Chef of the Year", one of Food & Wine Magazine's "Best New Chefs", San Francisco Magazine's" Chef of the Year", and was listed as one of the top three chefs in the Bay Area by the San Francisco Chronicle each year since opening.

AMY ERRETT, VC Partner at Maveron Venture Capital

Amy is our horseback riding, fly-fishing, black-diamond snowboarding, wine collecting, SF Giants-loving Californian. She joined the Maveron team as a partner in 2008, expanding our operations beyond the rain of the Pacific Northwest’s Seattle to the fog of San Francisco. She offers Maveron more than 25 years of business and operating expertise as a leading entrepreneur, senior executive and social-mission visionary. Her focal points are emerging Web enabled consumer trends, e-commerce social shopping, and online education. Amy currently serves on the Altius Education, Livemocha and KidZui boards of directors.

Amy’s multifaceted career has ranged from the online Web 2.0 media industry to the offline consumer marketplace, and has stretched as far as volunteer nonprofit leadership. Most recently, she was chief executive officer and an owner of Olivia, repositioning the travel company as a complete lifestyle company for gay women both online and offline while multiplying revenues from $5 million to $25 million in 2007. In 2006, she was named the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year for Northern California. Prior to her work at Olivia in 2002, she founded and served as chair and chief executive officer of The Spectrem Group, a worldwide strategic consulting, information, and M&A advisory firm. Amy sold Spectrem to an IPG subsidiary, NFO Worldwide (NYSE:NFO) in 1996. After the sale, she joined the senior management team at E*Trade where she diversified the company’s business beyond brokerage and ran a $200 million business that encompassed the management of E*Trade’s growth areas, including their business-to-business stock option division, and launched a successful asset-based products and investment management services division. Among Amy's citations is the Israel Fellows Award, presented by the San Francisco–based Jewish Community Federation. A passionate humanitarian, Amy is the chair of the board of Glide Foundation, San Francisco’s largest nongovernmental, direct social services organization. Amy is also a member of San Francisco’s Barbary Coast chapter of YPO and serves on the board of Wharton West.

A New York native, Amy earned an MBA in finance from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a BA in liberal arts from the University of Connecticut. She is a fanatical UCONN Huskies fan where she was a student athlete. (This makes for fascinating partner meetings during basketball season since she is not a DUKE fan!) She and her partner live in San Francisco with their daughter.

Works with: Altius Education, KidZui, Livemocha, Mozes, VideoEgg

CAROL NAST, Founder and President, Enterprise Catalyst Group

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP

Pillsbury prides itself on promoting an inclusive environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender attorneys and staff, and has received a 100 percent score on the Corporate Equality Index from the Human Rights Campaign Foundation for four years running. Openly gay and lesbian attorneys hold important management positions throughout the firm and serve as leaders of key firm committees. Pillsbury's attorneys have a long history of representing LGBT entrepreneurs and businesses, including PlanetOut, Inc. (the first publicly traded company focused on the LGBT market), The Advocate, Out and RSVP Vacations.

StartOut

StartOut is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering and developing entrepreneurship in the LGBT community.  More information can be found on our website at www.startout.org where you can also register for upcoming events.

This event is also supported by Forum for Women Entrepreneurs & Executives and by Stanford Pride.

StartOut would also like to thank Shae Rocco Photography, for covering the event. For more information visit www.shaerocco.com

Please feel free to forward this invitation to any women entrepreneurs that may be interested!  Thank you.