Pipeline Angels, a network of women investors that’s changing the face of angel investing and creating more capital for women social entrepreneurs, has announced the first program of its kind, FEMPRENEUR.XYZ: Trans Women and Non-Binary Femme Entrepreneurs Workshop & Clinic. Pipeline Angels has teamed up with Goodwin, a global 50 law firm with a history of working on groundbreaking legal and social justice matters, to provide a pro-bono name change and incorporation workshop for trans women and non-binary femme entrepreneurs. The workshop will include thirty-minutes of one-on-one, pro-bono legal counsel on the incorporation tools available on Goodwin’s Founders Workbench, and each participant may also apply for additional pro-bono counseling through Goodwin’s Neighborhood Business Initiative.
While entrepreneurship is tough, it’s a rewarding road that allows founders to take control of their own fates and shape them as they see fit. Unfortunately, Black, Latinx, and/or Indigenous trans women and non-binary femmes often find themselves left in the dark due to poverty, fear, and lack of accessible resources about what entrepreneurship requires.
Pipeline Angels is committed to supporting more voices and when we were encouraged to launch our signature angel investing bootcamp in Charlotte, North Carolina, it was important for us to identify a way to support more voices locally. Pipeline Angels Founder & CEO Natalia Oberti Noguera brought Riley Hanson on board, Co-Founder and CTO of Inclusion Through Innovation (ITI), to help engage more trans women of color entrepreneurs in the Pipeline Angels Pitch Summit application process. Riley’s feedback inspired the launch of FEMPRENEUR.XYZ.
FEMPRENEUR.XYZ will hold in-person events in Charlotte and NYC, as well as host an online version to help trans women and non-binary femme entrepreneurs incorporate their businesses and participate in the 2016 Fall Pipeline Angels Pitch Summits. Goodwin will also provide name change services to those who need it, so entrepreneurs can focus on growing their businesses as their true, authentic selves.
Harmony Rodriguez, a trans woman interested in FEMPRENEUR.XYZ, had this to say: “A service like this is necessary because traversing the legal system to change one’s name is a daunting task. Doing it on your own can be difficult and costly, so it’s good we have someone in our corner.”
“A name change for trans women and/or non-binary femmes can be as life-saving as any other aspect of publicly embodying our gender. For trans women especially, having a legal name that can out them as transgender is dangerous, given the transmisogynist violence within the civil and penal systems, which is in turn used to deny them access to basic human rights and dignity,” explained Boudica Cooper, a non-binary Black femme who is the Program Coordinator at Pipeline Angels, adding, “To offer this service to trans women and non-binary femme entrepreneurs allows us to grow our businesses without needing to sign or create documents with a legal name that misgenders us. It allows us to order services, to incorporate our businesses, and to market ourselves, all under our correct name. Instead of being financially burdened by needing to change our documents, contracts, and licenses to our correct name at a later date, by providing name change services, FEMPRENEUR.XYZ will help us save money that can go toward growing our businesses, our communities, and ourselves.”
FEMPRENEUR.XYZ supporters include the founder of TransH4CK, Dr. Kortney Ziegler. We will be leveraging the technology of AerialSpaces, a startup he co-founded with Tiffany Mikell, to offer the program as a webinar for trans women and non-binary femme entrepreneurs unable to attend any of the in-person events. Dr. Ziegler, who is trans himself, had this to say about the program: “Business literacy is important for trans and gender non-conforming individuals who are often excluded from spaces that provide it. We’re excited to work with Pipeline Angels and use our online platform to help reduce those barriers and make this important information more accessible to trans women entrepreneurs.”
Blake Liggio, a senior associate at Goodwin, is excited to be supporting this effort. “Diversity and inclusion are core values at Goodwin, and it means so much to me that I can work with my firm to empower trans women and non-binary femme entrepreneurs to build their businesses in our communities. Transgender and gender non-conforming people face unique challenges in our society from discrimination, stigma, and systemic inequality. I have experienced these challenges first-hand and I am eager to help others who might find themselves encountering similar adversity in whatever way I can. We hope that by assisting the participants in this workshop advance professional opportunities available to them through the formation of their businesses, that we will help contribute to dismantling discriminatory hurdles and enhancing visibility for issues facing the trans and gender non-conforming communities.”
