Founders' Dinner
Hosted by CIC Social Impact Program, this intimate dinners gives underserved founders in the Boston ecosystem a chance to meet, connect, and build community over dinner and thought-leadership.
This panel discussion will feature:
- Nicole Phillips-Bastian: Nicole is the Co-Founder and CEO of Qatch, an interactive SMS shopping experience whose patent-pending technology uses over 1 Billion data points to connect consumers and brands in a personalized and authentic way. With partners like Nike, Mejuri, Nordstrom, and Dr. Martens, she helps brands cut through the noise and reach their next customer in a hyper-personalized, authentic way.
Nicole has raised $1.8M from both Angels and VCs, including XRC Labs, TBD Angels, BOLT, and mega-influencer Rocky Barnes. She holds a J.D. and LL.M. with a focus on retail and fashion clients. Prior to founding Qatch, she practiced law in New York and Massachusetts and worked in-house for a luxury jewelry brand.
- Dianne Austin: Dianne Austin is the co-founder and CEO of Coils to Locs, a direct to hospital and ecommerce distributor of premium fiber coily wigs for women experiencing medical hair loss. As a breast cancer survivor, Dianne turned her own chemotherapy experience into a company built around a disparity she couldn't ignore: her insurance covered a cranial prosthesis, but the only wigs available in her medical setting were straight. Over seven years of largely bootstrapped growth, she has secured over $200K in non-dilutive grants and helped lead Coils to Locs' first Wefunder friends and family raise, bringing in more than $78K. The company is currently raising $650K. Coils to Locs has been featured on The Jennifer Hudson Show, the TODAY Show, Forbes, PEOPLE, and ELLE, and Dianne is a sought after voice on health equity, DEI, HR, community engagement, and entrepreneurship.
- Christina Quinn: Christina Quinn is the Managing Partner of Lua, a strategy and growth consultancy dedicated to advancing equity in entrepreneurship and venture capital by supporting early-stage founders and fund managers. She is also a General Partner at SSC Venture Partners, a venture fund and accelerator that backs startups led by Boston College students and alumni, which informs her perspectives on early stage entrepreneurship as well as fund management and operations.
Prior to founding Lua, Christina worked at HarbourVest Partners in revenue operations and product development roles, where she led the creation of fundraising materials used to raise $20B+ in capital for new funds. In support of her passion for building more inclusive tech ecosystems, Christina is a member of the New England Female Founders (NEFF) leadership council, is an advisor to several women-led startups, and serves as a mentor for The Entrepreneur Forum's Fellowship for Female Founders. Christina graduated from Boston College's Carroll School of Management and resides in Newport, Rhode Island.
- Moderation by Lisa Frusztajer: Lisa spent the first half of her career working in technology doing everything from product management to marketing to engineering management. A few years ago she transitioned to early stage investing and then trained as a coach to be more effectively work with startup founders, founders cohorts and corporate executives on how they can get clear on their direction, and channel all of their hard into getting closer to what they want. Lisa also teaches a class called Funding for New Ventures at Boston College's Woods College.