Panel | Black Founders Building the Future
Black Founders Building the Future
How Early Insight, Innovative Solutions and Aligned Capital Create the Next Generation of Markets
Join Portfolia for a future-of-markets panel featuring Black founders who are building the next generation of essential infrastructure across health and fintech—often long before markets or institutions recognize the opportunity.
Moderated by Trish Costello, Founder & CEO of Portfolia, and Sheila Collins, Partner at Rising America III, this conversation explores a core thesis: the future is built from the edge. Founders closest to broken systems see signals early—years before those failures are measured, validated, or funded.
Panelists will share what they recognized before the market paid attention, how proximity to real-world complexity shaped what they built, and why designing for the “edge” creates systems that ultimately scale better for everyone.
The discussion will also examine the role of capital—not just as fuel for growth, but as a determining factor in when solutions are allowed to exist. Why does capital so often arrive late, and what changes when aligned, early investment enables durable infrastructure to be built before traditional markets are ready?
This is a conversation about foresight, timing, and scale—and how capital can either delay progress or unlock the future.
Speakers:
Sheila Collins—Partner, Rising America III
Yvette Butler—CEO, Hive Wealth & Portfolia Board Member