Mandela Schumacher-hodge Dixon
Angel Track at First Round Capital
United States
Overview
Work Experience
Board Member; Governance Committee
2024 - Current
Operating for over 35 years, the Homeless Prenatal Program (HPP) is the largest nationally-recognized family resource center in San Francisco. HPP works in partnership with homeless and low-income mothers to break the cycle of poverty and build healthy, stable, and self-sufficient families.
Limited Partner
2020
Investor in venture capital funds, backing the next generation of market-leading companies.
Executive Coach
2020
Executive Coach to CEOs, founders, and leaders of high-growth tech companies and VC firms.
Angel Investor
2018
Investor in over 100 tech startups; sector agnostic; pre-seed to Series A
Angel Track
2018
Member of First Round Capital's Angel Track, a group of select angel investors comprised of operators and founders from the most successful private and public tech companies. Mandela was one of 15 angel investors selected for the founding cohort in April 2018.
First Round Angel Track is a community of operators and founders looking to develop their skills and identities as early-stage investors.
Scout Investor
2020 - 2023
2x Member of Sequoia Capital Scouts, investing in seed and series A deals. Sequoia Scouts are a group of select angel investors comprised of operators and founders from the most successful tech companies and education institutions.
Sequoia Capital is a VC firm that invests in startups in the energy, financial, enterprise, healthcare, internet, and mobile industries.
Advisor to Board of Directors
2023 - 2023
Served as an advisor to the Board of Directors and executive leadership team to achieve a successful CEO transition. The succession plan was achieved, and Paige Hendrix Buckner – Mandela's Chief of Staff at All Raise and former COO at Founder Gym – was appointed the new CEO of All Raise.
CEO
2022 - 2023
All Raise is a non-profit on a mission to help women and non-binary leaders succeed in tech. The community is 22k strong, and includes 90% of women VCs on the Forbes’ Midas List, 84% of women check-writers at funds with >$25M AUM, and >200 venture capital firms.
All Raise is a nonprofit on a mission to accelerate the success of female founders and funders to build a more prosperous equitable future.
Raised $15,000,000.00 from Silicon Valley Bank, Sequoia Capital, Pivotal Ventures, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Reid Hoffman Foundation, Silicon Valley Bank and Pivotal Ventures.
Co-Chair of Fortune's Most Powerful Women's Summit
2022 - 2022
Fortune magazine selected Mandela SH Dixon to serve as Co-Chair of their Most Powerful Women (MPW) Summit, held in October 2022 in Laguna Niguel, CA. The MPW began as a list in 1998, and has since evolved into an extraordinary leadership community convening the preeminent women in business, including women in the C-Suite of Fortune 500 companies, along with select leaders in government, philanthropy, education, and the arts.
Founder and CEO (Acquired by Lightship Foundation)
2017 - 2022
Founder Gym was the largest online accelerator training underrepresented founders on how to raise their first round of capital to scale their tech startups. Founder Gym’s membership included >600 founders, spanning 26 countries and 6 continents. FG Graduates reside in Australia, Canada, Cayman Islands, Colombia, Denmark, Egypt, England, Estonia, France, Germany, Ghana, Ireland, Jamaica, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Mexico, Nigeria, The Philippines, Palestinian Territories, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, and the United States.
Founder Gym is an online training center for underrepresented founders who want to build successful tech startups.
Advisor & MC for Afrotech
2016 - 2019
As an advisor, master of ceremonies, and featured speaker at the inaugural AfroTech conferences (2016-2019), Mandela was instrumental in the event’s early success and growth. What started as a one-day event with 500 attendees in San Francisco has grown into the world’s leading media platform for Black technologists, reaching millions each year.
Blavity is home to the network of platforms and brands serving the multifaceted lives of Black millennials and gen-z.
Raised $9,359,798.00 from CV Catalyst Fund, Baron Davis Enterprises, Plexo Capital, Comcast Ventures, Google Ventures and Vista Venture Partners.
Venture Capital Portfolio Services Director
2015 - 2017
Mandela led the portfolio services division at Kapor Capital, the pioneering venture capital firm in Silicon Valley dedicated to social impact investing. At the time, the Kapor Capital portfolio included 120 companies, from seed to public, including Uber, Twilio, and Asana.
Kapor Capital is an investment firm that invests in early-stage tech-enabled startups.
Global Director of Startup Weekend Education (Acquired by Techstars)
2013 - 2015
Spanning six continents, Startup Weekend Education (SWEDU) was the largest community of innovators focused on helping people leverage entrepreneurship to improve education outcomes. In 2015, Startup Weekend Education's parent organization, UP Global, was acquired by Techstars.