Breaking Barriers: Expanding the Angel Ecosystem
Join Annie Katrina Lee and Yoko Okano for an exclusive half-day session designed to equip and empower women investors with the knowledge, tools, and connections to confidently back the next generation of transformative startups.
This event is for those ready to take the next step into angel investing and for women who have previously invested (Accredited Investors). However, all who believe in expanding access to capital and diversifying the investor ecosystem are welcome.
By increasing the presence of women and underrepresented investors in early-stage funding, we can drive better financial outcomes, fuel innovation, and shape a more inclusive future. Studies show that greater gender diversity in investment teams can add 45 basis points per year in net excess returns. Yet, despite these advantages, only 1% of U.S. financial assets are managed by women or individuals from diverse backgrounds (Source).
It’s time to change the face of investing—one smart, strategic investment at a time.
Are you ready to step into the room where decisions are made?
Event Details
🗓️ Saturday, March 01 2025
⏰ 10:00am - 2:00pm PT (lunch will be provided)
🎟️ $10.00 admission (all proceeds will be donated to All Raise, a grassroots movement making the tech ecosystem more accessible, equitable, and diverse)
What to Expect
🔥 Fireside Chat: Gain insights about how angel investing fits within a balanced portfolio.
🛠️ Workshop: Hands-on session covering what to look for in an investment - including due diligence, deal structuring, and evaluating opportunities.
🎤 Panel Discussion: Hear from seasoned investors about real-world investment experiences and how to build a diversified portfolio of early-stage investments.
🤝 Networking: Connect with like-minded investors and industry experts.
Who Should Attend?
💸 Seats will be prioritized for women who have not yet invested or in the early stages of their deployment (less than 3 deals and/or less than $50,000 total deployed).
📚 We encourage those that are new to angel investing to attend our primer on angel investing: Angel Investing 101 Webinar on February 14th at 11:30am PT (via Zoom).
About the Hosts
Annie Katrina Lee, Co-Founder & Principal at Penknife Collective
For two decades, Annie has had the privilege of leading in the marketing world — now collaborating with B2C brands in an advisory, consulting, and fractional CMO capacity as Co-Founder & Principal at Penknife Collective. Her heart lies in supporting early-stage companies faced with the thrilling challenge of hyper-growth. Annie is a partner to founders and executives, offering honest guidance and pragmatic creativity to address their marketing needs and organizational design. Like a mechanic, her sweet spot is diagnosing and fine-tuning businesses and organizations to flourish and thrive.
From humble beginnings to larger enterprises, Annie has gained invaluable experience building brands and guiding go-to-market teams across diverse disciplines such as product marketing, growth, brand, and content. You can learn more about her journey with multiple startups (Twitch, Amazon, Pinterest, and Microsoft) on LinkedIn.
Originally from the Big Island of Hawaii, Annie now splits her time between Seattle and the Bay Area. Her alma maters hold a special place in her heart, with a Master of Communication in Digital Media from the University of Washington and a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from Seattle University. She has also had the honor of serving as an Adjunct Professor for Marketing Analytics at Seattle University.
Beyond her professional endeavors, Annie holds a deep passion for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, ardently championing the advancement of AAPI communities, women, and parents in the workplace. This cause is close to her heart as a 1.5 generation Korean American, daughter, wife, and mother. Annie understands the complexities of navigating the immigrant child experience, and is always striving to balance filial piety and personal aspirations — read more about her story and POV here.
Yoko Okano, Founding Partner, First Row Partners
Yoko is one of the Founding Partners of First Row Partners, a pre-seed stage venture capital firm based in Seattle and investing across North America. First Row Partners invests in technology that superpowers emerging brand builders, content creators and storytellers in a world transformed with new interaction modalities and AI. In addition to investing in pre-seed startups. Yoko teaches new and upcoming entrepreneurs through the Masters of Science in Entrepreneurship program at the University of Washington.
Before starting First Row, Yoko built a portfolio of 50+ companies as an angel investor through her active participation in angel networks like Grubstakes. Being in the heart of Silicon Valley while at Stanford connected her deeply into the tech sector, including 8 years at Google, working on product operations and partnerships for the launch of Google eBooks (now Google Play), and subsequently as a product lead for startups. With her “professional life,” Yoko loves to think about product-led growth and shortening an end user’s “time to delight.” Personally, she also fosters a deep passion for bringing more founders and funders into the ecosystem and balancing the power imbalance between the two sides of the table through education.