“I’m a builder, innovator,
and futurist”
Through her venture fund, thirty-plus angel investments, and mentorship of entrepreneurs, Kathryn Finney is fostering economic, financial, and social opportunities for Black owned-businesses across the United States.
Named one of the most influential women in tech, Kathryn is the founding Managing Partner of Genius Guild. The Chicago-based venture fund invests in bold high-growth startups led by BIPOC founders that use the social determinants of health (SDOH) framework to build market driven solutions that disrupt the $4.3 trillion health care industry. Some of Kathryn’s investments include Juno Medical, Youme Health, and Health in Her Hue (Board member). Genius Guild is also an LP in Rarebreed, Capitalize VC, and Refashiond VC.
Kathryn is a Yale-trained epidemiologist, the founder and first CEO of digitalundivided, and the research mastermind behind the widely acclaimed #ProjectDiane. Kathryn started digitalundivided after selling her company, The Budget Fashionista, a pioneering lifestyle media firm. This notable action made her one of the first Black women to sell her startup.
Kathryn is also the founder and board chair emeritus of The Doonie Fund. She founded the fund in the middle of the COVID-19 crisis with a $10,000 personal donation. Within six weeks, the fund grew to over $200,000 and provided micro-investments to over 2,000 Black women-owned businesses.
As a serial entrepreneur and investor, Kathryn has received numerous honors and awards for her innovative work and achievements, including an Honorary Doctorate from Mount Holyoke College, an Aspen Financial Leaders Fellowship, PayPal’s Maggie Lena Walker Achievement Award, and many more. She is an Obama White House Champion of Change and served as a National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship member during the Obama Administration. February 26th is officially “Kathryn Finney Appreciation Day” in the borough of Manhattan, NY.
Her book, Build The Damn Thing: How to Start a Successful Business if You're Not a Rich White Guy, launched in June 2022 under the Penguin Random House Portfolio and made the Wall Street Journal bestsellers’ list in its first week of release. The book offers a hard-won, battle-tested guide to help every entrepreneur succeed. Kathryn also shares a narrative of her journey and storied career as an entrepreneur, inclusion champion, and investor to encourage Black founders and women entrepreneurs to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams on her podcast, “Build The Damn Thing.”
Kathryn and her work have been featured in Bloomberg, USA Today, Fortune, Forbes, Fast Company, NBC, Protocol, Crunchbase, Business Insider, Axios, TechCrunch, Vanity Fair, Essence, Black Enterprise, and more.
Join Kathryn!
Let’s Build Together