Speaker: Startup Space 2018 Entrepreneur Pitch Contest

Barbara has spent her entire career as part of high-performing teams. Whether as a management consultant at KPMG and PwC or as an executive in social impact companies or as an angel investor, a common theme has been high-performing diverse teams. This led her to form The Impact Seat with Teresa Nelson so that this experience can be developed at scale for companies across the country and internationally.

Barbara Clarke started her career as a management consultant for KPMG and PwC in New York, London, Washington DC and Boston after achieving a BA in quantitative economics. As a senior leader, she had a heightened sensitivity to the climate for diversity in the corporate domain which continues to feed her commitment to diversity management, not only because it is the right thing to do, but also because she thinks it is a profitable investment strategy.

After her time in corporate, Barbara spent 10 years in a variety of executive positions in the non-profit sector, which she approached as, “growth opportunities for good”. She served as National Director of the National Alliance for Grieving Children and as CFO for Cradles to Crayons, among others. Her deep commitment to social value creation continues through supportive and mentoring relationships with a variety of organizations including Tufts University Entrepreneurship Leadership Studies Program and as the first straight ally mentor for StartOut's Lesbian Entrepreneur Mentoring Program.

As a private equity investor, Barbara focuses on funding and mentoring women-led startups in tech. She is a founding member of Astia Angels, and a member of Pipeline Angels. In 2015, she joined the Investment Committee of the Rising Tide Fund, an innovative investment platform that trains women investors as it seeks financial return.