AUTHOR BIO
Brian Weisfeld has been building businesses his entire life. As a kid, he bought gummy bears and hired his friends to sell them. As a teen, he sorted baseball cards, babysat, and sold mixtapes. As an adult, he helped build well-known, billion-dollar companies including IMAX Corporation and Coupons.com. But after watching his oldest daughter struggle to sell Girl Scout cookies, Brian decided to write a novel series to inspire girls to open their first businesses and to empower them with an entrepreneurial mindset. The Startup Squad, the first book in the series, was published by Macmillan Publishers in May, 2019. Brian is the Founder and Chief Squad Officer of The Startup Squad, an initiative dedicated to helping girls reach their potential and follow their dreams, whatever their passions. Brian lives in Silicon Valley with his wife and two daughters. You can learn more about The Startup Squad at www.thestartupsquad.com or on social media @thestartupsquad.

PANELISTS
11 year old Chelsea Phaire started her own charity in 2019 when Chelsea asked guests at her 10th birthday party to bring art supplies in lieu of birthday presents for herself. Chelsea was able to get her friends from various backgrounds and socioeconomic status to participate. As a result of their donations, she was able to make and donate her first 40 art kits to a local shelter, which was the start of Chelsea’s Charity. She creates art kits for youth in foster homes, shelters, hospitals, children that have gone through a traumatic experience and for families in need. She consistently invites others to participate and help with Chelsea’s charity through virtual art kit packing parties and satellite Chelsea’s Charity groups all over the country. Chelsea recognizes the power of art to heal, because she's used it herself to overcome bullying, the loss of one of her swimming instructors to gun violence and the passing of her grandfather. She wants more kids to have access to art to help them as well. By the end of 2020, Chelsea’s Charity had created and donated over 13,000 art kits to children in more than 30 different states and 2 countries. She is excited to maintain her work as an “Arts Activist” and continue providing more access to art for those in need because she truly believes that "Art is a Start!". You can learn more about Chelsea’s Charity at www.chelseascharity.org/ or on social media @chelseascharity.

Daisy Hampton is a 7th Grader at the British International School in New York City and the founder of Including You, a peer-to-peer mentoring and philanthropic organization. She is the recipient of the 2020 NYC Service Mayoral Recognition Youth Impact Award, a Hershey’s Heartwarming Hero Grant Recipient and was named a GoFundMe Hero for her work to promote digital inclusion. You can learn more about Including You www.includingyou.org or on social media @includingyou.

Lyla Black designed her first monster as a holiday gift for her father when she was just three years old. In the years following she worked with her staff to create hundreds of one-of-a-kind Lyla Tov Monsters (Good Night Monsters) before running a successful Kickstarter campaign that helped her launch four lines of mass market Monsters. With the help of her Monsters, Lyla has proudly brought a good night's sleep to thousands of children around the world. You can learn more about Lyla Tov Monsters at www.lylatov.com or on social media @lylatovmonsters.

MODERATOR BIO
Illana Raia is the Founder of Être, a mentorship platform that brings girls directly into companies they pick (think Spotify, Google, YouTube, NYSE...) to meet female leaders face to face. With on-site visits, virtual mentor pop-ups, after-school clubs and a new book on the way, Être helps today's girls figure out exactly who they want to be.