Rarebirds Podcast

Greetings Rare Ones and welcome to the Rare Birds Emerging Markets Podcast. I am your host Jo-Ann. I started Rare Birds a few years ago because I wanted to learn the stories of startups in emerging markets. This has since evolved into a digital brand with content covering startups and blockchain technology with a sole focus on emerging markets. The Rare Birds Emerging Markets Podcast is where I have conversations with startup founders, ecosystem builders, innovators and investors from across emerging markets.   This is Conversations with Jo-Ann, a small bites episode where you get to learn a little more about the motivation behind the series and what to expect next. Listen in to installment three whereby I wrap up series and provide some details into what's to come this summer with series 9: Adoption and Education-Blockchain in Africa.  EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS Puerto Rico Wrap Up Series 9

Sebastian Vidal is the Chief Innovation Officer at the Puerto Rico Science, Technology & Innovation Trust. He is the former Executive Director of Parallel18 an international Startup Program based in Puerto Rico where they support and invest in 80 global companies per year with the goal of having an economic and social impact in the island. After the first year, the program has been able to generate 5 times return the distributed investment. Before this, Mr. Vidal led government funded program Start-Up Chile, aiming to attract global minded entrepreneurs to his native Chile in order to transform the country in to a world-recognized innovation capital. Through Start-Up Chile, he was able to work side by side with more than 1,000 startups in different stages and industries, managing a 10 USD Million yearly budget and witness a country’s cultural transformation towards entrepreneurship, guiding the program in to become the most innovative company of Latin America according to FastCompany in 2015. He has also

Jahannie Torres-Rodriguez has a background in computer engineering and business development from the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus, where she was a first-generation college student. She has over five years of experience developing Innovation and Entrepreneurship ecosystems through the Mayagüez Business and Economic Development Center and the UPRM E-ship Network. Stanford University selected her to join the University Innovation Fellows program and become a change agent in higher education. Recently, the World Economic Forum recognized her as a Global Shaper. Jahannie is a co-founder of EPIC Makerspace (the first makerspace in her institution), Tech Blast Conference (to expose STEM students to emerging technologies that were not offered in courses), Solidarity Scholarship (to help students from disadvantaged communities, like her community) and Edvo Tech(a professional development company for teachers). She currently works as a Business Development Specialist at Colmena66, a program of the Puerto

Erica Reyes is the owner of Cafe Cola'o in Old San Juan and The School of Coffee and Baristas of Puerto Rico. This is the first and only educational institution dedicated to fostering the growth and training of baristas in Puerto Rico.  She has more than 15 years of experience in the coffee industry. The school's main educational resource has certifications from: Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) among other professional development bodies. She has also served as a technical coffee judge in Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Sweden, China, Hungary, among others, and as a "coach" of coffee competitions in Puerto Rico, Seattle, Sweden, among other countries. She also holds the title of Technical Judge for the World Barista competition in Italy, as well as becoming the first SCA instructor to offer courses in Spanish to the Spanish-speaking community in the United States.

Jennifer is the Managing Partner of ATO Ventures, an early stage venture capital firm based in Puerto Rico that funds technology startups in USA and LATAM, with special focus in PR. She has been building companies and investing in startups as a Limited Partner (LP), Venture Partner, Angel and Venture Capitalist (VC) for over 20 years. Jennifer began investing in the capital markets at age 19, while an undergrad at Oxford University. She became an LP in an early stage Venture Capital fund at age 23. Several years later, Jennifer become a Venture Partner with Outsell, and then an active startup Advisor and Angel Investor. She founded ATO Ventures in 2018. The fund had its first close in 2019 and will do a final close in 2020. ATO Ventures is currently deploying capital while also completing its raise. As an entrepreneur, Jennifer started her first company at age 8, but she officially became a tax-paying citizen at age 10. After University, she was a testifying & consulting Commercial Damages Expert be

Gustavo Diaz Skoff grew up in the Startup Ecosystem in Puerto Rico. At 18 years of age, he founded the first youth-led non-profit organization for aspiring entrepreneurs in Puerto Rico with the support of 3 Government agencies. During his time at the #1 School For Entrepreneurship (Babson College), he studied and produced the only non-government commissioned study of Act 20 & Act 22. At 24 years of age, he built his fair share of companies (crash & burned them), worked with a wide array of firms, led last-mile data gathering efforts with 78 mayors in Puerto Rico post-Hurricane Maria, and performed some incredible stuff.

Alan  is the co-founder and owner of Brands Of (alongside his brother). They were both studying abroad when they experienced the nostalgia many do when abroad. This was the beginning of their company, Brands Of, a startup company committed to exporting goods from Latin American countries and providing a drop shipping-plus-fulfillment service from Puerto Rico. Brands of looks to supply consumers especially the Latin-American diaspora with the brands and products they love from their home country while enabling local entrepreneurs with the necessary tools to export. We are building the largest quality based catalog of Latin-Americans products and brands “The concept of Brands of started with Brands of Puerto Rico. In the first days of March 2014 Puerto Rico’s bonds degraded to junk because of the ongoing economic crisis, parallel to this a greater number of Puerto Ricans started moving to the continental USA looking for more opportunities. We saw this as a great opportunity for the local entrepreneurs to s

My name is Perla Sofía Curbelo-Santiago (Sofía is my middle name, and Curbelo-Santiago are my parent´s last names). I was born and raised on the tropical island of Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory. I currently live on the Island. Since I was a kid, I was always interested in flowers and plants. I used to have my own garden lot in my parent´s backyard. I remembered going around the neighborhood collecting flowers to bring back home. I noticed how the vase with flowers changed the room’s mood and everybody around it. That was my early horticultural therapy experience. I´m interested in helping people, especially women, to adapt and use Nature/Gardening as a tool for their wellbeing. I´m a professional communicator with a long experience in radio, television, and newspapers. I majored in Psychology, from the University of Puerto Rico, and hold a master´s degree, in Public Relations, from Universidad del Sagrado Corazón. I´m Certified in Horticulture Therapy (2019) from the Chicago Botanical Garden.  I´m a natu

Lincy Ayala is Co-Founder and CEO of BookSloth. Lincy began her career as a biologist, whose love for animals had her working at a Nonprofit Wildlife preserve. Soon after, she re-discovered her passion for design when preparing graphics for the wildlife enclosures.  From there she became a freelance developer/designer and has worked with multiple companies over the last 6 years. Her work has included designing responsive and interactive designing website layouts, mobile apps, user experiences, and physical products, among many others. Her technical experience includes knowledge in: UX/UI Design, Web and Mobile Design, prototyping tools and project managing software. Lincy has collaborated with WomenTechOver, a community of women who get together to talk about their technology projects and inspire other women to pursue tech careers while also advocating for more inclusive work environments. If she’s not working, you’ll find her cuddled up reading some YA or Fantasy book. Xiomara Figueroa is Co-Founder,

Fabián Vélez Vicente, also known as “Favo”, is a Puerto Rican tech serial entrepreneur and full stack developer that is currently the President and CEO at Link Puerto Rico, a Puerto Rican organization that aims to facilitate world-class and accessible experiential education and initiatives in technology and entrepreneurship related fields, Chief Technology Officer at Viva Advertising, a Puerto Rico based marketing agency that helps small to medium-sized business take their brand and products to the digital landscape.  He is the manager of the digital content creator and brand called Gerry Stories, and a Full-Stack Web Developer with over 6 years of experience. Since his early teen years, Fabián has been focused on creating innovative solutions through technology for communities, through his extensive participation in hackathons and development work with local and international companies. After 3 years of primarily focusing on software development projects and the landfall of Hurricane María in Puerto R

Conversations with Jo-Ann is a series whereby our Chieftess speaks directly with the Rare Ones about topics related to the community. This is installment two whereby she discusses $RONES.  Listen in and share with us what you think.

Shubhra  Misra, is a homepreneur. She has worked in special education for 15 years.  She has been a foodie and cooking is one of her favourite pastimes. She attended a making workshop and loved the experience. From there she started making chocolates for friends and family.     Ruchi Chavan is the Founder of Ela Crafts Studio started off as a dream of 3 sisters who grew up in the beautiful valley of Dehradun in North India.  Their nature inspired designs are mainly in recycled wood. They create coasters to cheese/snacks platter to chopping boards to tea light candle holders with woodburn pattern to your kitchen or home utility/decor creatiins. They are also into rustic look name boards.  They believe in doing simple things a little differently.   Pratiksha Mundye is the Founder of 'Sringar Jewellery'.  Sringar Jewellery deals exclusively in designer handcrafted terracotta jewellery, Tribal German silver jewellery and fabric jewellery.  After seven years in the fash

Jasmine: Jasmine is the Founder of Bellissima. Bellissima is a way of life - to enjoy beautiful skin and express oneself. Needless to say she sells beauty products which are safe & reliable for skin & hair.  Bellissima Oriflame offers a wide range of Beauty related products for women as well as men.    Kids range under Bellissima Oriflame is safe for children’s delicate skin and all wellness products under Oriflame gives health supplements that are needed to boost immunity. Jermaine: She has been blessed to have lived and worked in places like London, Belgium and Dubai that allowed her to imbibe, understand and learn about its people, culture and especially foods. Some of my best culinary experiences have been on visits to these places.  Her oldest son, Isaac, is quite a foodie too and since moving back to Goa has taken a liking to pickles. That’s when she thought she ought to give making it preservative free a shot. With a little guidance and help from a Chef friend of hers i

We commence our deep dive with the Fantastic 10! These are 10 women from the Southern Indian state of Goa who define themselves as side hustlers, homepreneurs and early stage startup entrepreneurs building businesses’ from the ground up. We begin this first week with the first three of the coterie: Shilpa Kulkarni Founder of Shilpkala Shraddha Shirgaonker Founder of the Art & Aroma Kitchen Priyanka Navelkar Founder of Smiles of Miles Shilpa Kulkarni is an MBA graduate and alumni of the 10,0000 women entrepreneurs certified program from Goldman Sachs. She started her business with an exhibition during the Diwali festival. Her creations were a hit, they sold out, from there she recognised an opportunity and so began Shilpkala! Shilpa’s creations are bespoke, which means each design comes to life once. She has a full time job and builds her business on the side. She shared with me that she manages her life like a student would with a timetable. She is ruthless about time management and gets it all do

Sweta Sureka A Public Speaker, Author, Topnotch Lifestyle Coach and an Explorer, Sweta’s list of accomplishments is nothing shy of astounding. Sweta has put many hours into building a version of her life that she loves and creating her purpose. Her life of hard work groomed her journey to self-empowerment and self-employment. Sweta strongly believes in taking control of life and living at its best by building positive habits. Her life experiences make her connect with her clients and help them upgrade their lifestyles.  Growing up, in a typical Indian family, Sweta learnt that the topnotch lifestyle is not just about having first class life, but feeling first class, content and happy.  Abundance comes to those who are happy.  Confident in her abilities and proud of her trials and tribulations, Sweta’s sole purpose is of giving individuals the assistance they need to live a healthy, positive life and enjoy lives. Aside of her triumphs, Sweta remains a very humble and engaging coach. Anuradha Kap

This week we get to know more about some of the speakers at the Summit.  Shirley Murphy Shirley Murphy is a Nigerian Journalist based in Abuja, Nigeria’s federal capital city. She is currently the Publisher of Labour Events Magazine, an online independent specialized publication. Prior to her present undertaking, she worked in different capacities with a number of media organizations in Nigeria which include, Labour Observer Magazine, The Monarch Magazine and The Compass Newspaper. She is also the brain behind two Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), Proud Parents International and Women Reach Out with God Initiative (WROWGI). Shirley holds both Ordinary National Diploma (OND) and Higher National Diploma (HND) in Mass Communication from the Lagos State Polytechnic and Bachelors of Art (BA) in mass communication from Lagos state university. She also has in her kitty, a Diploma Certificate in Desktop Publishing from Imperial Computer Academy, as well as another Diploma Certificate in Catering and Hotel M

Aarti Bhatia She started as an aspiring doctor. She landed up a seat in a pharmacy college. She went on to secure an MBA in marketing. Post that, she joined an FMCG company in a metro city, only to shift base to her hometown, with work in a construction firm’s office.  She went on & published a book titled ‘Me to Mommee’, just a year after her child’s birth.  But it was only some time ago that she found her true calling - Storytelling That’s her venture, passion & profession, today : Tell Tales – Where stories come to life! Yup. The movie of ‘3 idiots’ should have had her as an opposite-to- Rancho-kind-of-character, who landed up in her current field after multiple hop-skip-jumps! That’s how fluffy her hat of myriad experiences in various sectors is. But she believes that no experience ever goes in vain, as the learnings come to use in the most unforeseen ways of life.  Combine that with the world’s most powerful muse, one’s imagination, and you get a person who can go on & on with

Conversations with Jo-Ann is a series whereby our Chieftess speaks directly with the Rare Ones about topics related to the community. To kick off the first episode she shares her intentions and the Rare Birds Story. Listen in and share with us what you think.

Ajay Mittal in his current role is a Director, India and South Asia (Climate Change Programs) for Earth Day Network, Growing out of the first Earth Day, Earth Day Network is the world’s largest recruiter to the environmental movement, working with more than 75,000 partners in nearly 192 countries to build environmental democracy.  Ajay is a member of the Global Shapers community an initiative of the World Economic Forum and also part of the Climate Action Steering Committee of Global Shapers Community. He was trained to be a Climate Reality Leader at Brisbane, Australia in June,2019 and has also been recognised as one of the EE 30 Under 30 leaders 2019 cohort by North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE). The award recognises young leaders using environmental education to build sustainable communities.  In 2017 he Co-Founded Kolkata Clean Air (KCA). Kolkata Clean Air started as a campaign has slowly taken shape into being a fast growing organisation by the name of Active Citizen