We’re Building
A New Economy

Investor, economist and entrepreneur, Barbara Clarke enjoys interacting with professionals who believe in creating diverse teams to drive innovation and business success. Called ‘The Force’, Clarke fuels change in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, stimulates growth in early stage tech startups and boosts organizational excellence with her investment expertise and global insights. 

Founder and president of The Impact Seat, Clarke has been investing in emerging technologies, including medical devices, for almost a decade. To date, Clarke has invested in more than 60 companies and 12 funds in North America and Europe. She has been creating opportunities for under-represented entrepreneurs by investing in companies that are either led by women of color or have women on their funding teams – even before it became fashionable to do so. As a key member of the investment community, she also advises entrepreneurs and innovators on launching companies, accessing capital, and leveraging the international network of investors. 

Barbara serves on several boards, including Portfolia, an investment fund focused on women as venture capitalists, Founders First Capital Partners, an accelerator and finance firm that invests in a diverse group of founders and Boost, an artificial intelligence (AI) platform using computer vision technology. 

Prior to launching The Impact Seat, Clarke spent more than a decade in management consulting firms, including KPMG and PwC and launched a nationwide nonprofit to support grieving children. She holds a bachelor’s degree in quantitative economics from Tufts University and master’s in international economics and finance from Brandeis University.  A polyglot, she speaks several languages, including German, French and Italian.

When she is not scoping out promising startups to invest in, Clarke enjoys exploring new cities, supporting local artists and listening to alternative/indie rock. 

Cheryl Contee is The Impact Seat’s Chief Innovation Officer and award-winning Founder & Chair of the mission-driven digital agency Do Big Things. Cheryl is the Amazon bestselling author of Mechanical Bull: How You Can Achieve Startup Success. Passionate about creating new tech and new narrative for a new era, Cheryl uses her vast experience in startup entrepreneurship and community engagement to lead our portfolio companies and fund investments to success. Previously, Cheryl was CEO of Fission Strategy, which brought Silicon Valley startup culture to the world’s leading causes and campaigns. She’s the co-founder of Attentive.ly, the first tech startup with a black female founder to be acquired by a NASDAQ company, the National Board Chair for Netroots Nation, a Senior Advisor for Astia and the first portfolio company board member of New Media Ventures.

Terence Craig is the Chief Investment Officer for The Impact Seat, one of the leading independent investors in high growth technology companies led by women, especially women of color. At The Impact Seat, Terence leads investment activities and provides post-investment support for over 60 portfolio companies and monitors their LP investment in several venture funds.  

An experienced technologist, speaker and author, Terence has founded multiple companies and has served as the Chief Technology Officer at multiple venture-backed companies including the Mayfield funded Consensys Software and several pioneering enterprise and Big Data software companies.  

Terence was one of the earliest Black CEOs and founders to raise venture capital (way back in 1998), and he uses that experience and expertise to improve the startup ecosystem. His goal has been to support other “non-traditional” founders in navigating the startup landscape. His efforts to increase inclusion in the startup ecosystem led Terence to join the executive team at Astia Angels, an international angel group focused on investing in high-growth companies with women on the leadership team. During his time at Astia, Terence ran a pilot investment program to support Women of Color called the Representation Program, funded by strategic corporate funders. The program was such a success that Astia has now made it a permanent part of their investment platform.

Terence’s book, Privacy & Big Data, has been translated into several languages and is currently available for purchase on numerous platforms such as Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Google Books. 

As The Impact Seat’s Communications Associate, Gabby focuses her versatile talents on developing marketing strategy, streamlining operations, CRM management, community engagement with investors & entrepreneurs, influencer outreach, and brand identity development. 

Prior to her role at The Impact Seat, Gabby worked at the progressive, woman-owned digital agency, Do Big Things. As their Associate Brand Manager, she developed and implemented their social media strategy, marketing processes and helped coordinate thought leadership opportunities for their Senior Leadership team. 

Gabby holds a B.F.A in Music Business from New York University, from which she graduated in 2018. During her time at NYU, Gabby worked for some of the world’s leading creative entertainment agencies such as Paradigm Talent Agency and IMG, where she worked in Brand Partnerships and Marketing respectively. 

As The Impact Seat’s Executive Assistant, Lisa Jessogne is responsible for high-level executive support. She exemplifies her performance through meticulous attention to detail and an ability to think ahead and resolve roadblocks.

A Chicago native and 1 of 11 siblings, Lisa learned the values of hard work, communication and conflict resolution early on. Her mantra is that “conflict comes from misunderstanding and real communication is the key to peace.”

Before her role at The Impact Seat, Lisa lived in Tibet while working as an Executive Assistant to a Tibetan monk, where she later began teaching English in the local culture. She speaks Mandarin, Tibetan, and conversational Spanish.

Lisa devotes time to social good charities, including the Haley House of Boston, and enjoys biking, reading, and retreats. She is also the “fun auntie” to a herd of nieces and nephews.