Courageous and compassionate conversations are the seeds that lead to cultural change, especially within the workplace.

For over 10 years our guest, social impact startup founder Marie Roker-Jones, has been leading gender and racial diversity strategies to create cultural change.

A seasoned founder, Marie is the co-Ceo of Essteem, a platform that organizes Equalithons (hackathons for equality), a first-of-its-kind, virtual DEI events that connect tech companies that uphold diversity and inclusion commitments to underrepresented tech talent who want to work for those companies.

As the founder of Raising Great Men, Marie built a movement for parents, empowering them with resources to raise culturally aware and socially conscious children.

She was the senior editor for The Good Men Project, a multimedia, cross-platform site that asks, “What does it mean to be a good man in the 21st century?”

Marie also has workforce and career development experience creating workforce re-entry programs for underrepresented communities through coalition building, employment readiness, networking opportunities, and community outreach.

She has helped tech companies and startups with their diversity hiring goals through Veteran and military spouse initiatives.

Marie dives into her passion for racial diversity, inclusion and equality, and how she and her co-founder Hugo are building a platform to help corporations hire and retain overlooked tech talent.

00:00 - meet Marie Roker-Jones!
10:35 - 4 memorable startup mistakes Marie made with her first business
16:00 - how racial diversity and equality became Marie's north star
20:35 - meet Essteem + Hugo - a terrific co-founder story!
30:15 - roadblocks faced by folks transitioning into the tech industry and how Essteem helps dissolve these roadblocks
39:50 - how Essteem proved its value proposition
46:45 - a vulnerable concern many founders have: underdelivering + I don't want to screw this up!
55:40 - how you can add wind to Essteem's sails

Please visit Essteem https://www.essteem.com to learn more about how their platform organizes Equalithons (hackathons for equality), a virtual DEI event that connects tech companies that uphold diversity and inclusion commitments to underrepresented tech talent who want to work for those companies.

Please connect with Marie via:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marieroke...
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/marierokjones
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marierokerj...

Thank you for carving out time to improve your Founder Game - when you do better, your business will do better - cheers!

Ande Lyons
http://andelyons.com
#hackathonsforequality #racialdiversityandinclusion

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