Sarah Chen-Spellings

Women On the Rise: The Next Wave

Beneath the recent headlines of the movement for gender equality, is the true business case for investing in women. From increased innovation and improved returns, against the backdrop of a changing landscape of wealth including the trillions of dollars women and the next generation are inheriting and earning; Sarah draws upon her work in venture capital, and as Co-Founder of The Billion Dollar Fund for Women (now, Beyond The Billion). 

Beyond The Billion is the first and largest global consortium of venture funds pledged to invest and actively deploying over $1 billion to female-founded companies, and with their initial pledge goal of $1 billion achieved in under 9 months, Sarah provides unique insights into why investing in women is the largest arbitrage opportunity of our lifetime and why investing with a diversity lens is a non-negotiable.

Power and Influence: Women at the Helm

It’s a powerful moment in time for women – with the shift of wealth and power that has been centuries in the making. While there have been many discussions around women in leadership, the question is: Have we made enough progress?

Despite strides in women’s representation in powerful roles, the number of women in leadership is still disproportionately low. Women may represent 40 percent of the global working population, but still too few are in senior roles. What else needs to happen for us to change things now? 

Next Generation Investors & Venture Capital Shaping Our World

Venture capital has transformed significantly from a cottage industry in Boston and San Francisco to a global asset class driving over $600 billion dollars of investment in 2021 alone. As VC continues to evolve, as the industry sees the effects of the shift of wealth between generations taking a deeper interest in shaping our future powered by technology, what opportunities arise? Which strategies are most promising? What trends are we seeing across high growth markets? Sarah shares her insights from building the world’s first and largest global consortium of venture funds, Beyond The Billion.

Mission and Purpose: Unlocking Your Why

With a particular obsession on high-performance, Sarah delivers a compelling keynote on mission and purpose, and her belief that our “why” finds us long before we realize it. Built for world leaders and C-level executives, Sarah hones into the power of leadership driven first, by, mission and purpose; inspired by her work and deep conversations with movers and shakers: from world class athletes to heads of governments and unicorn founders.

The LP View: Backing Emerging Market and Emerging Managers in Adverse Times

The global economic uncertainty and a shift in focus towards sustainable growth are widely expected to impact the fundraising prospects for new vehicles, especially those focused on emerging markets or launched by new managers. As the markets evolve and continue to present key growth opportunities, how are dynamics between LPs and GPs evolving? In the current environment, how should emerging managers approach LPs? Will the going be tougher for first-time fund managers raising debut vehicles? Will operating across different cycles prove to be an advantage?