Tag: Ashley Rudd

Valentine Osakwe and Zerryn Gines, Peep Connect

How challenging norms could be Black founders’ key to overcoming lingering funding gap

By Tommy Felts / January 5, 2021

When authenticity and startup culture collide, Black founders and entrepreneurs of color often don’t see the same opportunities as their white counterparts, said Daniel Smith, contributing to a gap in funding that splits along racial lines. “I talk a certain way; I have different mannerisms; I like to dress a certain kind of way —…

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Ashley Rudd and Xavier Campbell, Brown Sugar Collective

Brown Sugar Collective promises sisterhood of support, collaboration for women of color

By Tommy Felts / July 23, 2020

When it comes to entrepreneurial support in Kansas City, women of color often are left out of conversations that could help them grow their businesses, said Ashley Rudd. “They don’t necessarily feel like their voice is heard,” Rudd, founder of the personal shopping startup She’s Thrifted, said of her experience within the metro’s entrepreneurial community and…

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