Donna Harris (businesswoman)

Donna Harris is an American businesswoman and entrepreneur. In January 2013, she co-founded Washington, D.C. startup incubator 1776.

In 2003, Harris was named one of the "40 Under 40" by Crain's Detroit Business.^[1]

In 2014, Harris was named a "newsmaker to watch" by Washington Business Journal.^[2] Harris has appeared in media outlets including Forbes,^[3] Bloomberg News,^[4] and The Chicago Tribune.^[5]

Education

Donna obtained a bachelor’s degree from Central Michigan University (1986-1990) and a MBA from The University of Michigan Ross School of Business (1997-1999).^[6]

Career

1776

In 2013, Harris co-founded 1776 with entrepreneur Evan Burfield.^[7] The idea for the startup hub grew as Harris and future co-founder Burfield toured the U.S. in 2012 with Startup America, studying different startup ecosystems along the way.^[8]

Startup America

Prior to starting 1776, Harris was Managing Director of the Startup America Partnership, where she organized and led the Startup Regions Initiative, which focused on accelerating the formation of vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystems across the United States and connecting the communities into a national startup ecosystem.

Early career

Prior to joining Startup America, Harris was Vice Chair of Interpoint Group, a government markets, government relations, and public affairs strategy and management firm, which generated nearly $8 billion in revenue while passing or defeated legislation, and executed public affairs campaigns for corporations, non-profits, foundations, and governments globally. She was also previously Founder and CEO of Kinderstreet, which sold SaaS solutions in the education, sports, and recreation markets. She was also Vice President of Strategic Planning, Marketing, and Product Management for Centromine, a provider of web-based clinical and fiscal systems in the Health and Human Services industry. She also held a variety of roles at Oracle Corporation and Electronic Data Systems.^[9]

Boards

Harris is a Member of the GEW Global Board, a Board Member of the National Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, and Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Georgetown University and an alumna of Springboard Enterprises, a non-profit focused on scaling high-growth, women-led businesses that has helped almost 450 women-led companies raise approximately 5 billion dollars in equity financing.

References