Cristina Bernardo

About Cristina Bernardo

I am an experienced social entrepreneur, a driven nonprofit leader, and a certified Integral Coach with a desire to support parents, increase access to educational opportunities for all, and a deep passion to help others find more love for their work and themselves. I am excited about the power of community economic development, education, technology, and social entrepreneurship to create real, sustainable change in our communities.I am thrilled to support parents around the world with our 24/7 Parent Coach in your Pocket, at Avocado Health. A mother of 5 myself, I know how difficult parenting can be. When my daughter Aviva Lilia, got sick at only 9 days old, I felt like I never had any answers to all of my millions of questions I had. Sadly we never solved the puzzle of Aviva\'s illness, and she left our world too soon at 10 months and 13 days. Now I work day in and day out to make sure working parents, especially Moms, get the support they need around the clock. I am so excited to have created an AI and pediatrician powered texting/whatsapp tool to answer all of their minor medical, developmental, emotional, and interpersonal questions. And be the support for parents that I never had.I am also grateful to be a Co-Founder of Open Dreams, an educational non-profit I started with my good friend Blaise Buma, that assists high achieving, and low income youth from Cameroon apply for and receive international scholarships to some of the best universities across the world. We are excited to announce we have helped over 200+ scholars receive full scholarships to leading universities like Harvard, McGill, UCT, Ashesi, Oxford, LSE, Dartmouth, Northwestern and more!Certified in Integral Coaching - to help clients integrate their body, mind, and heart - with New Ventures West, I love working with women, young leaders, working mothers, and current and aspiring social entrepreneurs to help them find more confidence in themselves to make the changes they want to see in their lives and in their communities.I was also honored to serve as a Political Appointee for the Obama Administration to support the growth of small businesses, renewable energy, and community economic development throughout the most impoverished areas in rural and tribal America. I previously served as the Executive Director of Emzingo|U, a leadership development and social impact Benefit Corporation (B-Corp) where I developed our first Women\'s* Leadership workshops and our powerful Women\'s* International Social Impact Weekend, supporting 300+ women* from all over the world.

Experience

1. Investor

   SoGal Ventures

   Jun 2017 — Present

   I am very proud and honored to invest and partner with SoGal Ventures, a women-led, next-gen venture capital firm investing in very early startups in North America and Asia. We focus on world-class women & diverse entrepreneurs building billion-dollar businesses that change how we live, work, and stay healthy. Some of our very well known and incredible portfolio companies include Love Every, Little Spoon, Archer Roose, and more.

Education

• The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)

  Master's degree, Political Economy of Late Development

  2011 — 2012

• The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

  Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), International Relations and Affairs

  2001 — 2005

• New Ventures West

  Integral Coach