Finance: Top Tips
FINANCE: TOP TIPS DURING COVID-19
WEBINAR DETAILS
For this coffee date, we sat down with Tishaura Jones, the Treasurer of the City of St. Louis, Missouri and Michele Romanow, CEO and Founder of Clearbanc with Sarah Friar, CEO of Nextdoor and Founder of Ladies Who Launch to discuss what financial actions to take with your business right now.
During these challenging times, it is vital to take some time and understand the financial position of your business, and plan for multiple possible scenarios expected. With our panelists, we will walk through what they are recommending to business owners, why and how to protect cash flow and for how long, funding options currently available, and what they expect to see for the next 30, 60 and 90 days from a finance perspective.
WATCH THE FULL WEBINAR HERE
PANELISTS
Tishaura Jones: Treasurer of the City of St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis City Treasurer Tishaura O. Jones has transformed the Treasurer’s Office to increase transparency, integrity, and service. Since she was elected in 2012, her office’s new investment strategies have yielded over $25 million for the city. Jones also launched the Office of Financial Empowerment (OFE) to help St. Louisans make better financial choices; OFE’s College Kids Program has helped over 16,000 city students save over $1.1 million for higher education and a better future. And her ParkLouie program has made it easier to enjoy the City of St. Louis by giving residents and visitors more payment options for public parking, including cards, cash, and apps.
Jones previously served in the Missouri House of Representatives as Assistant Minority Floor Leader, becoming the first African-American and the first woman to hold this position in Missouri history. Jones is now the first woman and the first African-American woman to serve as Treasurer in St. Louis history.
Jones previously worked as Vice President of Municipal Finance for Blaylock Robert Van, LLC, an investment banking firm, and as adjunct faculty at the Anheuser-Busch School of Business at Harris-Stowe State University. She has a Master’s in Health Administration from the Saint Louis University School of Public Health and a Bachelor’s degree in Finance from Hampton University. She graduated from the Executives in State and Local Government program at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. She is also the proud mother of Aden.
During the pandemic you can watch her Facebook Live sessions on resources for business owners and community members every Tuesday and Thursday at 12:30 at Facebook.com/STLTreasurer. You can learn about her work at STLTreasurer.org, STLOFE.org, STLCollegeKids.org, and ParkLouie.com.
Michele Romanow: “Dragon”, CBC Dragons’ Den | Co-Founder & President, Clearbanc
Michele Romanow is the co-founder and President of Clearbanc. Clearbanc has invested over $1B in over 2,200 ecommerce companies. Michele started five companies before her 33rd birthday and exited two before her 30th. She previously co-founded SnapSaves which was acquired by American tech giant, Groupon in 2014 and was also the Co-Founder of Buytopia.ca, which acquired ten competitors including Shop.ca and WagJag. In 2015, Michele became the youngest judge on CBC’s Dragons’ Den (Canada’s Shark Tank), and has been a ‘Dragon’ for the last five seasons.
A prolific investor and serial entrepreneur, Michele was recently named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum and one of Canada’s Most Powerful Women. She was the winner of Angel Investor of the Year award.
Michele has created digital solutions for many of the world’s leading brands, including P&G, Netflix, Starbucks, and Cirque du Soleil. She began her career as the Director of Strategy for Sears, where she led apparel growth — a $2.5 billion category at the time.
During her Civil Engineering undergrad at Queen’s University, Michele founded The Tea Room, the first zero-consumer-waste coffee shop. At Queen’s, she was given the Queen’s Tricolour — the highest honor awarded by the university — and, after completing her Queen’s MBA, she founded Evandale Caviar, a vertically integrated commercial fishery.
Michele is a director for Vail Resorts (NYSE: MTN), Freshii (TSX: FRII), League of Innovators, Queen’s School of Business and Shad International - a transformational program that develops the entrepreneurial potential of exceptional Canadian youth. She is a previous director for Whistler Blackcomb (TSX: WB) She also co-founded the Canadian Entrepreneurship Initiative with Richard Branson.