Tumml CEO Clara Brenner to Speak at NYLC about Social Entrepreneurship
The Envision Blog recently caught up with Clara Brenner, the CEO and co-founder of Tumml, a nonprofit devoted to empowering entrepreneurs to solve urban challenges. Brenner will be a keynote speaker at the June 29 – July 5 session of the National Young Leaders Conference (NYLC) in Washington, DC. Forbes identified Brenner is a rising new star in Silicon Valley.
What’s new?
We are currently accepting applications for our summer 2014 cohort – we're really excited to see who applies!
What’s the best thing about being CEO of Tumml?
Getting to meet so many amazing entrepreneurs working to make our communities better places to live. And spending every day with my best friend (and co-founder) Julie Lein.
What advice would you give young people looking for opportunities to make the world better?
Try to tackle a problem you've experience first-hand. The majority of companies we end up selecting for the Tumml program are solving a problem from their own lives – when you understand the problem completely, you are more likely to come up with the right solution.
Who or what has had the biggest impact on your career/life?
My parents have always emphasized to me that every person has an obligation to give back in some way to his or her community. This message has really stuck with me.
What person or company in your field do you most admire?
Before starting Tumml, I spent time working at Fundrise, a community real estate crowdfunding startup. I loved working with the team there and admire the outsized positive impact they have on the communities in which they operate. My experience at Fundrise definitely helped inspire me to start Tumml, where our goal is find and support the next generation of Fundrises.
What, in a word or two, is the most important talent to have in social entrepreneurship?
Persistence.
What are you most passionate about in your field?
Getting people to think about starting urban impact startups – highly-scalable businesses that also make cities better for everyone.
What is your field’s greatest challenge?
Explaining to the investor community that you can have a strong mission at the core of your business and still make money.
What is the next “big thing” in your field?
We are starting to see a growing number of startups looking to solve the challenges of the most desperately underserved -- for example, Tumml company HandUp has developed a crowdfunding platform for the homeless.
What is your motto?
Every day we're Tummlin'!