Concentric Circles of Care
The loneliest moment wasn’t what I’d call a rejection. It was kinda the opposite in a really weird way; a pool party, sitting with women who are exactly who I built this for, listening to them describe almost word for word the resource I have spent six years building.
Business 4 Good: How Women Leaders Innovate by Centering Equity
The Portland Metro Innovation Hub checked all the equity boxes on paper. I was the unanimous choice to lead it. What happened next became a masterclass in how not to build. Here is what I learned, and why I keep building Business 4 Good, because even if I am no longer in that role, it remains my job to connect resources to the people who need and deserve them.
Extractive Capitalism Is Collapsing: The Generative Economy Has Entered the Chat
We are the visionaries, the early adopters, the system-refusers who know collapse is not the end. It is the invitation. Trickle-down, Reagan-inspired, neo-liberal money is dead. Versions of collaborative currency are what comes next. When women have what we need, everyone wins.
I've been interviewing women in business since 2017, and spent the last five years building the safest place on the internet for women. Extractive capitalism is collapsing mathematically. Women-led businesses are already building what comes next. That is not hope. That is the data.
Gender and Culturally-Responsive Coaching
Will big tech ever get the point of what diverse data really is? TBH, I’m not so sure. As founder of Business 4 Good, I write on culturally-responsive coaching, collective power, and building #Tequity, technology that amplifies human brilliance instead of replacing it.
I write as a multicultural, first-gen college grad and Spanish Jewish woman. I've learned what it's like to move through spaces that weren't built for us. I also know the impact of being seen without needing to explain who you are first. Identity is not a complication. It is power. And when women from undervalued communities are not just using tech but shaping it, we don't just close the gap. We rewrite the rules entirely.
Check Your Default Settings
Technology is still a baby. And not a chill one. Most of what we're calling the future is still running on V1 logic: trained on lopsided data, coded by a few overconfident engineers, and launched at scale without much reflection. Systems don't fix themselves. They just keep reinforcing what they were built to believe, unless someone steps in and changes the defaults. That is us.
From hidden permissions to algorithmic bias baked into the tools you use every day, most systems are profit-first, extraction-based, and allergic to nuance. Check out why I continue to build Business 4 Good, what I've learned helping women-led businesses actually use AI, and how to change the settings that were never designed for us as women, or for anyone, to thrive!
When Leadership Gets Real: What I Learned From a Very Rough Chapter of My Life
I was hired unanimously to lead a regional Innovation Hub with collaboration and equity at the center. I did not walk in to keep the lights on.
I walked in to build something new. Here is what happened when intention met execution.
I stayed in the work long after it got hard. I continue to seek guidance from mentors, board members and even HR.
I always try to create space for hard conversations. I like to think I tried everything to make this JOB work. Eventually, the staffer left. So did I. Here is what I learned, and why I keep building Business 4 Good!
Building the Future with #Tequity, Heart, and Bots
Remember when email felt like a fad? Or when the first internet you met (Web 1.0) was only for tech bros or Uncle (Scary) Larry?
We are in a moment, my friends. A big one. AI is now. Check out why tech without empathy and consent is just more noise, and how Business 4 Good is building the first woman-forward AI chatbot from the ground up.
At Business 4 Good, I have been building the first-ever woman-forward AI chatbot, powered by real stories, voice notes, essays, and hard-earned wisdom from women who lead across differences. The new algorithm is us. And note, I've been interviewing women in business globally since 2017!
Start with the End in Mind, or Don't
Start with the end in mind, they say. But also keep iterating and resetting to the present moment at the same time. Is it possible to hold both at once? After some thought, I do not think either is mutually exclusive. Nobody handed us the infrastructure. We built it with whatever we had.
Building Coalitions, Not Networks
Let's get one thing straight: I love a good connection. But not the shallow kind where people just collect LinkedIn requests like Pokemon cards. I am talking about real connections. Rooted in respect, generosity, and mutual benefit. So no, I am not here to network. I am here to build coalitions. And my hunch is, so are you.
The old models aren't working and the new ones are still taking shape. If you know me, you know I’ve been saying now is exactly the time to be brave, intentional, and unapologetically collaborative, out loud and on repeat for a hot minute or two. Womanism, the wage gap, and why woman-forward does not mean men are not invited. Read the full piece. Then tell me I'm wrong.
Architect of Change: Building a Future Rooted in Equity
I come from a lineage of resilience: women who built lives from the ground up, who led with instinct, intelligence, and grit. Being an Architect of Change is not about simply adapting to what exists. It is about imagining and building something radically better. It means building a cooperative where the newest member and the founder have the same vote.
My artist mother taught me that leadership cannot be cramming oneself into outdated systems. It has to be building better ones from the ground up. Check out my three pillars for being an Architect of Change, and why Richard Florida's Great Reset is exactly the moment we are in right now.
Tits Up: What Elevation Actually Looks Like
I don't have any balls. Good news though, I do have a courageous and large chest. In many circles known as BREASTS. And I am here to elevate. Not by grinding harder in systems that were built to oppress me. By building new ones entirely.
I Am in an Open (AI) Relationship with… ChatGPT
So I am in an open relationship with ChatGPT. Before you judge, hear me out. This is a love story. Sort of. It started innocently enough. I was curious. Everyone was talking about this new AI thing, and I thought, let me just see what the fuss is about. Next thing you know it is 2am and you are deep in conversation with a bot that somehow gets you better than your last three exes.
Seriously though, I set the (safety) terms, I advocate for my needs and boundaries and attempt to boss these bots, but I must admit, this chat boi is not exactly fully developed and can’t really follow rules…yet. So I have set off to build the Leading Ladies LLM because consent matters, even when the other party is an algorithm. The most fun you will ever have reading about data ethics, I promise!
Training the Bots to Be Better
The internet as we know it is not broken. It just wasn't built for everyone. AI is being built right now. If we do not actively shape its foundation with inclusion and ethics in mind, we risk a future where the digital patriarchy goes viral. No, thanks. If we are not in the room, the bias we have spent decades fighting gets an algorithm and a scale. Rose Kaz on why she built Business 4 Good, why the BIPOC funding gap is an AI problem, and what #Tequity does about it.
What Inclusivity Really Means to Me
When Rose Kaz launched Business 4 Good, she was canceled once a week by people who said she did not belong. This is what she learned about inclusivity, slowing down, and building stages so everyone else can get in the room.
Golden Ticket: Empathy as the Leadership Advantage
Empathy is the most profitable leadership skill you have not fully made yet. It cannot be just because they have to. That is the era of the Soft Boss. We are already in it. I am writing this from a couch in my Soft Boss era, escaping the late-stage capitalism grind. After-all, what does AI eat for breakfast? Human Intelligence, of course.
The Flywheel: Collaboration as Currency
Think of a bike wheel. It spins graciously when it is built correctly, maintained over time with good, kind attention. Now imagine that wheel is a global marketplace built by women for women. This is what the flywheel of collaboration looks like when every spoke is tended to.
The Role of AI in Leadership
Knowing your way around algorithms is necessary and not sufficient. AI amplifies what is already there. Which means it also amplifies the bias, the broken systems, and the outdated defaults. So who is in the room when it gets built matters.
Thanks a Lot: Gratitude, Community, and the Systems We Accept
I give thanks weekly, sometimes even daily. I also find certain holidays to be a bit of a farce, followed immediately by one of the most massively marketed days of gross consumption as a national sport. I promise, this is a glass half full article. But gratitude lists are not enough and I think we can do better.
Slowing Down to Stay Inspired
I usually toggle between being super inspired and feeling wildly anxious. After a full week away from technology and work, I have emerged more inspired by myself. Can I even say that? Is that selfish? YES. I can say that because we are doing things differently here at Business 4 Good.
Bloom Scroll, Don't Doom Scroll: Women-Led Tech Is the Tool Towards Peace
We are the leaders we have been waiting for. From relatives fighting each other across borders to a deep fracturing of civic trust here at home, it is ever more clear that new leadership is not only a good idea. It is required. Women-led tech is not a niche. It is the infrastructure.