Lauren Maillian is a change agent committed to diversity, innovation, equity, and inclusion. She’s an award-winning marketer, prolific investor, advisor, entrepreneur, and board member with a multi-hyphenate career spanning over 15 years. She advised and invested in over 40 startups and her portfolio represents over $5 billion in market capitalization.
Lauren is the Founder and CEO of LMB Group, a strategic marketing and advisory company partnering with brands like Cover Girl. She also started Straight Up and Successful, a women-focused community and professional development platform. Lauren discovers and seizes hidden, profitable value across retail, CPG, lifestyle brands, luxury goods, and finance/FinTech companies via growth, marketing, brand innovation, ESG, digital transformation and partnerships. With a deep understanding of consumer brands and culture, she is a serial entrepreneur of a number of ventures committed to brand building and investment. A pioneer in the tech and funding space, Lauren was the first Black woman to start an early-stage venture capital fund, as a founding partner and managing director at Gen Y Capital Partners. At 19, Lauren became the youngest winery owner in the country, co-founding the internationally recognized Sugarleaf Vineyards.
The former Board Chair of digitalundivided, Lauren took the helm as CEO to evolve and grow the organization to further support women of color entrepreneurs, especially in the wake of the racial reckoning amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Lauren was responsible for the transformation of digitalundivided, including the expansion of its programs, research, data and community engagement, catalyzing economic growth for Latina and Black women entrepreneurs and innovators. The mission is to create a greater world in which all women of color own their work and worth. Bilingual in Spanish, Lauren expanded the reach of the organization’s mission and programs across the United States and its territories.
It is an honor to be recognized for our work and asked to share the journey. It is even more humbling to have the opportunity to share it with a new audience. Below are a few places that have so graciously featured Lauren, her experiences, thought leadership and work.
“I feel as though I’m the strategist and the consultant for the future world that we want to live in for women of color.”Lauren Maillian is a serial entrepreneur, as well as CEO and board member of digitalundivided, a social organization dedicated to raising VC funding and promoting economic growth for Black and Latinx women entrepreneurs. She serves as an investor and advisor to several startups, including Ephemeral Tattoo, Kroma Wellness, and Ruggable.”
Nonprofit group digitalundivided has partnered with JPMorgan Chase’s Advancing Black Pathways to bring the multi-city “Breakthrough” program to New Orleans. digitalundivided is a nonprofit that aims to “leverage the power of data, programs and advocacy to catalyze economic growth for Latina and Black women entrepreneurs.” The Breakthrough program hopes to unite some of the nation’s most promising emerging businesses founded and led by Latina and Black entrepreneurs.
This year, Los Angeles-based e-tail giant Revolve decided to commemorate International Women’s Day in conjunction with the USA pavilion at Expo Dubai 2020 on March 5 by hosting an event that celebrated and championed women’s empowerment, both regionally and globally, with a fashion trends profile showcase, live performances by local and American women, and a panel discussion curated with a powerhouse of speakers.
Lauren Maillian is catalyzing economic growth and creating new pathways for Black and Latinx women entrepreneurs. Lauren Maillian is a change agent committed to diversity, innovation, equity, and inclusion. She is an award-winning marketer, prolific investor, advisor, entrepreneur, and board member with a deep understanding of consumer brands and culture woven through her multi-hyphenate career—which includes wine expert, philanthropist and former international fashion model.
March 24, 2022 WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Black Chambers Inc. (USBC), the nation’s largest network of African-American chambers of commerce, today announced its Women of Power List for 2022. The list is composed of influential women who are making a significant impact in entrepreneurship, leadership and in their communities.USBC’s Women of Power List recognizes women who have made an indelible mark on business and society.
Lots of American children set up lemonade stands, but not many establish a payroll. Starting from the summer when she was 8 years old, Lauren Maillian launched a lemonade stand at the corner of Madison Avenue and 96th Street in Manhattan, in front of Jerome Florists, a shop that is still there today.
