Mandela Schumacher-Hodge Dixon is Breaking the Glass Ceiling in the Tech World

Starting a new business venture is never easy, however, with this woman’s help, you’ll be able to seek your passion. Mandela Schumacher-Hodge Dixon, the founder of Founder Gym, is on the front lines of breaking the glass ceiling in the tech world. Founder Gym is a training program that serves underrepresented tech founders and helps them gain the tools they need to push their company forward.

Since 2009, only 34 Black women founders have raised over $1 million in venture funding, and Dixon’s Founder Gym is seeking to change that.

Launching in November 2017, Founder Gym is currently on their fifth cohorts, which will end February 15, 2019. Founder Gym has successfully trained over 172 underrepresented founders. Her mission is rising to the top.

Dixon spoke at last year’s AfroTech, empowering founders though Founder Gym. She often posts tips on Twitter or during one of her many speaking engagements. Dozens of founders lined up to speak with her after her “Stages of a startup and vocabulary” talk at AfroTech — and she spent hours dropping gems to every single person who waited in line.

In an interview with Essence, she expressed the importance of creating a source like Founder Gym, for underrepresented founders. “Founder Gym is a culmination of certain lived experiences that I’ve had; all come to together in one.”

Dixon is all about helping and caring for others no matter what they look like, where they come from, or how the money they may have. Dixon uses her platform to redistribute wealth. She wants to be able to teach people to turn a dime into a dollar and feel empowered and important.