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Eyitemi Popo
AI Innovation | Forbes Featured Founder | Building Africa's first women-driven tourism economy
Professional Background
Eyitemi Popo is a passionate advocate for female empowerment and a recognized investor in products and services that foster the growth of women-focused initiatives. Her journey into this meaningful work began in earnest during her studies at an all-women's university in the U.S. This transformative experience instilled in her a strong commitment to championing the rights and opportunities for women, particularly in Africa. Inspired greatly by her grandmother—an iconic feminist and a trailblazer who was the first woman to serve as Nigeria's permanent delegate at UNESCO—Eyitemi harnesses this familial legacy to inspire her endeavors in women’s economic development.
Her career has spanned various significant roles and organizations, all of which align with her mission to uplift women, especially in sectors like media, technology, and tourism. Eyitemi’s unique perspective in investment allows her to assess possibilities in the African markets that prioritize women’s contributions and aspirations. Her belief is founded on the principle that investing in women is synonymous with investing in future generations, a conviction echoed in the adage, “when you educate a girl, you educate a nation.”
Eyitemi’s professional journey includes a notable tenure as Principal Consultant and Co-Founder at Co-Founder for Hire, where she provided invaluable insights into innovative practices and strategic thinking. Additionally, she served as the Founder and CEO of Girls Trip Tours, an innovative initiative aimed at promoting women’s travel experiences and empowerment. Eyitemi has also been actively involved in the AI field, contributing her expertise as a Principal Advisor at Mozilla and leading various AI-related projects which advocate for transparency and ethical usage of technology in the rapidly evolving digital landscape.
Education and Achievements
Eyitemi Popo's academic achievements have greatly equipped her with the skills necessary to drive innovation and influence change. She received her Master of Arts in Digital Experience Innovation from the University of Waterloo, where she honed her skills in UX research, design thinking, and digital marketing strategies. Her undergraduate studies began with a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations combined with Digital Media from Mount Holyoke College, providing her a rich foundation in understanding global dynamics and the role of digital tools in modern communication. Additionally, she pursued a Bachelor of Arts as an exchange student, focusing on French Language and Literature at Université Paul Valéry - Montpellier III, exemplifying her commitment to embracing diverse cultures and languages.
Beyond formal education, Eyitemi has also been a participant and recognized figure in various fellowships and leadership programs, including her role as a Harambe Fellow in 2018, allowing her to connect with like-minded individuals dedicated to drive socio-economic change across Africa.
Achievements
Eyitemi Popo's contributions extend beyond her professional roles and educational backgrounds; her notable achievements include:
- Awards and Recognition: During the centenary celebrations of Nigeria as a nation-state, her grandmother was honored as one of the 100 women who made history in the country, a testament to the legacy that inspires Eyitemi’s work today.
- Leadership Roles: Her experience as the President of Girls MAP Foundation Inc. and other leadership roles have solidified her status as a thought leader in women’s empowerment initiatives.
- Innovations in Technology: As an advocate for ethical AI practices, her involvement as Chair of Trustworthy AI Working Groups at Mozilla highlights her commitment to ensuring that technological advancements benefit all, particularly women in underserved communities.
- Consultation and Strategy Development: Eyitemi's strategic advisement for organizations like Future Africa and her role in various high-impact projects emphasizes her ability to navigate complex challenges and foster sustainable growth.
- Public Speaking and Outreach: Eyitemi is frequently sought after for her insights on women-led initiatives and investment opportunities in Africa and beyond, making her a prominent voice in discussions that shape the future of female empowerment.
Through her diverse experiences and unwavering commitment to investing in female-driven economies, Eyitemi Popo is not only paving the way for present and future generations of female leaders but also redefining the narrative around women’s potential in Africa and the global community. With her unique blend of expertise, personal history, and academic background, she is poised to make significant impacts in her fields of interest and drive meaningful change that emphasizes the power of women in shaping a better future.
tags':['female empowerment','women in leadership','investment in women','Africa women initiatives','technology an
Highlights
Join me this October for an unforgettable journey to Cape Town! 🌍✨ Explore the city through a curated Black-owned experience that champions local entrepreneurs, indulges in amazing cuisine by Black women chefs, and celebrates its rich Black history. If you're looking to travel with impact, this trip is for you! Four spots left—learn more and sign up here: https://lnkd.in/dBsidefY Let’s explore Cape Town with Girls Trip Tours!
Every year, in August, South Africa celebrates Women's Month, to pay tribute to the more than 20,000 women who marched to the Union Buildings on August 9 1956, in protest against the extension of Pass Laws to women. Pass Laws required non-whites in South Africa to carry documents authorizing their presence in restricted areas.
To celebrate our South Africa community, I hosted a Soul Discovery Retreat in the Cradle of Humankind - the birthplace of humanity. Watch our recap video edited by Chérnae Africa.
Stay tuned by signing up to Girls Trip Tours’ mailing list: https://lnkd.in/dFf-qpC2
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Mesh works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Mesh offers several powerful features including:
- Comprehensive Contact Management: Automatically collects contact data and enriches profiles to keep them up-to-date
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- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
- Home Feed: Displays updates about your network including job changes, news mentions, and birthdays
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- Nexus AI: An AI navigator that helps you derive insights from your network, such as finding contacts who have been to specific places or work at particular companies
Mesh is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
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Mesh takes privacy seriously. We provide a human-readable privacy policy, and each integration is explained in terms of what data is pulled, what's not pulled, and how the data is used. Mesh encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Mesh work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Mesh is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Mesh is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Mesh is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Mesh offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Mesh offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Mesh for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Mesh accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Mesh offers extensive integration capabilities. Mesh introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Mesh supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Mesh also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
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Mesh makes it much easier to stay in touch with the people you care about. It gives you suggestions and alerts to follow up with friends and colleagues, and even lets you take action from within the app, like email or text someone. Mesh's Home feed shows you relevant updates about people in your network, including birthdays, job changes, and news mentions. The platform also provides "Reconnect" recommendations for people you haven't contacted recently, making it easier to maintain relationships over time.
Mesh is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Mesh stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Mesh excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Mesh is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Mesh offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Mesh's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Mesh has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Mesh is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Mesh beneficial.
Mesh offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Mesh offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Mesh's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Mesh offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Mesh focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Mesh also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Mesh offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
Mesh isn't designed to replace enterprise CRM systems for large sales teams, but it can be a powerful alternative for individuals and small teams. Many people use Mesh instead of Salesforce, Hubspot, and Pipedrive. Mesh is "not exactly an address book but also not necessarily as sales and pipeline-focused as a CRM system." The founders refer to their app as a "home for your people," carving out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. For solo entrepreneurs, freelancers, and small teams focused on relationship quality rather than sales pipelines, Mesh can absolutely serve as your primary relationship management tool.
Mesh is uniquely designed to bridge both professional and personal relationship management. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh helps you organize your contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. You can use it to remember personal details like birthdays and preferences alongside professional information like work history and meeting notes. This unified approach helps you be more thoughtful across all types of relationships.
Mesh's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Mesh has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Mesh a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Mesh's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Mesh's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Mesh has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Mesh's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Mesh as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Mesh eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.