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Jasmine Shells
Founder & CEO at Five to Nine | Forbes 30u30 | TEDx Speaker | MBA at Chicago Booth | US Department of State Fellow
Jasmine Shells is a prominent figure in the nonprofit and entrepreneurial sectors, currently serving as a Board Member on the Leader Council at Mercy Home for Boys & Girls since October 2021. She is also the Founder and CEO of Five to Nine, an event management company focused on program leaders, a role she has held since January 2019.1
Professional Background
- Five to Nine: As CEO, Jasmine leads initiatives to enhance event management for various organizations.
- P33 Chicago: She is a council member, contributing to tech and economic development efforts in Chicago.
- All Raise: Serving on the Chicago Steering Committee, she supports initiatives aimed at increasing diversity in the tech sector.
- U.S. Department of State: Jasmine was an Entrepreneurial Fellow in 2018, where she gained valuable experience in international entrepreneurship.1
Education
Jasmine holds a degree from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, which she completed in 2021.2
Recognition and Contributions
Jasmine has been involved in various speaking engagements and panels, emphasizing her commitment to entrepreneurship and community support. Her work has been recognized through multiple honors, including being a featured speaker at TEDx events and participating in startup accelerators.1
Her leadership roles reflect her dedication to youth development and community service, making her an influential member of Mercy Home for Boys & Girls.
Highlights
Tomorrow morning I’m speaking on stage at TechChicago.
I’ll be having a candid conversation with Steven Galanis from Cameo and Ivan Ostojic from Infobip on what culture looks like today in a hybrid workforce.
Hope to see you there!
#CapitalSummit2024 #TCW24 #TechChicagoWeek
In July of 2020, I received an email from 1871: “Nomination for Google for Startups Black Founders Fund.”
I was excited and nervous at the same time. There was $5M of funding allocated for the entire program.
For each nominated founder, $100k in non-dilutive funding💰and access to Google’s network was on the line.
This was at the height of COVID-19 and as Five to Nine is an events platform, we were navigating a product pivot as we saw in-person events were not coming back anytime soon.
Thankfully, we were accepted into the inaugural class of #GFS founders.
After receiving the news, I remember dancing around the apartment and thanking God. There may have been 1-2 tears, too!
It was a huge moment for us back then.
The funding extended our runway and gave us the opportunity to hire another engineer to develop virtual events into our product, which led to 10x growth in revenue the following year 📈.
This is why it was SUCH a honor to recently join Google and Chicago's Mayor Brandon Johnson in welcoming the latest Google for Startups class in Chicago!
The city now boasts 18 of us.
It’s been awesome watching the growing class of founders who have been accepted into the #GFS Family and seeing the impact they have had and will continue to have on the ecosystem.
Again, huge congrats to the latest recipients and here’s to more Black and Latinx founders! 🚀
#chicagofounders #googleforstartups #blackfounders #latinxfounders
