Gayle Jennings-O’Byrne understands the importance of finance for women-owned small businesses.

Her three decades of experience include stints on Wall Street, in technology, philanthropy and professional speaking. Prior to her latest venture as CEO of Wocstar Capital — an initiative dedicated to empowering women of color (WOC) business owners — Jennings-O’Byrne spent several years at JPMorgan Chase as a mergers and acquisitions banker.

Gayle Jennings-O’Byrne is CEO of Wocstar Capital, and co-founder of the Wocstar Fund, an early-stage venture fund that invests in the future of consumption and innovation using a female arbitrage strategy — we are a fund that invests in the future of consumption and innovation using a female arbitrage strategy — women of color tech entrepreneurs (“WOCstars”). Gayle (pronounced: Gay-lä) was named “10 Women Changing the Landscape of Leadership” by the New York Times, March 2021. She is the host of “VCs off the Record”, and instructor at Wocstar Academy. Gayle co-founded Ally Capital Collab, an initiative with women of color fund managers to address systemic capital-raising challenges.

Studies say there are still big differences between men and women when it comes to pay.

WPIX-11 talked with Gayle Jennings-O’Byrne, CEO of Wocstar about how women can ensure their financial security.

Jenning-O’Byrne explains women need more negotiating skills and to tap into their network for support as well as working in better benefits.

Empowering Change: How Gayle Jennings-O’Byrne and Wocstar Are Elevating Women of Color in Business

Wocstar are excited to bring Wocstar Academy to North Carolina entrepreneurs and were proud to stand by VP Kamala Harris, as she announced federal funding for small businesses in Durham.

A 2024 report says Black women are the fastest growing demographic of entrepreneurs in the U.S. - still many still face disproportionate financial roadblocks.

Female entrepreneurs tend to have a much tougher time growing their businesses than male entrepreneurs, partly because of a lack of financing. Wocstar stopped by the PIX11 News at 4 to explain how to create wealth by funding women.

What sets our work apart is that we are female forward in everything we do and we are unapologetic about rewriting the narrative about women. We’re disrupting the status quo by investing, training, and showcasing women rockstars, or as we call them, Wocstars: women of color stars.

🎉 Wocstar portfolio company, Redactable®, on securing $5.5 million in seed funding! With support from Wocstar Fund and other notable investors, Redactable is revolutionizing document security through its AI-driven platform.

👏 Redactable's innovative solution, led by CEO Amanda Levay, uses Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning to swiftly and permanently redact sensitive information in documents.

📣 "We're not just investing in innovative tech solutions; we're backing bold and exciting entrepreneurs like Redactable's CEO Amanda Levay," said Gayle Jennings O'Byrne, Co-Founder and General Partner at Wocstar Fund. "She and her team are reimagining how companies scale, succeed, and bring new products to market. They represent the future we all need and deserve."

Gayle Jennings O'Byrne Jennings-O’Byrne and Re-nuble founder, Tinia Pina talked with NY1 about how Re-Nuble and Wocstar are creating a sustainable future for all of us.

Community, which was first marketed as a way for celebrities to text their fans, now has big brands on board.

That’s why so many of us are moving our most important communications to text messages. And in the process, the “text inbox” has become the new holy space for brands, far more intimate than your social media feed.

At least, that’s the bet that Ashton Kutcher, the actor turned venture capitalist, and Guy Oseary, Bono’s and Madonna’s manager turned investor, made when they co-founded a text message company called Community in 2019. In the beginning, it was marketed to celebrities to communicate with their fans about tour dates and new projects.

But over the last year, the business has quietly grown to power text messages from some of the largest brands, like McDonald’s, HBO, the New York Yankees and Condé Nast. When this month’s Hollywood blockbuster, “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” launched an advertising campaign, it came with a phone number for viewers to text, powered by Community.

New York City Economic Development Corporation is rolling out the next phase of its Women.NYC initiative with “The Network.”

As its name suggests, the platform is designed to connect women in the city’s five boroughs to help them advance and pinpoint opportunities in emerging fields like technology, the green economy, life sciences and offshore wind. Participants can choose from three types of program, such as virtual one-on-one office hours, small group discussions, or shadowing more seasoned executives. They will also have the chance to get involved through quarterly events.

Filmhedge Leads 1st Atlanta Delegation to Cannes Film Festival, Marche Du Film

International trip to Cannes 2023 touts Atlanta's entertainment fintech ecosystem and promotes the city as a world-class destination for film and television production.

Filmhedge CEO, Jon Gosier, will lead the first delegation of City officials and business leaders to the Cannes Film Festival, May 16 through May 27.

Check out the six ways to intentionally celebrate Black History Month from the Wocstar team!

Check out the Wocstar Wish List for our favorite gifts and support BIPOC businesses this holiday season!

The numbers speak for themselves and reducing the wealth gap is one of the only ways to drive equality.