Joyce Ivy Foundation Honors Entrepreneurs with 2024 Woman of Impact Awards
Ann Arbor, Mich — The Joyce Ivy Foundation is excited to announce two dynamic, sustainability-focused entrepreneurs as its Women of Impact award winners for 2024: climate tech startup founder Anisha Gupta and Detroit restaurateur Ping Ho. The Women of Impact awards recognize achievements of rising female leaders who have demonstrated professional talent and a commitment to improving their communities.
“Anisha and Ping, as female entrepreneurs of color, have leveraged their creativity and tenacity to excel in male-dominated fields,” said Abril Rangel-Pacheo (JIF ‘13), Secretary of the Associate Board of Directors. The Associate Board, composed of Joyce Ivy Summer Scholar alumnae, chose the 2024 Women of Impact.
“They embody the passion and leadership that we hope our Joyce Ivy Scholars will cultivate in their own careers and lives,” said Associate Board Co-Chair Katharine Janes (JIF ‘12). “We are thrilled to celebrate their accomplishments and welcome them into our community.”
Anisha Gupta
Anisha Gupta is a cofounder of Bluebird Climate, a climate tech startup that is helping consumer brands tackle the 95% of company emissions that live within their products and supply chains. Bluebird works with brands like Glossier across beauty, personal care, home care, and apparel to drive sustainable improvement, and Gupta was named on the Forbes 30 Under 30 2022 list in the Social Impact category.
Ping Ho
Ping Ho is an entrepreneur and business owner with multiple food and wine establishments in Detroit, including Marrow, The Royce, and Mink. Marrow, a restaurant and butcher shop hybrid, is a four-time James Beard Foundation awards nominee. Ho is currently working on developing a two-story building in Detroit’s historic Eastern Market to house Marrow Detroit Provisions, focused on processing meat products sourced sustainably in the Great Lakes region.
The 2024 Women of Impact recipients will be honored at the 19th annual Summer Scholars Gala, which will be held in Lathrup Village, Michigan on May 11, 2023 at 6 pm. The Gala also honors the Joyce Ivy Foundation Leader of the Year, Kate Trumbull, Senior Vice President and Chief Brand Officer of Domino’s, who will address the 2024 Summer Scholars and Gala guests.
The Joyce Ivy Foundation is dedicated to raising the college aspirations of the next generation of female leaders from the Midwest. Joyce Ivy Summer Scholars are talented high school women from the Midwest whom we award scholarships to attend summer pre-college programs at some of the U.S.’s most rigorous universities. The Women of Impact are role models of accomplishment and character for the Summer Scholars, and their stories help young women envision what might be possible for their futures.
Both 2024 honorees took the leap to build their own businesses from foundations of deep academic and professional learning. Gupta began her career at Unilever in their Future Leaders program. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering, with a focus in Sustainable Engineering, from the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor, and a master’s degree in Sustainability Management from Columbia University in the City of New York. Ho previously specialized in business innovation and startups as Vice President of Digital Strategy and Business Development at Warner Music Group in New York City. She holds an M.B.A from Columbia Business School and graduated Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Brown University, where over 200 Scholars have studied in the past decade.
Past Women of Impact award recipients include:
2023: Dr. Sydney McKinney, Executive Director of the National Black Women’s Justice Institute; and Dr. Sally Afia Nuamah, professor, activist, writer, and filmmaker.
2022: Echo Brown, author; Kimberly Dowdell, Marketing Principal at HOK Architecture and Design; Christina Koch, NASA astronaut; and Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson and Monique Lamoureux-Morando, Olympic Gold Medalists and Founders of the Monique and Jocelyne Lamoureux Foundation.
2021: Megan Red-Shirt Shaw, Director of Native Services at the University of South Dakota; Sarah Politis, VP of Business Development and Creative at Wayfarer Entertainment; and Camille Stewart, Head of Security and Privacy Policy for Google Play & Android.
2020: Denise Fair, Chief Public Health Officer, City of Detroit – Detroit Health Department; and Amy Peterson, Co-Founder and CEO, Rebel Nell.
2019: Anna Clark, Journalist and Author of The Poisoned City: Flint’s Water and the American Urban Tragedy; Allison Drutchas, Policy and Product Counsel, Waymo; Dr. Asha Shajahan, Medical Director of Community Health, Beaumont Health; and Stella Safari, Director of gBETA Detroit.
2018: Nia Batts & Katherine Cockrel, Co-Founders, Detroit Blows; Cynthia Shih, Management Consultant & Performing Songwriter, McKinsey & Co; and Tiffany Taylor, Vice President, Deputy Chief People Officer, Teach For America.
2017: Veronica Scott, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, the Empowerment Plan; Linzie Venegas, Vice President, Ideal Group; Tiffany Brown, Communications Director, Mission Flint Office; and Allyson Carpenter, President of Student Government, Howard University.
