Andrew Don’s Post

Wanted to share this my network. Boost My School is making a huge impact in education. Anyone joining them would love working with Holman Gao and team!

It continues to amaze me how life can take you to the most unexpected places. As I reflect back on 2023, it’s been an interesting time of change, learning, and growth. I’ve learned (sometimes the hard way) over the years to keep my eyes open, while freeing my mind of not having hard and fast expectations for most things. An opportunity can present itself in even the most challenging circumstances. This mindset has allowed me to venture into opportunities I would not have thought of and to meet incredible people from all walks of life. Through intentional actions, support from my network, and definitely some luck, I’ve been fortunate to be slowly combining my passion for impact with my skills into work I truly enjoy. As I shared in a post in September, I had joined REUSO as an advisor earlier in the year. In recent months, I’ve been able to work in the trenches with Eva Bugg and Neil Misak to see first hand the hard work they’ve put into the company. It’s simply inspiring. They represent the epitome of mission driven founders. I’m excited to announce that I have joined REUSO full-time as their new COO. It was an opportunity that I could not pass up. I am grateful to work alongside Eva and Neil on REUSO’s mission to better the world by eliminating single-use waste at scale. I look forward to helping scale our operations and continue building a software solution that will have a meaningful and long-term impact. As I think about my journey the past several years, it’s amazing to consider all the touch points I’ve had and how they led me to this current destination. I’m thankful to everyone for the support along the way. Look forward to making more touch points and hope you join our journey! 📷 - Our team at Lincoln Park Zoo onboarding staff members and customers to REUSO’s software system. #REUSO #Sustainability #Reuse #Software #Chicago

I’d like to introduce a company that I feel is on the cusp of making outsized impact in Chicago and beyond. I was first introduced to REUSO and its co-founders, Eva Bugg and Neil Misak, at the World Business Chicago's Future of Logistics Summit last October. While their software solution to make reusables at scale a reality was intriguing, it was their personalities that stood out as exceptional even though our encounter was brief. Fast forward to this past May’s Future of Food Summit and I was able to reconnect with them and learn more about REUSO's mission. From just a couple of conversations, I knew Eva and Neil embodied everything of why I love working with founders looking to tackle the immense challenges of our time. They are passionate, smart, resilient, thoughtful, but most of all, they are mission-driven to make positive change for everyone. I have no doubt that they have the ability and grit to make REUSO’s vision a reality.     I’m grateful for the opportunity to be able to pour my time and efforts into causes I believe in. As with health equity, which my work at 2Flo Ventures focuses on, sustainability is very important to me. I look forward to working side by side with Eva and Neil as an advisor to help REUSO reach its potential and maximize its impact. I feel an intense responsibility to do my small part to make this world better for my daughters and future generations. And it will require having aligned partners and wide-spread collaboration to make the collective impact needed. If you’d like to learn more about REUSO or know any potential partners/businesses looking to eliminate single-use waste at scale, please reach out! #REUSO #sustainability #reusable #chicago

Last Thursday, 2Flo Ventures held its inaugural Health Equity Investing Symposium at Fulton Labs. I don’t recall ever being in a room or event with so many people who were fully aligned and passionate about a specific topic, in this case investing in health equity. The energy in the room was incredible, with conversations full of authenticity, as well as a sense of urgency. I felt like future collaboration between attendees is inevitable because championing health equity is that important. The symposium was significant in size, but still felt very intimate. The inspiring fireside chat with Dr. Ted Love, moderated by the amazing Pam Simpkins, MBA, CFA, discussing the value of addressing health disparities, embodied the entire event’s purpose. The session concluded with a standing ovation, which demonstrated the power of sharing stories and community. I have deep admiration for Paul Burton, JD, MBA for what he has built at 2Flo Ventures. I look forward to being a dedicated advocate and supporter on this journey. Much gratitude to Ibraheem Alinur for orchestrating this phenomenal event with the support of the planning committee, moderators, and panelists. It was an honor to share this space and time with so many experts, founders, investors, strategic partners, and attendees from all over the country. This is what collective collaboration and impact looks like! #2FloVentures #HealthEquity #HealthEquityInvesting #Chicago  

As I start out in my new role at 2Flo Ventures, I am quickly educating myself on the healthcare space and how our work can drive positive impact within the industry. What better way to learn than to attend the 2Flo Ventures Health Equity Investing Symposium on September 14th. This is an all day event in #Chicago convening top experts and investors from across the country in health equity. The first conversation of the day will be about The FDA Modernization Act and Health Equity. For more details and to register for the event, please go to: https://lnkd.in/g2KyvMX3 Hope to see you there!

I’m excited to share a new opportunity that I am embarking on. I am joining 2Flo Ventures, a startup studio and venture capital firm dedicated to accelerating equitable innovation in healthcare, as its Managing Director of Operations & Technology. We invest in diverse healthcare entrepreneurs and companies built to close gaps in health outcomes for underserved communities.    As I look back on my career and life, I realize how nonlinear my path has been. And I am truly grateful for that. This is especially true ever since I left the software engineering world six years ago. Since then, I navigated from supporting nonprofits, advising early-stage startups, to building a venture capital firm, and now helping scale a venture studio. I’ve reinvented myself several times over during that period. It has not been easy with numerous challenges and doubts along the way. But with the support of many amazing people in my life, including those I’ve met from each phase, it has been a most rewarding journey.       I love working closely with founders and their purpose driven companies, which inspire me to do my best work. At 2Flo Ventures, I get to combine my passion of helping teams continuously improve to reach their potential and desire to make impact at scale. Outstanding execution paired with mission driven objectives can yield transformational results for our communities.        It’s an honor to work with Paul Burton, JD, MBA, Ibraheem Alinur, and the rest of the 2Flo team and community to drive innovation in the health equity space. I want to especially thank Ibraheem for sharing this incredible opportunity with me. I look forward to the great things that we can accomplish together!    We’re looking for amazing collaborators to join us on the 2Flo Ventures mission. If you’re interested in learning more, I would love to connect!     #2FloVentures #healthequity #chicago