33. How to Thrive in a Male Dominated Career with Kange Kaneene, Vice President of SAP.iO Foundries North and Latin America

How do you become a leader in a male dominated field? When people tell you no, how do you respond? 

For this Women of Color Rise episode, Analiza talks with Kange Kaneene, Vice President of SAP.iO Foundries North and Latin America, SAP’s no-equity ask external startup accelerators. Kange shares how during her career, many people would signal or explicitly tell her no. Yet, she would respond with YOLO, You Only Live Once. 

Kange has been the one and only or one among a few. At age 12, she was the only female on a tackle football team. Later, she was one of the few Computer Science majors at University of Michigan. Today, she is one of the few female leaders of color in venture capital. 

How did she do it? Kange walks us through the steps she took: 

1. Deliberately deciding to take on the challenge
2. Networking and building authentic relationships 
3. Being humble and learning on the job
4. 4) YOLO – going for it, even when faced with racism and sexism. 

Kange’s mission to support diverse founders goes beyond SAP.iO Foundries. Kange is an angel investor with Pipeline Angels group, a group of female investors who invest in female founders. She is also a mentor for entrepreneurs as a volunteer for Defy Ventures, a non-profit organization that invests in founders who are currently or formerly incarcerated. 

Get full show notes and more information here: https://analizawolf.com/ep-33-how-to-thrive-in-a-male-dominated-career-with-kange-kaneene