Betty Francisco

General Counsel at Compass Working Capital

Financial Services and Wealth Management

Boston, MA, USA

Invite

Biography

I am an entrepreneur, business executive, attorney and community leader. I am known as a powerful convener and changemaker, unapologetic about creating visibility for Latinx and people of color. In 2018, Boston Magazine named me as one of the 100 Most Influential People in Boston and GetKonnected recognized me on the GK100: Greater Boston’s Most Influential People of Color list. I am also a Pipeline Angels 2015 Member, a network of women angel investors providing investment and intellectual capital for women entrepreneurs.

Passion

I am passionate about entrepreneurship, building social ventures that are inclusive and advancing women. As an example, I cofounded the Latina Circle, a network that provides Latina professionals with mentoring, leadership training, and business partnering opportunities so they can achieve their potential.

Featured Video

I am willing to travel

More than 100 miles

When it comes to payments

I generally get paid for speaking but make exceptions

Topics

diversity and inclusion angel investing fitness operations and trends startups negotiations health and wellness healthy eating mentor diversity inclusion investment angel investor entrepreneurship

Origin Story

Currently, Betty is the General Counsel at Compass Working Capital where she serves as the organization’s chief legal advisor, responsible for overseeing all aspects of the organization’s legal affairs. As an attorney, she has over 17 years of experience advising health clubs, life sciences, and technology companies in the areas of legal, compliance, risk management, operations, and human resources. Most recently, Betty served as the CEO and Founder of FitNation Ventures, a business and legal consulting practice focused on advising health and fitness companies, and which launched Reimagine Play, a startup that offers fitness programming for children and families in Greater Boston. Previously, she served as EVP, General Counsel for Sports Club/LA and Reebok Sports Club/NY, a fitness brand acquired by Equinox Fitness. Betty began her legal career as a Senior Business Law Associate at Edwards Wildman, one of Boston’s largest law firms representing start-ups, corporations and investors. Betty is also an investor with Pipeline Angels, a network of new and seasoned women investors focused on creating capital for women social entrepreneurs. She was also selected in September 2015 to participate in Babson College’s Women Innovating Now (WIN) Lab, a yearlong residency program for women entrepreneurs.

Example talks

Raising the Money: Strategies for Funding Your Early Stage Business

You’re preparing to launch your business idea or already have a promising business that needs capital to grow. Getting funding for your business is a problem that confounds many entrepreneurs. This workshop will provide actionable steps to prepare yourself to raise money, and highlight a variety of ways to access capital, including crowd-funding, micro-loans, government grants and angel investment.