Lena West

Activist, Artist, Brainstormer, Business adviser, Business leader, Care taker, Change Agent, Connector, Consultant, Entrepreneur, Filmmaker, Global soul, Idea generator, Marketer, Philanthropist, Producer, Social entrepreneur, Web guru, World traveler, Writer/Editor

Lena West is the Founder of CEO Rising®, an online business accelerator that decentralizes traditional coaching models to provide ambitious womxn entrepreneurs with the three growth tools they need most: coaching, community, and cash. Lena’s razor-sharp business acumen is the well-hewn result of more than a decade of hands-on experience as an award-winning serial entrepreneur, writer, keynote speaker, business strategist, filmmaker, and grant maker. This truth-telling business advisor, who is often referred to as an “entrepreneur’s secret weapon”, shows womxn entrepreneurs how to discover their inner CEO and build a business that loves them back. She is also the visionary behind CEO DNA®, a personalized inventory that uncovers an individual’s specific CEO leadership archetypes and style. Lena’s life and work are driven by what she calls, “the three I’s”: Introspection, Influence, and Independence – skills and values she consistently brings to bear on everything she undertakes. She has written for American Express, Fast Company and Entrepreneur and has spoken for notable organizations such as American Express, Wharton School of Business, SCORE, National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI) and Syracuse University. An honorary highlight of her career was speaking about womxn’s rights and opportunities in digital media on Capitol Hill and at the United Nations. Lena’s internationally acknowledged expertise has led to winning several business awards, among them: BuzzFeed’s Most Influential Influencers, The Women’s Congress’ Entrepreneurial Champion for Women in Business and NCWIT’s Entrepreneurial Hero. Her life’s work is to advance the online business landscape for womxn entrepreneurs by pairing reinvented coaching, community, and funding models with increased digital media representation.

Ending predatory business practices in online entrepreneurship and increasing the representation of womxn entrepreneurs on big and small screens.

Online entrepreneurship has enabled many qualified professionals to find a home and audience for their talents and expertise. It's also given rise to some predatory business practices, that on the surface seem helpful and reasonable, but actually do more harm than good. We can build businesses that love us back without hurting others in the process. There is a different way.

Business, Entrepreneurship, Independent documentary filmmaking, Marketing

I first attended TED Women in 2010 in DC. It was glorious. And, I think it was the first one. Where else can you hear amazing womxn speak and dance the evening away with Eve Ensler?

Independent filmmaking and grantmaking.