Watch: Working From Home Challenges and Strategies to Succeed

Annie Burford

Annie Burford is dot.LA's director of events. She's an event marketing pro with over ten years of experience producing innovative corporate events, activations and summits for tech startups to Fortune 500 companies. Annie has produced over 200 programs in Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York City working most recently for a China-based investment bank heading the CEC Capital Tech & Media Summit, formally the Siemer Summit.

Watch: Working From Home Challenges and Strategies to Succeed

Join us this Thursday, April 30 at 11:00 am PST for the kick-off of dot.LA Convenes, a speaker series devoted to empowering women in tech in partnership with PledgeLA.

With so many challenges unique to women in this new work-from-home reality, we seek to foster an honest dialogue around these obstacles and discuss specific strategies to combat them.

Women in Tech: Working From Home Challenges & Strategies to Succeed www.youtube.com



About the Speakers

Morgan DeBaun is the CEO and Founder of Blavity Inc.

​Morgan DeBaun, CEO / Founder of Blavity Inc.

Blavity Inc. is the leading news company and media brand for Black millennials and Gen Z in the U.S. reaching over 30M millennials a month, surpassing the digital traffic of many legacy black media brands. Since launching Blavity in 2014, the brand has quickly grown to be a strong voice for viral culture, social commentary and a platform for young creators to showcase their work.

Starting her career in Silicon Valley, Morgan graduated with an B.A. from Washington University in St. Louis. Morgan has been widely quoted as an innovator and media entrepreneur in top tier consumer and business publications like Forbes, Huffington Post, NPR, TechCrunch and many more.

In addition to leading Blavity Inc., Morgan angel invests and advises entrepreneurs on how to launch their ideas, innovate and grow their businesses through her WorkSmart Program.

Joanna McFarland, CEO, President and Co-Founder of HopSkipDrive

Joanna McFarland, CEO, President and Co-Founder of HopSkipDrive

Joanna McFarland is the CEO and Cofounder of HopSkipDrive, the innovator in youth transportation. HopSkipDrive is a ride service that helps families and schools get kids where they need to go safely and dependably with a network of more than 7,000 highly vetted CareDrivers. HopSkipDrive currently serves 18 markets in 8 states plus Washington DC, and works with over 200 schools and districts as well as thousands of families every day. Before co-founding HopSkipDrive in 2014, Joanna spent 15 years in product management, building and scaling businesses for top technology, including WeddingChannel, Green Dot, and YP.com. In addition, Joanna spent the first part of her career in investment banking and private equity. Joanna has an MBA from Stanford University and a BS from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and her two boys.

Beatriz Acevedo is the president of Acevedo Foundation and the co-founder of L.A. Collab SUMA Wealth.

Beatriz Acevedo, President, Acevedo Foundation; Co-founder, LA Collab;  Co-founder, SUMA Wealth

Beatriz Acevedo is a leading inspirational voice and Latina entrepreneur in the United States. She has dedicated her career to empower and open doors for the next generation of Latinx leaders.

Beatriz started her career in media at a young age, first on radio and later on television. Her work earned her three Emmy's, one MTV music award, and a media correspondent award, among many others.

Most recently, she became a tech media entrepreneur as the Co-founder and President of mitú, the leading digital media brand for young Latinos in the U.S. The mentorship initiatives that she created through her Accelerator Program, have also provided invaluable access to young Latino storytellers.

Beatriz is a passionate and sought after speaker who enjoys discussions around diversity as good business, female leadership, and the economic impact of Latinos in America. She sits on numerous boards and is an advisor on Mayor Eric Garcetti's tech council as well as on Annenberg's foundation tech initiative, PledgeLA. She recently co-founded LA Collab, a Hollywood initiative to double Latino representation in Hollywood in front and behind the camera by 2030.

Beatriz is the President of her family's foundation "Fundación Acevedo." For the past 30 years, the Foundation has provided scholarships for students who lack the financial means to pursue higher education.

http://www.linkedin.com/in/annieburford
annie@dot.la
LA Tech Week 2026: Sunday’s Event Lineup

🔦 Spotlight

LA Tech Week 2026 closes Sunday with one final day of events across Los Angeles. We have organized the remaining lineup by neighborhood so you can finish the week with a few last conversations before everyone returns to their regularly scheduled inboxes.

ARTS DISTRICT

12:00 PM

CARSON

12:00 PM

CULVER CITY

9:00 AM

  • Women in Cleantech & Sustainability Hike and Network: See Details Here
    Women in Cleantech & Sustainability

6:00 PM

  • Founders pitch competition: See Details Here
    Biomorphix solutions, Nightingale regenerative

HOLLYWOOD

10:00 AM

4:00 PM

  • AI International: Film, Music Video & Micro-Drama: See Details Here
    AI International Film Festivals

MID CITY

1:00 PM

OTHER

12:00 PM

  • ORGANIC LIFE LABS™ PRESENTS THE ALIGNMENT LAB: The Science of human performance: See Details Here
    The Blue Room Collective

SANTA MONICA

8:00 AM

1:00 PM

6:00 PM

SOUTH LA

2:00 PM

  • Future Builders : Family STEM Day: See Details Here
    Black L.A. Tech Week (Community Collective)

VENICE

10:00 AM

12:00 PM

  • How to Raise Funds to Fund Any Business Using Digital Products.: See Details Here
    DN Events

VIRTUAL

5:00 PM

WEST HOLLYWOOD

3:00 PM

Each session provides unique opportunities to gain insights, network, and explore various fields of tech innovation. For updates or more event information, visit the official Tech Week calendar.

Download the dot.LA App

LA Tech Week 2026: Saturday’s Event Lineup

🔦 Spotlight

LA Tech Week 2026 heads into the weekend Saturday with more opportunities to learn, meet fellow builders and explore what is being created across the region. Browse the day’s events by neighborhood below and find the gatherings worth leaving the house for.

ARTS DISTRICT

5:30 PM

BEL AIR

5:00 PM

CULVER CITY

10:00 AM

1:00 PM

4:00 PM

DOWNTOWN

11:00 AM

2:00 PM

  • South Asians in Space, Physical AI: See Details Here
    american south asian network

5:00 PM

7:00 PM

HOLLYWOOD

8:00 PM

INGLEWOOD

10:00 PM

LONG BEACH

10:00 AM

12:00 PM

LOS FELIZ

8:30 AM

  • Griffith Observatory Hike with Longevity Cities & Don't Die LA: See Details Here
    Longevity Cities

MALIBU

5:00 PM

MARINA DEL RAY

9:30 AM

  • The Brazen Capital Walk: Connecting Women, Capital & Opportunity: See Details Here
    BrazenEra

6:00 PM

  • Build an AI workflow editor, natively in Angular: See Details Here
    Workflow Builder

SANTA MONICA

7:00 AM

  • Founders Running Club Run in Santa Monica: See Details Here
    Founders Running Club, MongoDb

9:00 AM

  • MOLTEN - Spatial hackathon (ElevenLabs, AssemblyAI, Rokoko, Datafeel...): See Details Here
    Field Lab

2:00 PM

3:30 PM

6:00 PM

7:00 PM

SOUTH LA

7:00 PM

THE VALLEY

7:30 PM

UCLA

11:00 AM

USC

9:00 AM

10:00 AM

10:30 AM

VENICE

8:00 AM

  • Open Air Health Tech: See Details Here
    Open Air Health Tech, Bowshock, Govitamins App

10:00 AM

10:30 AM

11:00 AM

12:00 PM

6:00 PM

  • Bots, Bytes & Bubbles Benefit: See Details Here
    Distinguished Minds Institute dba thinqueBytes®

VIRTUAL

9:00 AM

  • Ask a VP of Sales: Live GTM Office Hours for Early-Stage B2B Founders: See Details Here
    Kat Rucker Consulting Group

11:00 AM

WEST HOLLYWOOD

11:00 AM

  • The 10x Engineer Showed Up. The 10x Organization Didn't.: See Details Here
    Workflow Builder, Tentaro

3:00 PM

WESTSIDE

11:00 AM

2:00 PM

  • Graphic Design & Digital Printing Meetup: See Details Here
    Big Frog Custom T-Shirts & More of West LA

7:00 PM

WESTWOOD

12:00 PM

Each session provides unique opportunities to gain insights, network, and explore various fields of tech innovation. For updates or more event information, visit the official Tech Week calendar.

Download the dot.LA App

LA Tech Week 2026: Friday’s Event Lineup

🔦 Spotlight

The workweek may be winding down, but LA Tech Week 2026 is not finished yet. Friday’s events are organized by neighborhood below, making it easier to choose where to spend the day before the week shifts into its weekend programming.

ARTS DISTRICT

9:00 AM

7:00 PM

BEL AIR

10:30 AM

  • Bel Air Mansion Creative Brunch: Investors, & Artists: See Details Here
    Amino Capital

BEVERLY HILLS

8:00 AM

  • Founders & Builders: Morning Walk/Run + Coffee Meetup: See Details Here
    FitMatchLA
  • Music-Tech : Move with the Global Ikon & Lululemon: See Details Here
    The Global Ikon

8:00 PM

BRENTWOOD

8:30 AM

CULVER CITY

8:30 AM

  • Where, not How: a Roundtable on Scaling AI Adoption: See Details Here
    Mellonhead, Gamma

11:30 AM

4:00 PM

DOWNTOWN

12:30 PM

  • Rocket Launch: A USC Builders Night by TroyLabs: See Details Here
    TroyLabs - USC's premier startup accelerator

1:00 PM

2:00 PM

  • Inner Alignment: Experience Self-trust in Navigating Complexity: See Details Here
    Meridian Collective

2:30 PM

  • From Story to Revenue: How AI Is Reshaping Microdrama: See Details Here
    Storyverse, Soulscape

3:00 PM

  • Reinventing AI Infrastructure: See Details Here
    Karmel Capital, The University of Michigan Ross School of Business

5:00 PM

  • Built Different: Outliers, Underdogs and the Next Breakout: See Details Here
    Forty.5 Capital Ventures

5:30 PM

6:00 PM

  • The Music AI Can't Hear: What's Actually Missing from the Future of Sound: See Details Here
    Motif

6:30 PM

  • HR & PEOPLE LEADERS ROOFTOP HAPPY HOUR . Leadership Signals: See Details Here
    Speech & Mind

EL SEGUNDO

7:00 PM

HOLLYWOOD

10:00 PM

HOLLYWOOD HILLS

12:00 PM

  • Early stage co-founder matching: Virtual Speed Networking: See Details Here
    Kept

INGLEWOOD

7:00 PM

MARINA DEL RAY

3:00 PM

  • South Asians Shaping Digital Media: See Details Here
    american south asian network

7:00 PM

  • Tech Industry Speed Networking Marina Del Rey: See Details Here
    Los Angeles Fun Events
  • The New Wave: The Future of Hollywood In the Age of AI: See Details Here
    american south asian network

MID CITY

8:00 AM

OTHER

8:30 AM

  • Wedbush Ventures x Women in Product Breakfast: See Details Here
    Wedbush Ventures

10:00 AM

12:00 PM

2:30 PM

5:00 PM

  • Get Wired with Senra Systems!: See Details Here
    Senra Systems, Lowercarbon, Stifel

6:00 PM

6:30 PM

7:00 PM

PASADENA

12:00 PM

4:00 PM

  • Pasadena Ascends: VIP Closing Reception, Hosted by Wedbush: See Details Here
    Innovate Pasadena

PLAYA VISTA

10:00 AM

  • AI LAX Summit - Culture meets AI: See Details Here
    Governlayer.AI, AILAXSUMMIT.com, Google

6:00 PM

SANTA MONICA

8:15 AM

8:30 AM

  • Silicon Beach Volleyball Social: See Details Here
    Holland & Knight, JP Morgan, Mucker Capital

10:00 AM

  • Gen AI Observability for Engineering Leaders: See Details Here
    Amazon Web Services

11:00 AM

1:00 PM

  • Future of Photography : Discussing the future of image capture and IP protection. Cigar Lounge: See Details Here
    VICEVERSA EDITIONS
  • Self-Host Frontier AI: Running Open-Weight Models on AWS: See Details Here
    Amazon Web Services

3:00 PM

5:00 PM

  • Gold House x Speedrun Investors Social: See Details Here
    Gold House Ventures, a16z Speedrun

5:30 PM

  • The Autonomous Playbook: Scaling Revenue faster with AI.: See Details Here
    GrupaAI

6:00 PM

7:00 PM

8:00 PM

SUNSET

7:00 PM

UCLA

6:00 PM

  • The Builder's Lounge - Jazz Bar Demo Night with VEST x Cognition: See Details Here
    VEST at UCLA

USC

Fri, Oct 16 · 5:00pm — Sun, Oct 18 · 5:00pm

Fri, Oct 16 · 5:00pm — Sat, Oct 17 · 5:00pm

VENICE

7:30 AM

9:00 AM

  • Content in Tech: Coffee & Creators: See Details Here
    Narrative Content Studio, YT Jobs

11:00 AM

12:00 PM

  • What REALLY Happens After You Raise (But No One Talks About) - Funded Founder Lunch @: See Details Here
    Grow Through Story

2:00 PM

4:00 PM

5:00 PM

  • Sell before you build: See Details Here
    USC Entrepreneurship and Venture Management Association

6:00 PM

  • A16Z | ElevenLabs - Official Afterparty: See Details Here
    ElevenLabs, a16z Speedrun

7:00 PM

VIRTUAL

9:00 AM

  • Ask a VP of Sales: Live GTM Office Hours for Early-Stage B2B Founders: See Details Here
    Kat Rucker Consulting Group

11:00 AM

  • Vibe Marketing in the Age of AI Agents: Live Workshop: See Details Here
    Juliet AI, Inc.

1:00 PM

2:00 PM

WEST HOLLYWOOD

11:00 AM

7:00 PM

  • NO HUMAN, NO CREATIVITY? Who Creates Culture Now?: See Details Here
    xVibe AI, HFE Events

WESTWOOD

9:00 AM

  • UCLA Tech + Society Conference: See Details Here
    Easton Technology Management Center

Each session provides unique opportunities to gain insights, network, and explore various fields of tech innovation. For updates or more event information, visit the official Tech Week calendar.

Download the dot.LA App

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