Community Corner
Palo Alto Woman Honored at White House
Former Google employee co-founded Startup, a crowd funding platform that helps people achieve business and life goals.
Anna Mongayt of Palo Alto is one of 11 people nationwide to be recognized by the White House as an “immigrant innovator” in its Champions of Change program.
The program highlights immigrant innovators and entrepreneurs who are helping to create American jobs, grow the nation’s economy, and make the United States more competitive on the world marketplace.
Mongayt was to be recognized in a White House ceremony on Wednesday, May 29.
Mongayt is a co-founder at Upstart, an online crowd funding platform that lets people raise money in exchange for a portion of their future income.
Upstart works by helping young people to alleviate financial burdens such as student loans or living expenses by monetizing their future potential. It helps recent graduates pursue their dreams—to start a business, learn to code, or begin a career in a field they're passionate about—by matching them with backers who believe in their aspirations.
Investors can opt-in to become mentors and earn a return based on a regression model that predicts an individual's income over ten years.
Mongayt has an extensive tech background with various Silicon Valley firms. She worked at Google for five years where she ran global Enterprise Customer Programs and Gmail Consumer Operations. Previously, she held a variety of operations roles at McMaster Carr and several startups.
She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Boston University with a BA in Finance and Entrepreneurship.
