Emerson Collective Demo Day 2023: Hear from entrepreneurs, artists, and doers presenting solutions with the potential to move humanity forward.

Emerson Collective presents our 9th annual Demo Day—a gathering of creators and builders, where live demos and conversations illuminate bold, imaginative solutions to challenges of our time. Watch entrepreneurs across our portfolio push the boundaries of innovation, from AI and healthcare to education and energy.

Emerson Collective is a company that invests in entrepreneurs and innovators driven by purpose and a sense of possibility. We are working to create a world that honors talent, expands opportunity, and ensures the conditions for human flourishing.

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 Demo Day 2025: Full Event

Emerson Collective presents Demo Day 2024, an annual event inspired by the Silicon Valley tradition of celebrating entrepreneurs.

Hear leaders across our portfolio share their bold ideas on everything from fusion and food, to women’s health and education.

Demo Day 2024: Full Event

Hear from extraordinary artists, leaders, and entrepreneurs who are working at the intersection of climate, social justice, education, immigration, and health at our annual event.
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Each year, Demo Day serves as a source of inspiration, reminding us that human ingenuity, idealism, and resolve can forge new possibilities for individuals, communities, and our nation. Our [2022 speakers](https://www.emersoncollective.com/events/demo-day/demo-day-2022) are dedicated to finding solutions from voting rights and health equity to education and environmental justice. 
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This year, these leaders are united by a common thread—our changing climate. As they reimagine and reshape the world through advocacy, art, and action, their work contributes to our shared climate future.  
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Our Demo Day visual theme is inspired by the work of [Corita Kent](http://www.corita.org/ "Corita Kent"), a groundbreaking artist, educator, and activist.


Hear from extraordinary artists, leaders, and entrepreneurs who are working at the intersection of climate, social justice, education, immigration, and health at our annual event.


Demo Day 2022: Full Event

Our annual Demo Day gives us optimism, energy and strength. This year, we hear from heroes in communities around the world, leaders who see challenges and are eager to test solutions.

They are fearless in defense of their ideals, seeking to end gun violence, safeguard the right to vote, protect Native lands and help the most vulnerable among us. They embrace art as a way to illuminate injustice. They seek to heal suffering and protect the planet.

Our annual Demo Day gives us optimism, energy and strength. This year, we hear from heroes in communities around the world, leaders who see challenges and are eager to test solutions.


Demo Day 2021: Full Event

As we all approach the end of a year that has deeply challenged all Americans, we look to this year’s Demo Day as a moment to elevate the leaders and work that are helping shape our world, with a grounding in justice and equity. Today is an exercise in what’s possible when decency, kindness, courage, and hope are lifted up as cornerstones for our collective human community. We believe that the work and ideas of the changemakers who are a part of Demo Day 2020 can help power up that future.


Demo Day 2020: Full Event

WATCH PAST DEMO DAYS

Demo Day 2023 Full Video

Demo Day 2023: Full Event

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Emerson Collective is a company that invests in entrepreneurs and innovators driven by purpose and a sense of possibility, working to create a world of abundance for future generations. Complex challenges in education and economic mobility, immigration and the environment require audacious ideas, rigorous thinking and hard work.

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Brandan "bmike" Odums is an artist and muralist based in New Orleans, celebrated for his vibrant street art that addresses themes of identity, culture, and social justice. In addition to his artistic endeavors, bmike founded Eternal Seeds, a nonprofit organization that provides resources, mentorship, and opportunities for young artists, cultivating a new generation of creative voices. He also founded Studio Be, a large-scale art space that serves as a gallery and community hub for the local arts scene in New Orleans. bmike’s art and community initiatives use creativity as a tool for dialogue and transformation.

Brandan "bmike" Odums is an artist and muralist based in New Orleans, celebrated for his vibrant street art that addresses themes of identity, culture, and social justice. 

Demo Day 2024 - Video - Brandan “bmike” Odums

Reimagining opportunities for the next generation of artists | Brandan “bmike” Odums

Joanna Strober is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Midi Health, a virtual care platform for women in perimenopause and menopause. The company brings expert care, covered by insurance, to women nationwide. Prior to Midi, Joanna founded Kurbo, the first digital therapeutics program for childhood obesity, which scaled to help tens of thousands of children worldwide. Joanna spent more than 20 years in direct private equity and venture capital investing in health and consumer companies. She is the author of Getting to 50/50, a primer on how women can succeed and thrive at work and at home. In 2023, she was selected for the Forbes “50 Over 50” list of top innovators.

Joanna Strober is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Midi Health, a virtual care platform for women in perimenopause and menopause. 

Demo Day 2024 - Video - Joanna Strober

Insurance-covered care for women experiencing menopause | Joanna Strober

Nicholas Flanders is the Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Twelve. He has dedicated his career to uncovering and developing energy innovations to address the climate crisis. Before launching Twelve, Nicholas was the Chief Operating Officer of Levo, a venture-backed technology startup, and a business analyst at McKinsey, where he co-authored groundbreaking studies of the global energy system. In 2016, Nicholas was named an Echoing Green climate fellow and selected for the Forbes “30 Under 30” list for the energy sector. He graduated from Cornell with a BA in mathematics and he holds an MS in engineering and an MBA from Stanford University.

Nicholas Flanders is the Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Twelve. 

Nicholas Flanders

Demo Day 2024 - Video - Nicholas Flanders

The benefits of fossil fuels without the environmental costs | Nicholas Flanders

Michelle Ebanks is the President and Chief Executive Officer of The Apollo, the largest African American performing arts center in the nation. She joined The Apollo in 2023 at a pivotal time, as the organization expanded by opening The Apollo Stages at The Victoria, bringing two new flexible performance spaces to Harlem. Previously, as CEO of Essence Communications, Michelle oversaw the nation’s leading media and communications company dedicated to African American women. In that role, she led Essence magazine, Essence.com, and the internationally renowned Essence Festival of Culture, one of the largest annual live music events in the world.

Michelle Ebanks is the President and Chief Executive Officer of The Apollo, the largest African American performing arts center in the nation.

Demo Day 2024 - Video - Michelle Ebanks

Harlem’s Apollo Theater: A legacy of art and opportunity | Michelle Ebanks

Patrick G. Awuah Jr. is the Founder and President of Ashesi University, a nonprofit institution in Ghana created to educate a new generation of ethical and entrepreneurial leaders in Africa. Patrick founded Ashesi in 2002 with a belief that Africa’s future will be shaped by its universities. As President, he is responsible for sustaining the University’s academic excellence and commitment to ethical conduct, innovation, and civic engagement. He has won international awards, including the MacArthur Fellowship, the McNulty Prize, and Membership of the Order of the Volta—one of Ghana’s highest awards, given to individuals who exemplify the ideal of service to the country. Patrick holds BAs in engineering and economics from Swarthmore College and an MBA from UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business.

Patrick G. Awuah Jr. is the Founder and President of Ashesi University, a nonprofit institution in Ghana created to educate a new generation of ethical and entrepreneurial leaders in Africa. 

Demo Day 2024 - Video - Patrick Awuah

Teaching leadership, entrepreneurship, and problem solving across Africa | Patrick Awuah

Carrie Joy “CJ” Grimes is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of WorkMoney, a national organization dedicated to improving people’s financial lives across America. Growing up in a working- and middle-class family from the Midwest and Appalachia, CJ was steeped in the notion that hard work creates opportunity, but found herself deeply concerned that many people were increasingly unable to afford to live good lives. As the National Organizing Director of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), she helped launch the Fight for $15 to increase the minimum wage. At WorkMoney, she helps people raise their incomes and lower their costs.


Carrie Joy “CJ” Grimes is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of WorkMoney, a national organization dedicated to improving people’s financial lives across America.

Carrie Joy Grimes

Americans find help, tools, and resources for their money | Carrie Joy Grimes

Demo Day 2024 Highlights