Today we’d like to introduce you to Sevetri Wilson.
Hi Sevetri, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I started my first company in 2009 called Solid Ground Innovations and we were working with large foundations such as Kellogg Foundation and corporations such as Community Coffee. As we began to grow and expand something I realized really early for our philanthropic clients is that though we would come in and bring capacity to the organizations that they were funding, the likelihood of that work continuing once we left was very rare. We generally brought the capacity and then once we left, the work would stop. So, I started thinking of ways we could productize our services and deliver it through a platform solution, and this is what gave rise to Resilia, the tech company I’d go on to found and raise now close to $15 million dollars for.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
No, the road is ever curving with so many hills, ups and downs, caution signs and plain ole dead ends. That’s how the road has been for me. I’m a Black woman from the south building technology who has raised quite a bit of money to do so which is unfortunately very rare. For us, we truly have to be 10x better and jump 10x higher and even worse often times when we make it to the finish line, they are constantly moving the goal post. It has made building and running a successful company extremely difficult.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Resilia is a two-sided SaaS platform that helps organizations increase capacity and large enterprises scale impact. We work with both nonprofits and any entity deploying capital to organizations, initiatives and large projects. Some of our customers include Goldman Sachs, Oxfam America, Silicon Valley Community Foundation and the list goes on. Resilia sits in a unique space because most of the “tech for good” software that we have seen has focused around grants management and fundraising our focus is capacity building. I want readers to know that if they are building technology and perhaps just getting started to keep going but most importantly to put the right people around you that can help you along the journey and also those who are peers in the space. About our offering, just know that almost everyone comes across our core customer base so keep us in mind for that nonprofit you sit on the board for or volunteer with or the corporation you might work for.
How do you define success?
Success is truly in the eye of the beholder. What I felt was success in my 20s is much different than what I look at success being today. At the end of the day, I’m looking for what makes me feel happy and proud of what I’m building and doing.
Contact Info:
- Email: info@sevetriwilson
- Website: sevetriwilson.com
- Instagram: @sevetriwilson
- Facebook: facebook.com/sevetriwilson
- Twitter: @sevetriwilson
Image Credits
QDot Jones Photography for the first headshot
