“Start building your binders full of women” is the challenge that Ellen Weber, Executive Director of Temple University’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Institute (IEI) issued to the audience at the TEDxWalnutStWomen event, held on May 30th in Center City Philadelphia.
This inaugural event, titled Momentum, featured TEDx talks from the global 2015 TEDWomen conference, as well as speakers from the Philadelphia community, such as Weber. The goal of the event was to provide bold ideas that create momentum in how women think, live, and work in the city and in the world.
In her speech, Weber focused on the importance of women investing in women. Opening with a joke about former presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s “binders full of women” snafu, she highlighted the importance of women having a binder of their own from which to pull for social, political, investment and emotional capital.
Social capital involved creating a strong network of women within the workplace, such as Weber’s own involvement as a board member in the Alliance of Women Entrepreneurs. The key to investing in social capital is what Weber titled “Kiss My Ask.” This method is a step-by-step guide used to ask for an introduction. Political capital ties in with this. The more credibility you build in the workplace, the more you can connect other women with opportunities.
Weber also discussed investment capital. She stated, “Female CEOs delivered 12% more revenue on 33% less capital than used by men, and women have half the growth expectation of men.” She emphasized how 
critical it is for women to invest in women through funds, direct investment, angel groups, and even through less accredited methods such as Kickstarter.
A heartfelt closing on emotional capital ended Weber’s TEDx Talk. She revealed a personal anecdote about how the support she was given from her closest friends during a difficult time was immeasurable. Weber stated, “men live in a world of quid pro quo, keeping track of who’s done what for whom, but we don’t have to.”
Other speakers at the event were VP of Program Development for You Can Play Anna Aagenes, Director of Talent Acquisition at Curalate Natalie Ledbetter, sexologist and clinicians’ trainer Timaree Schmit, recipient of the 2013 Turning Point Prize Jessica Lee, founder of WXYZ Jewelry Laura Wass, co-founder of Milk Crate Morgan Berman, Co-Director of the Youth Sentencing and Reentry Project Lauren Fine, and CMO of Xtreme Tilt, LLC. Christine Krzyzanowski.
TEDx is a local, self-organized talk that brings people together, the “x” equals an independently organized TED event. This TEDx event was sponsored by Women’s Way, CircleRank, Nutmeg Cookies, Business Accounting and Tax Service, NextFab, Monetate, Good Karma Café, Erawan Thai Cuisine, Kasich Creative Photography, and CityCoHo Philly Nexus.
A video of Ellen’s TEDx talk will be available to view on the IEI website shortly.
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