Since Halcyon House was founded in 2014, more than 500 entrepreneurs representing nearly 350 ventures from six continents have come through its doors.
In that decade, Halcyon scaled into a global accelerator for early-stage, impact-driven startups. It now focuses on climate, health, and equity tech, three areas where its founders see the most catalytic opportunities for change.
In celebration of its 10-year milestone, Halcyon House is hosting a Halcyon Homecoming this week, welcoming alumni back for networking, collaboration and communion with people throughout the DC tech and innovation scene.
It all culminates in the Halcyon Innovation Summit on Sept. 12, featuring dynamic discussions with world class leaders on the role of innovation in its three main focus areas, plus the future of impact investing, navigating support for diverse entrepreneurs, AI for impact and more.
From the Revolutionary Era to the cutting edge
While Halcyon the nonprofit may be celebrating its 10th anniversary, the Halcyon House in Georgetown has a storied history that long predates its current role.
Built in 1787 by Benjamin Stoddert, a Revolutionary War hero and the first secretary of the Navy, Halcyon House served as a hub of Washington DC’s social scene. Named after a Greek myth about a pair of birds granted two weeks of calm to raise their young, the house became synonymous with peace and refuge — a legacy that continues today.
When Sachiko Kuno and Kate Goodall co-founded the modern Halcyon, they saw no need to change the house’s name.
It perfectly captured the vision they had for their organization — a place where entrepreneurs tackling some of the world’s most pressing problems could find respite, community and resources to support their ventures on their journeys to making profound global impact.
As part of the 10th anniversary celebrations, Halcyon is kicking off a goal to raise 10 stipends for 10 fellows. Halcyon stipends provide more equitable access to programming, allowing founders to work on their ventures full time while covering the costs of necessities such as food and transportation.
The Halcyon Innovation Summit
Thursday, Sept. 12
9 a.m. to 5:15 p.m.
Lohrfink Auditorium in Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business
Rafik B. Hariri Building, 3851 Regents Walk NW
Check out a partial speaker list below, and RSVP here to save your spot.
- Wemimo Abbey and Samir Goel, cofounders of Esusu
- Anderson Barkow, cofounder and CFO of BoxPower
- Afua Bruce, author of “The Tech That Comes Next” and founder of ANB Advisory Group
- Patrice Brickman, founder and CEO of Inspire Capital
- Marla Blow, president of the Skoll Foundation;
- Heather Choi, chief diversity and inclusion officer of Baker Botts
- Juan Manuel Contreras, cofounder and CEO of Aymara
- Seth Goldman, cofounder and CEO of Just Ice Tea
- Dahna Goldstein, managing partner at Halcyon Venture Partners
- Kate Goodall, cofounder of Halcyon and managing partner at Halcyon Venture Partners
- Arun Gupta, CEO of the NobleReach Foundation
- Irene Arias Hofman, CEO of IDB Lab
- Nicholas Kee, founder and CEO of Kee Farms
- Nicole Kelm, senior director of strategy and operations at Deloitte’s Health Equity Institute
- Sachiko Kuno, cofounder of Halcyon
- Ainsley MacLean, chief medical information officer and chief AI officer at the Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group
- Strive Masiyiwa, founder and executive chairman of Econet Group (Virtual Speaker);
- Kwasi Mitchell, chief purpose DEI officer with Deloitte
- Precious Price, cofounder and CMO of Gather ADU
- Diana Sierra, cofounder and CEO of Be Girl
- Stefanie Thomas, managing director of the the pre-see vehicle with Zeal Capital Partners
- Kerone Vatel, head of community impact and investing at Capital One
- Bridget Weiss, partner, philanthropy and tax-exempt organizations at Arnold & Porter
- Diya Wynn, responsible AI lead at Amazon Web Services (AWS)
- Anna Thompson-Quaye, lead, partnerships, World Bank
- Dia Martin, managing director, Office of Catalytic investments, DFC
- Sashi Jayatileke, senior climate finance advisor, USAID
- Helen Manich, Manich Strategic LLC
- Wendy Luke, the HR Sage
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