Jorge M. Calderon

Jorge Calderon is a career entrepreneur, startup investment professional, management consultant, & innovation educator. Jorge is currently the Managing Director for Inicio Ventures, where he leads Latinx-led startup investments and ecosystem building programs. Mr. Calderon previously founded a skill building and campus recruiting software platform for college students that was directly powered by employers. He also founded and led Impact Strategy Advisors (ISA), a boutique social venture & investment design consulting firm. Jorge’s practice focused on helping capital sources & operating companies transform intentional social purpose into economic & positive impact value. Mr. Calderon has broad expertise in a variety of social themes, including education, economic development, diversity/inclusion, job creation, poverty alleviation, access to food, technology for change and the field of impact investing. Jorge is also currently a continuing lecturer at the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business, where he built the Impact Startup Launchpad, Startup Disco, Berkeley Changemaker: Big Ideas curricula; created and managed the Berkeley Impact Venture Fund; was a Fellow within Berkeley’s Institute for Business and Social Impact (IBSI); was previously part of the faculty team for the LAUNCH accelerator; was the Faculty Director for the GSVC; and is actively involved with campus based inclusive innovation programs. Through Berkeley Haas, he received the Richard H. Holton Teaching Fellow Award and a Berkeley Haas Best Case Award. Jorge is the author of the Startup Discovery Method and Purpose-Driven Design frameworks. Mr. Calderon, a pioneer in increasing diversity in innovation, formerly founded Springworks, a program lab that was committed to developing paths for women and minorities in venture capital and entrepreneurship related careers. Earlier in his career he had roles in venture capital, strategy management consulting, banking and technology. Mr. Calderon is a University of Michigan graduate and received his MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.