Allison Baum Gates

Future of Work Expert, Venture Capitalist, General Partner at SemperVirens Venture Capital, and Adjunct Professor at Columbia Business School

Topics: Future of Work, Business, Futurist, Innovation, STEM, Technology, Thought Leadership, Women Leaders, Employee Engagement

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Biography

Allison Baum Gates is an author, speaker, investor, and expert on the future of work. She has spent her entire career at the intersection of finance and technology and their impact on how we make a living.

As a General Partner at early-stage venture capital fund SemperVirens, Allison invests in technology transforming work, health, and financial wellness. The fund is backed by an ecosystem of 1500+ HR leaders, giving Allison unique insights into the needs and perspectives of industry-leading employers. She is also a contributing writer for Forbes and a guest lecturer at Columbia Business School and UC Berkeley-Haas.

Prior to joining SemperVirens, Allison worked on the trading floor at Goldman Sachs, was an early employee at General Assembly (which sold to Adecco for $413M in 2018), co-founded Fresco Capital, a global seed fund, and was an investor at Trinity Ventures.

Currently based in San Francisco, Allison has lived and worked in New York, Hong Kong, and Tokyo. She holds a B.A. in Economics with Honors, a minor in Film Studies, and a language citation in French from Harvard University.

Videos

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How Technology is Transforming the Future of Work

Although technology has transformed nearly every aspect of our personal lives, it is only beginning to change the largest and most complex systems that govern our lives. Allison Baum Gates provides a compelling deep dive into how technology has disrupted how we make money, take care of ourselves, and find meaning. Through case studies drawn from her portfolio of nearly one hundred investments, she discusses the specific
impact of artificial intelligence, automation, and analytics on how employers manage their workforce, how individuals navigate their careers, and how we value the results.

The Changing Nature of the Employer/Employee Relationship

A combination of technological advancement, demographic shifts, and social justice movements have permanently disrupted the way we approach the workplace. Leveraging her work with some of the world’s biggest and oldest employers, as well as her experience investing in disruptive technologies enabling new
ways of earning a living, Allison Baum Gates how the future of work is taking shape at both an individual and a societal level. Listeners will gain an understanding of how employers can and should adapt their recruiting, retention, and cultural strategies for a generation of workers with different needs, expectations, and talents.

The Employer’s Role in the Future of Healthcare

Employee benefits have historically been viewed as an afterthought, a cost center and a box to be checked after compensation has been negotiated. The country’s leading employers, however, have started to leverage benefits as a key strategy for recruiting, retaining, and empowering a diverse workforce while also saving on claims costs. Allison Baum Gates discusses how employers play a key role in accelerating the shift toward a more accessible, equitable, and efficient healthcare system. She highlights case studies of an exciting new
generation of technology-based solutions for fertility, mental health, childcare, and LGBTQ+ and BIPOC populations.