About the Foundation
An independent nonprofit, built around the belief that opportunity should not depend on where you start.
Founder Series Foundation is an independent 501(c)(3)-pending organization expanding access to entrepreneurship, education, technology, mentorship, and career exploration for the people who most need a door opened.
Why We Exist
Success is rarely a single opportunity.
It is the result of a series of experiences, relationships, lessons, mentors, and opportunities that help individuals discover their potential and build meaningful futures.
Founder Series Foundation exists to help people access those experiences.
The Mission
We expand access to entrepreneurship, education, technology, mentorship, and career exploration — for the people who most need a door opened.
— Founder Series Foundation
Vision
The future we are working toward.
A future where every person — regardless of background, circumstance, or starting point — has access to the knowledge, relationships, and opportunities needed to build a meaningful career, business, or life of purpose.
Who We Serve
Six communities. One shared need: access.
Students
Middle school, high school, college, and post-secondary learners exploring careers, entrepreneurship, technology, and leadership.
Aspiring Entrepreneurs
Individuals interested in starting, growing, or sustaining businesses.
Small Business Owners
Founders and business owners seeking access to knowledge, networks, mentorship, and growth opportunities.
Veterans & Military Families
Individuals navigating career transitions, entrepreneurship, education, and economic mobility.
Career Explorers
Individuals seeking new opportunities, career pathways, certifications, or professional growth.
Underserved Communities
Individuals who may face barriers to economic opportunity, educational access, mentorship, or professional networks.
What We Do · Six Acts
Programming that meets people where they are.
Workshops, mentoring, founder stories, and practical learning opportunities — including the Foundation's open-source Build With Me curriculum.
Increasing awareness and access to technology skills, digital literacy, and responsible AI education.
Connecting individuals with professionals, employers, educators, and community leaders.
Creating opportunities for individuals to learn from experienced professionals, entrepreneurs, and community leaders.
Supporting personal and professional growth through exposure, coaching, and experiential learning opportunities.
Bringing together students, families, educators, businesses, nonprofits, and community organizations.
What We Are Not
This part matters.
Defining what we are not is as important as defining what we are. Founder Series Foundation is not —
- A staffing agency
- A recruiting company
- A workforce intermediary
- A training provider
- A job placement organization
These activities may be supported through partnerships, but they are not the Foundation's primary purpose. Our work is about access and exposure — to opportunity, to people, to possibility.
Relationship to KinTech
Independent. Aligned where it matters.
Founder Series Foundation is an independent nonprofit organization.
The Foundation may collaborate with KinTech, LLC and other organizations that share its mission, but it operates independently under its own board governance and charitable purpose.
Leadership
Shanell Guardo, Founder & Board Chair.
Shanell brings together technology, entrepreneurship, workforce innovation, strategy, and partnerships — and a lived conviction that opportunity should not depend on where someone starts.
Founder Series Foundation was started to make the kinds of experiences that change a person's trajectory — a mentor, a workshop, a real conversation about what's possible — available to people who would otherwise never be in the room.
Konieka Davis, Board Member.
Konieka brings more than 15 years of experience in banking, finance, and leadership — a career dedicated to helping individuals, families, and businesses reach their financial goals while leading with integrity and compassion.
Deeply family-oriented, Konieka understands firsthand that life's challenges don't define us — they help shape us. Having overcome obstacles of her own, she knows the value of resilience, encouragement, and having someone believe in your potential.
She joined the Foundation to help create opportunities that empower others through education, entrepreneurship, technology, mentorship, and career exploration — grounded in the belief that every person deserves access to the resources and relationships that can change the course of their future.
"Changing lives begins with creating opportunities — and every opportunity has the power to become someone's success story."
Elizabeth G. Faust, MD, Board Member.
Dr. Faust is a board-certified psychiatrist and the founder of Living Well Integrative Health in Johnston, Iowa, a practice built around integrative psychiatry and lifestyle medicine.
Dr. Faust's career began as a U.S. Navy flight surgeon and continued through nearly six years with the Department of Veterans Affairs Women's Clinic, specializing in PTSD and leading a multidisciplinary team serving female veterans. There, Dr. Faust created a Veterans Parenting Class — an eight-week program based on the evidence-based Circle of Security model — to help combat veterans build secure bonds with their children and interrupt the effects of intergenerational trauma.
As an assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Iowa's Carver College of Medicine, Dr. Faust taught and mentored residents, medical students, and nurse practitioners — including four of five consecutive residents. Earlier roles include chief psychiatrist at Group Health Cooperative (now Kaiser). Dr. Faust earned an MD at Texas A&M Health Science Center, completed psychiatry training at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and is bilingual in English and Spanish.
Additional board members and advisors are joining as the Foundation completes its incorporation and 501(c)(3) determination.
First-Year Goals
What success looks like in year one.
Incorporate and obtain 501(c)(3) status.
Establish governance, bylaws, and policies.
Formalize Founder Series programming.
Launch student-focused career and entrepreneurship initiatives.
Deliver technology and AI literacy programming.
Develop a mentor and speaker network.
Secure initial sponsorships, donations, and grant opportunities.
Build strategic partnerships with schools, community organizations, employers, and entrepreneurs.
Get Involved