Women Nation Fund announces first beneficiaries
Live Nation’s Women Nation Fund has announced the three beneficiaries of its round of funding.
Tina Farris Tours, which handles tour management for the likes of the Roots, Lil Wayne, Black Eyed Peas and Chris Rock, Conscious City Guide, an online platform which promotes events that ‘foster awareness’ of community, the self or the planet, and Kingdom of Mind, a California-based events production and promotions business, are the first to receive investment from the Women Nation Fund, an early-stage investment fund designed to provide resources and capital for women in live entertainment, which launched last May.
“Getting artists out on the road in front of their fans has been the heart and soul of Tina Farris Tours for over a decade, and I know Live Nation believes in this mission, which is why I’m so honoured to have their support,” comments Farris, who also runs a women’s mentoring group, Decades.
Conscious City Guide, co-founded by Mel Nahas and Kiki Falconer, has featured more than 12,000 events, and also offers ticketing services. Comments Nahas: “As more people than ever seek out IRL [in-real-life] experiences, Conscious City Guide is here to unite intentional creators and seekers so we can improve ourselves and our communities. It’s clear that Live Nation created the Women Nation Fund because they care about elevating the community through live events, and we’re extremely grateful to have their support.”
“By backing these women, we hope to help them grow their companies in new directions”
Kingdom of Mind founder Isabella Kelly, who has produced benefit concerts and events for colleges and universities, says: “At Kingdom of Mind we’re curating unique events that bring talent to cities they might not have visited on a typical tour route. To have the world’s largest live entertainment company not only believing in, but also investing in, this model is a dream opportunity and will help us create some incredibly memorable live shows for artists and fans.”
“We started the Women Nation Fund to help expand the pool of female entrepreneurs in the live music space, and this first group of female founders we are investing in is incredibly impressive, diverse and ambitious,” comments Michael Rapino, Live Nation’s president and CEO.
“By backing these women, we hope to help them grow their companies in new directions and set the stage for even more women to lead the future of live.”
The Women Nation Fund accepts applications on a rolling basis. To learn more, or apply, visit womennationfund.livenation.com.
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Ali Harnell named president of LN’s Women Nation
Live Nation has announced that former AEG Presents executive, Ali Harnell, has joined the company to spearhead women’s initiatives as president and chief strategy officer of the newly created division, Women Nation.
Harnell, Venue Today’s Woman of Influence and a five-time Billboard Women in Music honouree, will lead strategy and efforts – both internal and external – to advance and support women in the live music business, as well as creating and developing female-led and female-driven content.
The new Women Nation president will look to expand on existing Live Nation women’s initiatives, forge partnerships with industry groups, drive research and work to level the playing field for women in the live music industry.
“I am truly excited to dive into this new venture where I can combine my experience and relationships with my passion to help drive this historical and aspirational time of change for women,” comments Harnell.
“Ali’s decades of experience and insight into the opportunities and challenges for women in the live music business make her a powerful champion for the women of Live Nation”
Live Nation says the company is dedicated to finding ways to serve and empower its female staff, who make up 45% of its employee base. Existing programs targeted to women include employee-led group 21 chapters of We Nation, the gender-balanced career development programme, Future Nature, and the Women Nation Fund, an investment fund designed to provide capital to female entrepreneurs in the promotions and events industry.
“Ali’s decades of experience and insight into the opportunities and challenges for women in the live music business make her a powerful champion for the women of Live Nation,” says Live Nation chief executive and president, Michael Rapino. “Our goal is to work together to find scalable ways to empower the women at our company, and across the industry as a whole.”
Twice-named International Entertainment Buyers Association promoter of the year, Harnell joins Live Nation from AEG Presents, where she held the position of senior vice president of global touring. Previously, she worked as senior vice president for AEG/The Messina Group, where she oversaw operations and talent buying in the US southeast and co-created and curated talent for UK-based country music festival, Country2Country.
Harnell will report to Rapino and Bob Roux, president of US concerts. She will be based in Nashville and Los Angeles.
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