Jamie McDonald is the CEO of UpSurge Baltimore in Baltimore, Maryland! An initiative that started in April of last year 2021 tapping into Baltimore's assets to build more than the next great tech city. The goal is to fill a gap in Baltimore's economy by accelerating the local tech economy, building the country's first Equitech city and by 2030 they are going to be the world's deepest ecosystem of inclusive tech companies. Jamie is a city kid from downtown South Philly, growing up in the Rocky era she remember him running through streets while filming and her hands might have had a cameo in the movie. She and her sisters grew up with a single mother and remembers starting her first business when she was 9 years old, holding tumbling classes for little kids at the local YMCA. She attended a small college in Philly and went to Cornell for graduate school with a teaching assistant-ship. That was her stepping stone to her investment banking life at Alex Brown a big investment bank in Baltimore. She was a Managing Director by 29 years old and spent over 17 years at Alex Brown becoming Co-Head of the Private Equity coverage group working with Venture Capitalist and Leverage Buy Out funds. Afterwards she decided to go into the entrepreneurial world and started and sold several businesses. Jamie advised startups, social movements, and was involved with a group of tech in Baltimore until UpSurge Baltimore was created. She shares how none of this would be possible without the amazing team and local support, and having the right people involved - they brought Techstars to Baltimore! They believe it first starts with the parents, they are helping kids one parent at a time. She mentions the multi-faceted approach on how Baltimore is building the nations first Equitech city, you cannot afford to miss it!

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