STARTUP BACKGROUND

Christa Freeland has built and helped start multiple companies and communities driven by her eye for unique applications and implications of new technology.

She is an entrepreneur and Managing Director at Powershift Group, a startup studio that founds, funds, and grows early-stage companies. Christa scouts for opportunities to buy, build, or partner for new technologies in the Powershift portfolio. In 2015, she created a young professional's networking app called The Dime Club. In 2016, she started a coworking operation called Switch Cowork, that turns under-utilized restaurants into shared work spaces. She is a Project Entrepreneur 2017 alumna, a UBS and Rent the Runway intensive program in NYC that supports female founders.

Most recently in 2018, Christa joined the Forbes Business Council, and became a judge for the Austin Under 40 Awards. She was also part of the founding participant group for the invitation-only, high-tech division, "Emerging REALITY", a week long young leadership initiative hosted in Israel by the Schusterman Foundation. Other affiliations include Austin’s Mayor Steve Adler Re-Election, and the Austin Asian Chamber of Commerce.

GOVERNMENT SERVICE

Christa has been recognized by Austin's Mayor Steve Adler for her service and work within the local government on two separate occasions. In 2017 she was asked to be the first official social media ambassador for the City of Austin and was invited to join their exclusive CityWorks Academy. There, she met with the heads of each major department in the local government and gained insider access to better understand city operations.

In 2016 she was the youngest appointment to a seven person committee for the City of Austin's Grant for Technology Opportunities Program. There, she advised the Technology and Telecommunications Commission on how to spend a $250k fund on a portfolio of nonprofits addressing technology accessibility.

TIMELINE

Showing intuition, ambition, and talent for technology and communications early in her life, Christa started creating websites in 2003. At age 16 she took on leadership roles in the high school yearbook staff, winning awards in layout design and feature stories.

She has now worked in a variety of organizations including non-profit, lifestyle, agency, political campaigns, and startup. Christa has stayed up-to-date on industry trends by regularly attending the following events: World Entrepreneur of the Year, Forbes Under 30, EY's Strategic Growth Forum, Microsoft Convergence, and SXSW Interactive.

FEATURES

Christa has enjoyed speaking at The University of Texas at Austin, Texas State University, 3 Day Startup, and AmeriCorps. She has been mentioned over 20 times in print and online, local and national publications such as Forbes, Entrepreneur, Huffington Post, CIO, WeWork Blog, and more.