Emma Willis
Venture Noire
At the intersection of technology and community is where you’ll find Emma Willis. Whether overseeing a fintech startup or volunteering with technical development for a group of black-owned venture studios, Willis’ ability to tap into the connectivity of tech is always at the forefront. And that’s something that often gets overlooked – tech’s ability to connect people to resources and opportunities that enhance communities at all levels.
Willis’ journey to this point has been deeply rooted in The Natural State. She’s an alumnus of Philander Smith College, was former senior strategist with Little Rock agency MHP/Team SI and has worked for numerous years with Junior Achievement of Arkansas and Junior Achievement of NWA. As the former executive director of Arkansas 529, Willis launched Gift Arkansas 529, the first state-run 529 plan app in the country. Soon after, she joined the team at Venture Noire as COO, while continuing to call Northwest Arkansas home.
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The C-Suite: That place where most of us strive to be when we launch a career. Referring to the cluster of top-level executive positions within most companies — chief executive officer (CEO), chief operating officer (COO), chief financial officer (CFO) and chief information officer (CIO) — the C-Suite entails hard work, high stress and long hours. But the rewards can be substantial.
AMP asked readers to tell us who their favorite C-Suite executives were. Their titles may not precisely reflect “CEO” or any of the others, but their roles do. This isn’t a “best of” or a “top executives” list; but it’s a way to recognize many of those business executives in Arkansas whose hard work makes The Natural State a great place to live and work.
Click here to see the full 2022 AMP C-Suite!
