First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom, Senate President pro Tem Monique Limón celebrate women founders leading innovation in California
The F5 Collective shares a similar mission of closing the gap by operating as an investment firm for small to mid-sized women-owned businesses. They connect those brands with customers to help boost sales. 10% of those sales are then put into grants for women around the world.
“Today, we don’t just honor eleven remarkable women. We honor a truth about California. The future is built here by people who choose to stay, who choose to build,” said Kelly Kimball, Chairman and Founding Partner, F5 Collective and member of the California Women’s Wealth Advisory Council. “While some headlines talk about departure, these women remind us why the world still arrives here. Creativity, audacity, resilience, and a belief that change starts now, and starts here.”
Expanding economic pathways for women
Supporting businesswomen in California means supporting the health of the economy. According to the California Chamber of Commerce, women currently own nearly 40% of all businesses in California, adding about $580 billion in revenue between 2019 and 2023.
Despite these positive numbers, there is still work to be done. Women continue to face barriers to wealth creation. They receive a fraction of venture funding, remain underrepresented in asset management, and hold a smaller share of total business and household wealth. By designing financial systems that are inclusive from the start, California aims to model a more resilient and equitable economy.
As the United States is entering the largest intergenerational wealth transfer in modern history, with an estimated $84 trillion to $124 trillion expected to change hands over the next two decades. California is home to a dynamic venture ecosystem and a global innovation economy, which will play a central role in how that capital moves.
Building on California’s leadership
In 2025, First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom launched the California Women’s Wealth Advisory Council to expand the Golden State’s commitment to equity and access at every stage of economic life. Building on her work to advance pay equity and financial literacy, while uplifting women’s voices, the Council expands that commitment toward broader inclusion and wealth creation for women across the state.
In March 2026, in partnership with the Council, Governor Newsom issued an executive order to expand opportunities for women and their families to build wealth and fully participate in California’s world-leading economy.
Since the launch of the California Equal Pay Pledge in 2019, hundreds of companies, organizations, and municipalities have committed to conducting annual gender pay analyses, reducing bias in hiring, and advancing equitable promotion practices. The First Partner strengthened that work through the release of The Equal Pay Playbook, a data-driven guide that helps employers implement fair pay strategies that attract talent, foster innovation, and strengthen performance.
First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom, in partnership with California Partners Project and Stanford University, released the Board Culture Playbook in 2024, designed to help companies increase and retain the number of women, particularly women of color, on their boards of directors. The free resource is the second in a series of Playbooks that started with the Board Diversity Playbook. These resources were co-created with Stanford’s VMware Women’s Leadership Innovation Lab, with additional support from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Additionally, California has taken significant steps to expand access to financial literacy. In June 2024, Governor Newsom signed Assembly Bill 2927, requiring California public high schools, including charter schools, to offer a one-semester personal finance course beginning in the 2027–28 school year. Starting with the class of 2030–31, completion of this course will be a graduation requirement. Schools may allow the new course to fulfill the existing semester-long economics requirement.
This landmark step ensures every California student leaves high school with a foundation in budgeting, banking, credit, loans, and investing, skills essential to building and sustaining wealth. As the First Partner has noted, financial literacy is fundamental to equity, empowering young women and men alike to become confident investors, entrepreneurs, and decision-makers.
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