Natalie Madeira Cofield

CEO & Founder, Walker's Legacy

Washington, D.C.

Natalie Madeira Cofield is Founder of Walker’s Legacy, an organization she created to inspire, equip and empower professional and enterprising women. Cofield’s began her career working three jobs in high school, she started her first company at 26, growing to become a three-time CEO by age 30.

A millennial that found inspiration at the nexus of business, community and politics, Cofield has carved a niche for herself as a serial entrepreneur, advocate, and speaker on all things start-up and diversity. As an advocate, Cofield has served as the youngest person to testify before the US Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship and authored the Pursuit of Entrepreneurship: A Guide for African American Entrepreneurs.

Her work has been featured in CNN, NYTimes, FastCompany, Forbes, BusinessInsider, Black Enterprise, Essence and Ebony among others. In 2015 Cofield was named one of the 100 Most Influential African Americans in the America by The Root 100. In 2013 Cofield was named the Technology Diversity Evangelist of the Year by Google and one of the Top 10 Black Innovators by MVMT50, an initiative of South by Southwest. In 2013 she was featured on the cover of Black Enterprise.

Cofield is a graduate of Howard University and the Baruch School of Public Affairs in New York. An honors Information Systems graduate from the Howard University School of Business, Cofield has spoken for global technology companies including IBM, Dell, Applied Materials, Google, and Facebook among others.