Fearless and relentless — An interview with Entrepreneur Anita Darden Gardyne
In our interview series with leaders, the GUILD interviewed remarkable women with inspiring stories, insights and points of view in order to bring their stories to you.
In this interview we are highlighting Anita Daren Gardyne, CEO of Oneva. Read how she became an entrepreneur solving access to quality care.
Learn about her path and her advice for entrepreneurs on their way of solving big problems they are passionate about.
My passion for startups began when I had the privilege of attending UC Berkeley at age 15 in 1978 thanks to a high school program targeting inclusive students like me. I took an economics class and fell in love. I learned about disparities across groups and decided to spend my career focused on how to give people who look like me access to large numbers of good paying jobs that couldn’t be exported.
The Bay Area was an expensive place to live in 1978 and I imagined it worsening greatly as baby boomers aged. I stayed at Cal for 10 years, working my way through undergrad and grad as a Telecommunications Engineer, earning a BA with Double Majors in Economics and “Economics in the Black Community” in 1986 and an MBA from UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business in 1988.
Joining AT&T’s Executive training Program right out of MBA school allowed a great entry into management positions at companies like A&T, Quantum and Levi Strauss.
What inspired me to launch Onēva was my frustrations in finding trusted care through existing marketplaces in 2014. Access to trusted care is a human right and so is earning a living rate for delivering quality, professional care.
Nobody can live earning $9.91 per hour and that’s what the average caregiver earns in this country.
Offering care as an Employer Provided Benefit is the path we chose to connect great caregivers to the customers they seek. Doing so also achieves my personal mission of extending women’s careers, closing the pay equity gap faster and creating thousands of living wage jobs.
The top three milestones we reached since we started the company:
I credit our team of advisors for Onēva’s success including Fernando Hernandez, Microsoft — Director Supplier Diversity. Hernandez oversees $4B in inclusive supplier spending and has served as an Onēva Advisor since 2015.
I received the 2020 Women in Leadership Award by the California State Assembly.
I was awarded a patent for Creating Trust in the In-Home Care Market, by the United States Patent Technology Office (USOTO).
Onēva tech platform is growing rapidly, with an exclusive partnership with Acrisure Filice for distribution of Onēva Concierge Care from 2 to 1500 employee companies for 9 Bay Area counties plus 4 adjacent ones, so even small businesses can access the same Voluntary Benefits that San Francisco Microsoft employees have enjoyed since 2017.
My best advice for minority founders who want to raise funding is becoming a Certified Minority Business Enterprise and having a great team of advisors. Onēva’s success is credited to out fearless advisors.
What it means to be a black woman in this industry is having an unwavering strength and relentless approach to pursuing your dreams without fear of the obstacles in your path.
To nurture my network I focus on collaboration. We’re very proud to be working and collaborate with such a diverse group of inspiring women every day.
My hope for the future is that everyone be offered access to the Onēva Concierge Care Platform because connecting to trusted care is more important now than ever. We are thrilled that employees at Microsoft and other amazing firms are able to access trusted care as Voluntary Benefits Programs and look forward to the day when smaller employers and even individual consumers gain the same access.
Self-care is something I am just not good at. In this moment, my focus is to take the time to rest and practice better hand washing and other skills I learned as a child. I am being mindful that as a leader, others are reacting to my actions and behaviors so remaining cool and calm in face of stress and the unknown we are all experiencing is the best I can offer.
About Anita:
Anita Darden Gardyne began her journey breaking the glass ceiling in corporate America. Prior to co-founding Onēva Inc. in 2014, she held numerous management positions in technology, finance and strategic planning at AT&T, University of California, Berkeley, Levi Strauss & Co, Quantum, and IDG. Anita earned her MBA from UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business in 1988 and a BA from UC Berkeley with Majors in Economics and & Economics in the Black Community in 1986.
Anita lives in Oakland with her husband of 33 years, and Onēva co-founder, Bob Gardyne and their two children. Anita’s frustrations finding trusted care through existing marketplaces compelled her to launch Onēva. Doing so also achieves her personal mission of extending women’s careers, closing the pay equity gap faster through FBI background checked care and creating thousands of living wage jobs.
For more stories like this, please follow us at https://medium.com/theguilded
