Building Tech that Lets Black Women be ‘Safe, Seen and Supported’

Published on September 05, 2025

Mother of four receives boost from pilot startup program.

When Neshé Conley and her family moved to Charlotte in June 2023, just two weeks after giving birth to her fourth child, she was looking for more than a change of scenery. She was seeking a community. 

“Living in Texas was great before we became parents,” Conley said. “But once I had children, having a support circle became a need, not a luxury.”

That personal shift led to a professional calling. As a public health expert, Conley had long understood the systemic gaps in maternal care for women of color, but it was her own lived experience with miscarriage, delayed preeclampsia, and racial bias in the delivery room that inspired her to act.

“My own maternal journey was filled with pain, loss and moments when my voice wasn’t heard,” Conley said. “What hurt the most wasn’t just the health complications — it was feeling dismissed, silenced and unsupported in some of the most vulnerable moments of my life.”

Today, she is the founder and CEO of Ebony Women Health Corp and the creator of EchoHer, an AI-powered storytelling and data platform designed to capture and amplify the voices of Black and Brown women navigating maternal healthcare systems.

“Entrepreneurship became my way of building what I wish I had,” Conley said. “Instead of measuring outcomes solely by survival rates, we collect narrative data from Women of Color — capturing how they feel during their healthcare journeys — and translate these stories into actionable insights for hospitals, clinics and policymakers.” 

By equipping institutions with data that reflect lived experiences, EchoHer is creating systems where mothers feel safe, seen and supported.

A Stage for Startups 

Conley was one of eight founders selected to pitch at the gALPHA Charlotte Summer Showcase, held at the CO LAB at the UNC Charlotte Center on Aug. 19. The showcase marked the culmination of the second cohort of gALPHA Charlotte, a four-week venture-creation accelerator funded by the City of Charlotte through a pilot and powered by gener8tor. Nineteen founders completed the summer cohort. 

gALPHA is designed to help early-stage founders go from idea to prototype with expert coaching, mentoring and networking. For Conley, who came into the program unsure about the right business model for EchoHer, the experience provided clarity and confidence. 

“I’m a public health expert, not a business expert,” she said. “gALPHA gave me the strategic foundation I needed.”

Conley is a perfect example of the kind of innovative, mission-driven talent choosing to build in Charlotte, said Shahid “Sha” Rana, director of the City of Charlotte Economic Development Department. 

“The city wants to ensure that founders like Neshé aren’t just welcomed but supported in turning their vision into real-world impact,” Rana said.

Conley is in good company. The other seven founders pitched innovations ranging from healthcare equity to AI-powered friendship platforms:

• Enjolie Bush, Sovereign Sisters: A platform creating a regenerative ecosystem to support Black and Brown women entrepreneurs.
• Toren deRosa, Crowntown Calendar: A centralized, searchable hub for Charlotte’s events to simplify the city’s social scene.
• Adolfo Jimenez, Rent A Bot: A marketplace connecting assisted living centers with rentable humanoid robots to make advanced tech more accessible.
• Aleksandra Stein, Freeze Out Hunger: A food justice solution that freeze dries perishable food donations to extend shelf life and fight waste.
• Shawn Thomas, Helagen: An AI tool to address inequities in clinical trial recruitment by improving representation and streamlining patient matching.
• Meka Walker, Walker Pyles Receivables Management: An AI-powered service helping companies modernize their cash collection systems.
• Deanne Wingate, Social Marinade: A platform combating isolation among women over 40 by fostering intentional, in-person friendships.

Looking Ahead: A New Model for Maternal Care

EchoHer is in its final development phase, with a public soft launch planned this fall. The platform will have two core components: a community app where mothers can safely share their stories and access resources and a data dashboard for healthcare organizations to translate narrative data into actionable improvements.

Conley’s work has earned critical early backing. Earlier this year, UnitedHealth Care provided $329,000 in funding to support the platform’s development, community programming, and team expansion. Additionally, Mecklenburg County Public Health has partnered with Ebony Women Health through its Mothers and Babies and Triple P Level 4 programs to focus on improving maternal and child health.

With plans to expand EchoHer’s reach beyond Charlotte next year, Conley sees a future where culturally competent care isn’t the exception — it’s the norm.

“Our mission isn’t just to reduce harm,” she said. “It’s to build a future where Black and Brown women don’t just survive motherhood — they thrive through it.”