Jacki Zehner joins Uplevyl (Austin, TX and Park City, UT) to help build an AI-informed social platform designed to amplify women’s voices, privacy, and leadership in the digital age.
Jacquelyn "Jacki" Zehner, best known as the first female trader and youngest woman to make partner at Goldman Sachs, is stepping into the future of social tech. Zehner was recently appointed as Chief Engagement Officer at Uplevyl, a women-centric social media platform from Austin and Park City, Utah-based Uplevyl, a generative AI platform built to amplify women's voices in the digital age.
Founded in 2021 by former Alphabet and Ford executive Shubhi Rao, Uplevyl is a subscription-based AI-based social media platform that rejects ad-driven models in favor of user privacy, safety, and community-driven engagement. Its mission is to give women a secure digital space to share, connect, and lead—especially in tech and leadership circles where they remain underrepresented.
“We’re not another platform built on data extraction,” said Rao. “We’re building a space where women feel safe, respected, and heard—without fear of trolling or surveillance.”
Zehner's journey from the trading floor to impact investing underscores a deep commitment to women’s empowerment. After leaving Goldman Sachs in 2002, she co-founded Women Moving Millions, a global philanthropic network focused on advancing gender equity. She has since invested in more than 20 women-led companies, including LearnVest, a fintech startup later acquired for $350 million.
"I met Alexa von Tobel — who would go on to found LearnVest, author a New York Times bestseller, and lead Inspired Capital, a near-billion-dollar VC firm — when she just had a business plan," Zehner recalled. "That investment changed everything—it made me realize the power of putting capital behind women early."
Now, her focus is on tech, particularly generative AI, where female founders are still scarce. “It’s been hard to find women building in this space,” she said. “When I met Shubhi and saw what she was building, I knew it was different.”
Rao, a seasoned leader in both tech and finance, was inspired to create Uplevyl after encountering a stark data void. “While working on large-scale fintech projects at Google, I asked if we had gender-specific data,” she said. “The answer was no. That’s when it hit me: without that data, AI will simply reinforce existing biases.”
In 2020, she began assembling gender-aware data sets and building a platform from the ground up with safety and inclusivity in mind. Uplevyl’s flagship product, Up, launched its beta at Sundance in 2023 and has since expanded with recent soft launches in London and Salt Lake City.
Unlike typical social platforms, Up is designed to avoid the pitfalls of engagement-driven algorithms. It prioritizes privacy, verified users, and curated conversations—especially around topics like leadership, health, and wealth. The platform uses AI not to manipulate feeds but to elevate underrepresented voices.
Rao’s commitment is personal. Her father immigrated to the U.S. on a cargo ship from India, painting the vessel as it docked to earn passage. That legacy of determination fuels her work today.
“Technology is shaping the future,” she said. “If women are left out of that process, they’ll be left behind economically. I’m here to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
Zehner shares that urgency. “The work is far from done,” she said. “But every investment in a female founder, every platform that elevates women’s voices, gets us closer to real systemic change.”
With Zehner’s experience and Rao’s vision, Uplevyl is staking a claim in the growing movement to reclaim tech for women—by women.
For more information and to check out Up, visit uplevyl.com, or scan QR code below:
