Tanya Van Court
Tanya Van Court | |
|---|---|
| Born | |
| Education | Stanford University |
| Occupation | CEO |
| Known for | Founder and CEO of Goalsetter |
Tanya Van Court is an American businesswoman who is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Goalsetter, a financial education platform designed to educate kids about financial responsibility.
Early life and education
Van Court grew up in Oakland, California.[1] At age 6, her mother died from a brain aneurysm, and Van Court and her siblings went to live with her aunt, who taught her about Black history and STEM.[1]
In 1994, Van Count earned a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering from Stanford University.[2] She earned her master's degree, also in industrial engineering, from Stanford in 2001.[3]
Career
Van Court worked as a vice president of business development for Covad Communications.[2] When Covad went public in January of 2000, her stock shares in the company became valued at over a million dollars.[4] Van Court held on to her stocks and due to the effects of the dot-com bubble, Covad went bankrupt the next year, wiping out her gains.[4] She has also worked as an executive for both ESPN and Nickelodeon,[5] as well as senior vice president of marketing for Discovery Education.[6]
When her daughter turned 9, she asked for an "investment account and a bike" for her birthday, giving Van Court the idea to start an app to help teach kids about financial technology, or fintech.[7] In 2016, she launched the app Goalsetter as a way to introduce the topic to children.[8] Van Court has stated her hopes that providing financial education will help address the racial wealth gap present in America, citing a 2019 Federal Reserve report that found the "typical white family has eight times the wealth of the typical Black family".[7][9] Goalsetter was also featured on the television program Shark Tank.[10]
Van Court recounts the difficulty in finding traditional investors and was told Goalsetter was "uninvestable".[8] She describes having more success as a Black-owned business after the murder of George Floyd, receiving $3.9 million in seed money.[8] In 2021, NBA stars Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, and Andre Drummond singed on as investors.[11] Despite the investment, Van Count observed that "we were raising a fraction of what our counterparts were".[4]
References
- ^ a b Long, Ariama C. (February 15, 2023). "'Closing the Gap' with Black fintech creator Tanya Van Court". New York Amsterdam News. Retrieved July 20, 2025.
- ^ a b King, W.B. (April 4, 2024). "Turning Setbacks Into Opportunities: Tanya Van Court's Resilient Journey". finopotamus.com. Retrieved July 20, 2025.
- ^ Gibson, Christine (April 8, 2025). "Mastercard: Financial Freedom 101: This Bootcamp Taught Students To Take Control of Their Finances". 3blmedia.com. Retrieved July 20, 2025.
- ^ a b c "Most Influential Women in Fintech". American Banker. May 8, 2023. Retrieved July 20, 2025.
- ^ Crook, Jordan (January 25, 2021). "Goalsetter raises $3.9 million to teach financial literacy to kids". TechCrunch. Retrieved July 21, 2025.
- ^ Jackson, Charreah K. (October 27, 2020). "ESSENCE Network: A Startup Founder Shares How to Raise and Save Funds For Your Dreams". Essence. Retrieved July 23, 2025.
- ^ a b Gaines, Patrice (November 26, 2020). "This app is helping Black families to save instead of spend on Black Friday". NBCNews.com. Retrieved July 20, 2025.
- ^ a b c Davis, Dominic-Madori (November 10, 2021). "The VC landscape is dire for Black women. 7 Black women who have raised millions in funding reveal their best fundraising advice". Business Insider. Retrieved July 22, 2025.
- ^ "Women in Technology: Goalsetter's Tanya Van Court". The WIE Suite. February 7, 2025. Retrieved July 20, 2025.
- ^ Rosario, Sarah (April 27, 2022). "Making financial literacy class fun with popular app Goalsetter". WTSP. Retrieved July 23, 2025.
- ^ Oluwadara, Stephen (March 25, 2024). "Tanya Van Court's Goalsetter Raises $9.6 Million Series A Funding Extension". UrbanGeekz.com. Retrieved July 22, 2025.