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Hello {{ first name | friends}},
It’s hard to think back to when I wasn’t aware of Isvari Maranwe’s voice on LinkedIn. She’s one of the people I rely on for well-researched, well-attributed and well-informed perspectives on the issues of the day, and her content makes me think. I have long admired her work with the Sentinel and what I’ve heard about Yuvoice,. I’m delighted to feature her important work here today. Please meet Isvari…
Isvari, tell me briefly about your background prior to founding Yuvoice
I am an award-winning national security and cybersecurity attorney with experience across big law, the U.S. government, and more. I also have a background in international law and policy analysis. Prior to that, I researched in particle physics at CERN and in supernova cosmology at Lawrence Berkeley Lab. I am also a journalist, policy analyst, and influencer with >350K followers across socials. In addition to the Sentinel and Yuvoice, I cofounded the international mentorship nonprofit Dweebs Global.
Give me the elevator pitch for Yuvoice
Yuvoice is the social marketplace that rewards users for tangible impact. We are a pro-democracy, diverse-led platform that is an ethical alternative to social media.
And in more detail?
Yuvoice is the social marketplace that rewards users for tangible impact.
Our patent-pending, AI-backed algorithm awards "impact crypto" karma points for accomplishing goals in moderated communities. Our community marketplace is a one-stop shop for movement-building, product sales, and donor/investment acquisition. With an innovative growth model, corporate sponsorship opportunities, and Web-3 tokenization of our karma currency, we have cracked the secret to making activism profitable.
Proof of Concept: 60%+ of GenZ view current social media as negative and outrage-driven, and we have 45K+ pre-launch newsletter subscribers eager for a new platform. Our pilot MVP had an 80% task completion rate and over 10% of our users performed 40+ hours (high involvement) of volunteering in communities they built.
What inequity were you trying to redress/address, and why is this important?
Current social media is broken. It is squashing millions of Black and Brown voices, while also driving a generation into loneliness and addiction. On top of that, it has a bad user experience due to being excessively ad-driven and more about content creation than making a true community or creating impact. Now it's boosting AI in the most unethical ways possible. We address all those issues while also empowering superheroes to fix literally every other problem in the world from animal rights to criminal justice reform.
How’s it going? What has the response been?
It is actually going really well. The general public seems very excited about a potential new platform and there is a lot of need for a marketplace that makes launching movements, nonprofits, and small businesses easy. I have been fortunate to also get interest from traditional investors, even in the AI and crypto space, as we are about tokenizing and rewarding users for impact.
Yuvoice has closed our lead angel round for the entire $1M with the amazing Cummings Foundation. Gratitude and thanks to inspirational director and mental health champion Davena Longshore who believes in Yuvoice's potential to change social media and the world for the better.
Closing a $1M angel round pre-product is basically unheard of, let alone for a woman of color.
What’s next for Yuvoice?
We are finishing up the product, beta testing, and starting a phased rollout this year!
In relation to racism, what is your vision for the future?
We need true equality and true justice. This means that the future has to be led by people who haven't had the opportunity to do so: Black and Brown people especially those doubly marginalized by gender, sexual orientation, disability, or frankly, living in America. I want people who have deep in-built bias to start challenging it and admitting how it impacts their work and lives unfairly. I want people with all types of privilege to use it to help others.
Is there anything I haven't asked you that you'd like to add?
I would also like to highlight the incredible citizen journalism network and on-the-ground news we cover at The Sentinel, by Yuvoice.
I’m excited to see what’s next for this exciting and necessary project. You can connect with Isvari on LinkedIn, on the Yuvoice website, and on TikTok.
Thanks for reading,
Sharon
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© Sharon Hurley Hall, 2026. All Rights Reserved.
Sharon Hurley Hall is an anti-racism educator, author of I’m Tired of Racism, and founder of the SHHARE anti-racism community and of Sharon’s Anti-Racism Newsletter, which provides tools and lived experiences to fuel systemic change. A seasoned professional writer and journalist, she leverages over 30 years of experience to mentor introverted leaders, and is co-founder and co-host of the Introvert Sisters Podcast. Her recent work focuses on helping Black and Global Majority women achieve high-impact visibility and professional influence without the exhaustion of performing extroversion.