Sumaya Kazi (Bengali: সুমাইয়া কাজী, born July 17, 1982) is an American entrepreneur.[1] At the age of 23, Kazi founded her first company The CulturalConnect.[2] She later founded and was the CEO of San Francisco-based technology company Sumazi, a social intelligence platform used by brands, celebrities and enterprises. Kazi held one of the first social media management positions at a Fortune 500 company leading social media at Sun Microsystems until its acquisition by Oracle.[3]
Upon graduation, Kazi worked at Sun Microsystems where she was the senior social media manager for the Global Communications division. Kazi, one of the first social media managers at a Fortune 500 company, was responsible for developing programs to capture, expand and socialize new and evolving media, analyst and influencer communities.[6]
While working at Sun Microsystems, at the age of 23, Kazi founded her first company The CulturalConnect, an online media company for young professionals aimed at redefining what success looks like in different ethnic diasporas.[7] The CulturalConnect was made up of five online publications including: The DesiConnect, The MidEastConnect, The AsiaConnect, The AfricanaConnect, and The LatinConnect.
In April 2011, Sumaya founded Sumazi, the social intelligence platform used by brands, celebrities and enterprises. Sumazi was a finalist at the TechCrunch Disrupt Startup Battlefield, where it won the Omidyar Network award for "Startup Most Likely to Change the World."[8]
Awards, press and honors
2006: BusinessWeek Magazine, America's Best Young Entrepreneurs Under 25[9]
Kazi is a Salsa and Bachatadancer. She was a competitive Salsa dancer with the RicaSalsa San Francisco-based dance troupe where they won 1st place at the United States Salsa Open Championships in the Amateur category.[24]