Maria Odiamar Racho

CEO, Kapwa Capital

Maria Odiamar Racho is CEO of an Organizational Effectiveness and Fractional Executive Consulting Firm and a Venture Capitalist. Her career spans three decades in Fortune 100 financial services with roles spanning from sales to technology to HR and finance. Maria is a network builder and open innovation expert. She founded intrapreneurs@allstate (i@a), which grew to over 800 employees and became a corporate incubator. i@a ran internal “shark tanks” and startup challenges, contributing to the $44B corporation’s external recognition as one of Fortune’s 2023 Most Innovative Companies.

After founding the corporate incubator, Maria delved further into the startup world mentoring, investing, and founding a VC firm and angel investment syndicate. Her passion and focus is on investing in underserved (yet overperforming) founders, and in opening doors for under-represented communities to learn and have access to investing opportunities to build generational wealth.

Maria holds an Executive Master of Science in Organizational Development from Pepperdine University, where she later had the honor to serve as adjunct faculty. Maria is a published researcher and speaker on Asian American leadership. She is a National ACE Ambassador and serves on the board of Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Chicago. In January 2023, she was appointed to the Women’s Business Ownership Council by Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker.

Rooted in her Filipino heritage, Maria migrated to the U.S. when she was just two. Embracing both her Filipino and American identities, she maintains a profound connection to her birthplace. Maria’s personal journey is enriched by her marriage to her childhood sweetheart, their two loving sons, and an extended family the size of a small village.