Nadyli Nuñez

Nadyli is responsible for steering Ascender’s vision and direction by empowering the team, overseeing day-to-day operations, fundraising, and building strategic partnerships.
Nadyli cares deeply about creating opportunities and pathways for others to realize their potential.
As the daughter of Dominican immigrant parents and growing up in Harlem (NYC), she learned how mentorship could change people’s trajectories.
As a result, Nadyli dedicates her time to helping others launch and grow their business.
Nadyli is the executive director of Ascender, a hub that helps entrepreneurs start and build their companies through education, mentorship, and coworking community.
She also serves on the advisory board for SXSW Pitch which identifies promising startups worldwide and connects them to experts, talent, and investors.
Additionally, Nadyli is on the Community Forge Advisory Board, an organization building an equitable economy for Wilkinsburg and Greater Pittsburgh through entrepreneurship.
Before her time at Ascender, Nadyli was the director of UpPrize BNY Mellon Social Innovation Challenge, a platform attracting solutions improving nonprofit operations and underserved communities.
She also spent time at Capital BlueCross, transforming how the health insurance company reimburses and partners with providers to improve long-term health outcomes.
At Reed Smith LLP, she assisted in the change management and global go-live of the industry’s first engagement planning and management platform, Thomson Reuters Elite’s 3E.
Nadyli came to Pittsburgh to graduate from Carnegie Mellon University with a degree in Decision Science, grounded in psychology, economics, and management science.
She also received a minor in Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
In 2017, The Pittsburgh Business Times recognized her as one of Pittsburgh’s “30 under 30”.