Tanya Van Court

Last updated
Tanya Van Court
Born
Oakland, California
Education Stanford University
Occupation CEO
Known forFounder 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.

Contents

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 signed on as investors. [11] Despite the investment, Van Count observed that "we were raising a fraction of what our counterparts were". [4]

References

  1. 1 2 Long, Ariama C. (February 15, 2023). "'Closing the Gap' with Black fintech creator Tanya Van Court". New York Amsterdam News . Retrieved July 20, 2025.
  2. 1 2 King, W.B. (April 4, 2024). "Turning Setbacks Into Opportunities: Tanya Van Court's Resilient Journey". finopotamus.com. Retrieved July 20, 2025.
  3. ↑ 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.
  4. 1 2 3 "Most Influential Women in Fintech". American Banker . May 8, 2023. Retrieved July 20, 2025.
  5. ↑ Crook, Jordan (January 25, 2021). "Goalsetter raises $3.9 million to teach financial literacy to kids". TechCrunch . Retrieved July 21, 2025.
  6. ↑ 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.
  7. 1 2 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.
  8. 1 2 3 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.
  9. ↑ "Women in Technology: Goalsetter's Tanya Van Court". The WIE Suite. February 7, 2025. Retrieved July 20, 2025.
  10. ↑ Rosario, Sarah (April 27, 2022). "Making financial literacy class fun with popular app Goalsetter". WTSP . Retrieved July 23, 2025.
  11. ↑ Oluwadara, Stephen (March 25, 2024). "Tanya Van Court's Goalsetter Raises $9.6 Million Series A Funding Extension". UrbanGeekz.com. Retrieved July 22, 2025.
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