Emily Steele is the CEO and cofounder of Hummingbirds, a community-powered retail velocity platform built for CPG brands that need to prove their marketing moves product. Under her leadership, Hummingbirds has expanded to 70+ cities, grown to 50,000+ creators and 350+ customers, raised over $13M in venture capital, and scaled to a team of 40+ employees—achieving 350% YoY growth in 2025.

Prior to Hummingbirds, Emily built and scaled community-led initiatives including her marketing agency Love Local, an annual pitch competition for women business owners, and FemCity Des Moines, the most successful chapter in the U.S. under her leadership. Outside of work, Emily spend a lot of time with her family, traveling, and hitting up local restaurants, trails, and coffee shops.