In “The Invisible Investment: Mentoring the Girls No One Sees,” Julie Ruehle sheds light on the transformative power of mentorship, reminding us that investing in those often overlooked can create ripples of change for generations to come. As curator of TEDx Del Sur Women, Sanya Kapoor, a senior at Del Norte High School, elevates vital voices like Julie’s to ensure that stories of impact and empowerment are heard, inspiring communities to recognize the unseen potential around them. Julie Ruehle is an Iranian-American entrepreneur, investor, and mentor who leads a multifaceted family office with three distinct arms: a philanthropic foundation focused on health, education, and animal welfare; a real estate private equity firm that acquires and operates high-end residential properties across the U.S., Canada, and the UAE; and Aspirational Ventures, a micro-VC platform funding early-stage companies—with a purposeful tilt toward women-led innovation. Julie began her career as an executive in male-dominated boardrooms where she was often the only woman, and always the only immigrant. Instead of folding inward, she used those moments to expand outward—building bridges between cultures and elevating overlooked talent. From mentoring young founders through her VC work to launching Math Wednesdays—a weekly program where she and her daughters tutored newly resettled Syrian refugee children—Julie turns her own lived experience into action. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx