Inc.’s annual Female Founders list celebrates the nation’s most innovative women entrepreneurs, who collectively generated approximately $12.3 billion in revenue in 2025.
Rochester, New York, March 10, 2026 – Linden Digital Marketing is thrilled to announce that Lindsay Connelly has been named to Inc.’s 2026 Female Founders 500.
Lindsay Connelly has earned a spot on Inc.’s 2026 Female Founders 500 — a recognition that reflects the work she and the Linden Digital Marketing team have built together.
Big news from Linden Digital Marketing: Lindsay Connelly has been named to Inc.’s 2026 Female Founders 500, an annual list honoring the most dynamic women business leaders in the United States. The honor recognizes founders whose bold ideas, resilience, and execution are shaping the future of their industries.
The 2026 Female Founders honorees collectively generated approximately $12.3 billion in 2025 revenue and $12.2 billion in funding to date, underscoring the economic impact of women-led businesses across sectors.
Each year, Inc. editors evaluate applications through a rigorous, multi-round selection process. Founders are assessed on both quantitative performance metrics, including revenue growth, funding, sales, and audience size, as well as qualitative factors such as innovation, social impact, and brand momentum. The final list represents entrepreneurs who have demonstrated exceptional leadership and measurable progress over the past year. Previous honorees have included such game-changing leaders as Billie Jean King, Sallie Krawcheck, Serena Williams, and Emma Grede — all of whom have transformed their industries and broken barriers along the way.
“Being named to this list means the world to me, but what I’m most proud of is the team we’ve built right here in Rochester and the clients and community who believed in us from the beginning.”
— Lindsay Connelly
Honoree selection is also honed through the evaluation of the program’s advisory board, which includes Patty Arvielo, co-founder and CEO of New American Funding; Tiffany Dufu, president of the Tory Burch Foundation; Joy Mangano, co-founder and CEO of CleanBoss; Michelle Cordeiro Grant, founder and CEO of GORGIE; Sheila Lirio Marcelo, co-founder and CEO of Ohai.ai and founder of Care.com; and Melissa Mash, co-founder and CEO of Dagne Dover.
Since founding Linden Digital Marketing in 2018, Lindsay Connelly has grown the agency from a one-woman operation into an 18-person, MWBE-certified, award-winning firm — achieving 400% revenue growth over four years, and a 26% increase in revenue from 2024–2025. Under her leadership, Linden has served clients nationally, designed a stage-of-growth service model that simplifies digital marketing and improves project ROI and client retention, and in 2025, purchased its first commercial building in Rochester, NY — reinforcing a long-term commitment to local economic development.
Connelly’s impact extends well beyond business growth. As an adjunct professor at RIT’s Saunders College of Business, she mentors Executive MBA students with real-world insight. She offers paid internships to students from Rochester-area and national institutions, and serves on multiple nonprofit boards including Shift2, Journeys of Solutions Inc., St. Ann’s Foundations, Causewave Community Partners, and the Alfred State College Marketing Program Advisory Board. Her leadership has earned her recognition including the Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce 2025 Business Person of the Year and the 2026 ATHENA Young Professional Award.
“Each year, we are increasingly amazed by the extraordinary leaders on our Inc. Female Founders 500 list,” says Bonny Ghosh, editorial director at Inc. “The honorees on this year’s list include innovators in AI, beauty and wellness trendsetters winning devoted fans, and nonprofit leaders making a real impact in their communities. Together, they’re showing all of us what trailblazing female leadership looks like.”
Several honorees will be featured in Inc. magazine’s Spring print issue, on newsstands March 17, 2026. To see the complete list of honorees, please visit: https://www.inc.com/female-founders/2026.
About Inc.
Inc. is the leading media brand and playbook for the entrepreneurs and business leaders shaping our future. Through its journalism, Inc. aims to inform, educate, and elevate the profile of its community: the risk-takers, the innovators, and the ultra-driven go-getters who are creating the future of business. Inc. is published by Mansueto Ventures LLC, along with fellow leading business publication Fast Company. For more information, visit www.inc.com.
About Linden Digital Marketing
Founded in 2018 and headquartered in Rochester, NY, Linden Digital Marketing is a New York State MWBE-certified digital marketing agency with a team of 18 and locations in Wilmington, NC, Charleston, SC, and Boston, MA. Linden offers straightforward, stage-of-growth service packages spanning paid advertising, organic social, SEO, email marketing, reputation management, and website development and hosting — with a one-on-one project management model that keeps clients informed and in control. Trusted by local and national brands across finance, healthcare, education, and professional services, Linden is a Google Partner, SEMrush Partner, and WP Engine Partner.