Julianne Zimmerman | May 10, 2016

Around, Over, Under, Through

In our previous post, we riffed on questions of justice, prudence, and insight with regard to persistent social and gender inequity, inspired by the closing plenary of SOCAP15 [featuring Ed alongside Nikki Silvestri and Ben Jealous, and moderated by Decker Ngongang].  You may recall that the panelists’ definitions of equity include agency, privilege, access to opportunity, and tapping into genius wherever it exists.

The panelists gave vivid examples and anecdotes illustrating just a few of the barriers that lock social and gender inequities in place.  Some of these barriers are obvious and intentionally maintained by a variety of forces;  others may be invisible and/or unconscious.  And as the panelists eloquently highlighted, there is no single or simple solution.

However, that does not mean the barriers are insurmountable.  Only that multiple ways are required to overcome them.

The panelists specifically mentioned four keys:  relationships, opportunity, education, access to capital at all levels.  It’s a preposterously daunting task to reduce these four to a single coherent post, but fortunately we have the genius of Frank Oz, and Sesame Street’s Grover Monster to help us out with an apt and endearing metaphor:

Of course the barriers we’re discussing here are vastly more formidable than Grover’s stage prop swinging doors.  But there are lots of people who, like Grover — and like the panelists’ organizations, Silvestri Strategies, Kapor Capital, and Frontline Solutions — are persistently finding and generously showing others ways around, over, under, and through social and gender equity barriers that might otherwise appear impassable.

Here for the sake of brevity we offer just five more examples of many others blazing innovative, effective paths around, over, under, and through.

Around:  creating opportunity

Founded by multi-hyphenate thought- and change-leader Van Jones, Dream Corps is working to shape a new inclusive green economy with environmental justice for all.  The Dream Corps approach expressly includes dismantling or chipping away at important structural supports of existing barriers, which is vital to its purpose.  But it primarily focuses on creating new systems of opportunity that lift up the most vulnerable members of society, including sometimes in mutual interest with the most entrenched.   In addition to publishing original research & analysis for others to utilize, Dream Corps works directly:

  • on multiple concurrent fronts — policy and direct action at federal, state, and local levels;
  • on a variety of initiatives — reducing incarceration; decreasing pollution; increasing access to clean energy, air and water;  providing skills training and job access;
  • and with a variety of partners — policymakers, activists, churches, community leaders, corporations, media, and others.

Over:  rethinking and redeploying capital

In an open letter published last November, Ford Foundation President Darren Walker (subscription required to view link) announced a strategic realignment and consolidation of the Foundation’s activities to focus on combating inequality, including an increased emphasis on impact investing. The Chronicle of Philanthropy points out that with $12.1B in assets, Ford is hardly the largest or most powerful philanthropy, and the problems it is taking on are too big for even the largest donors to solve on their own.  However, Ford’s new commitment to supporting grantees’ operating overhead, “would place it head and shoulders above some of its foundation peers.”  Under the banner Challenging Inequality, the Foundation lists seven themes:  Civic Engagement and GovernmentCreativity and Free ExpressionEquitable DevelopmentGender, Racial, and Ethnic JusticeInclusive EconomiesInternet FreedomYouth Opportunity and Learning.

Under:  providing training and education

Founded by biotech engineer Kimberly Bryant in 2011, Black Girls Code claimed an audacious goal to “train 1 million girls by 2050 and become the ‘girl scouts’ of technology.”  Focusing on elementary and middle school girls, Black Girls Code offers after school and summer programs in computer programming and technology in a dozen cities across the US and in Johannesburg, South Africa, and is soon to extend its offerings to boys as well.

Similarly, Girls Who Code was founded by Reshma Saujani in 2012 to provide summer training in computer science skills to high school girls.  Girls Who Code raised the bet, setting their sights on providing, “computer science education and exposure to 1 million young women by 2020.”  With over 10,000 program alumnae, Girls Who Code reports that 90% of summer immersion participants plan to major or minor in a related field.

Through:  forging new relationships

Pipeline Angels is building networks of female angel investors and social entrepreneurs across 32 cities, one local cohort at a time.  Pipeline’s women-only angel bootcamps provide education, mentoring, and practice to new and aspiring angel investors, in small groups who form close connections during a six-month program.  Newly-fledged angels invest in female social entrepreneurs they also get to know personally as well as professionally.  Sparking successful, active personal and network relationships is key to founder and CEO Natalia Oberti Noguera’s vision to increase both diversity to awareness of diversity in the tech / investor ecosystem.  Pipeline realized its first investment exit in less than five years from inception.  Perhaps even more importantly, Pipeline angels and entrepreneurs span a long spectrum of racial, ethnic, age, education, gender, sexual preference, and other identities, and they share a passion for extending opportunities for other women without regard to narrower categories.

… And On

Dream Corps, Ford Foundation, Black Girls Code, Girls Who Code, and Pipeline Angels  — as well as Silvestri Strategies, Kapor Capital, and Frontline Solutions — represent only a tiny sampling of the inspiring variety and creativity of approaches we see people forging around, over, under, and through persistent barriers to social and gender equity.

They — we — are all in urgent coopetition together to bring as many as possible of the best ideas and most effective mechanisms to bear, and to do so in the true spirit of innovation:  strive, refine, improve, adapt, and scale.

Or as Edna Mode so colorfully commanded, “Go!  Confront the problem!  Fight!  Win!!!”

At Reinventure, we’re reinventing investing.  We’re proud to be in extraordinary company: superheroes, all — no capes.

Please join us.

And please view our guest post on the SOCAP blog site.

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While there’s no such thing as a guarantee in investing and no one can reliably predict the future, Ed’s record at UNC Ventures provides some historical evidence that it is indeed possible to invest for both financial returns and social equity. To learn more, please contact us.