Let me just say for the record that I really dislike listicles, “must-see” anything, and the whole notion of FOMO. You may quote me on that.
Nevertheless, over the past few months it feels to me that there has been such an exponential rise in the already vast daily torrent of developments that it’s worth a quick review of some items that shouldn’t be lost in the flood. There are far too many even to list here, so this is by necessity just a sampling.
Here goes:
How is this still news?
It’s worth starting out by acknowledging out loud that while there is lots of talk about social justice, racial and gender equity, and diversity in finance and in business, so far not much capital has really shifted. As Natalie Molina Niño pointed out last November at the Global Gender-Smart Investing Summit, established perspectives and processes that are widely accepted as “best practices” are structurally encoded to propagate inequity. That is how nearly two decades into the 21st century we are still having conversations like these:
How come someone else didn’t come up with what you are doing?
Black Woman-Founded Startup Closes $13M in Series A Funding
It’s time for all of us to reframe the way we think about investing
If we are going to act in our own economic and human interest to make good on equity pledges, we have to rethink our investment priorities, criteria, strategies, and approaches:
A Letter to Foundations: Time to Start Again with Investments
Venture capital money kills more businesses than it helps
Mythbusters: Top 5 Myths About Prison Divestment
… and some of us are already making changes
Kresge pledges to place one-quarter of assets with women, minority firms by 2025
Princeton Looks to Break Up the White Male Monopoly
How Universities Can Support Women-Led Entrepreneurship
Serena Williams Invests in Bumble’s Fund Focused on Female Founders of Color
Debt without Interest (and Our Investment in Waheed)
Nothing Is Stronger Than A Community That Invests in Its People
20 Game-Changing Founders of Color — 2019
39 Black Women In Venture Capital Who Are Inspiring A New Generation Of Investors
HBCUvc’s 31 Under 31: The Future of Venture Capital
‘I’m A Rare Bird Being A Black VC With A Fund Of $150M To Invest’
If you’re going to steal something, steal books.— Kerry Graham
[start with D Watkins]
There is a growing body of resources to draw on, including many we have mentioned in prior blog posts, and:
Impact Investing — Gender Equality & Women’s Empowerment Resources List
Awake to Woke to Work: Building a Race Equity Culture
Transforming Challenges & Inequality: Putting the ‘Why’ in Innovation
Venture Capitalists Are Using the Wrong Tools to Improve Gender Diversity
These and others provide excellent pointers, examples, and other actionable intelligence, which is yours for the taking. Whatever examples resonate most with you, the key is to take action. As Archbishop Tutu preached, sitting on the sidelines only serves to perpetuate the status quo.
Perhaps the best quote comes from the 2.2 Million Reasons twitter campaign: “Because it’s hypocritical to claim you want to change the world and do nothing to change the status quo when you have the power.”
You have the power. And you have allies. We are one of them.
For our part, Reinventure Capital is working from the impact investing playbook Ed originally pioneered in the 1980s and 1990s, investing in overlooked, undervalued founders to grow profitable, value-creating enterprises.
Specifically, we are focused on deploying equity and debt capital in expansion stage (breakeven or so) companies led by people of color and/or women, across the US. The Reinventure approach is proven effective at creating real, measurable social impact in collaboration with the company founder teams, generating meaningful ripple effects for their stakeholders, and as a result, delivering non-concessionary returns to investors.*
We are proud to be in extraordinary company of many others who are also choosing to recognize opportunity and allies among the people the system cannot perceive. If you haven’t started yet, now is an excellent time to begin. New allies are always welcome — please join us! How might we help you make the leap? — please tell us!
Are you already deploying capital to achieve better outcomes? Please share! Or better yet, take the conversation to your network to let others know they are not alone!
*While there’s no such thing as a guarantee in investing and no one can reliably predict the future, Ed’s prior track record provides direct evidence that it is indeed possible to consistently invest for both financial returns and social value creation. If you are an accredited investor and would like to learn more about investments that can advance social, racial, and gender equity by supporting high-value companies led by women and/or people of color, please contact us to start that conversation.
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The information contained in this blog does not constitute, and should not be used or construed as, an offer to sell, or a solicitation of any offer to buy, securities of any issuer, fund or other investment product in any jurisdiction. No such offer or solicitation may be made prior to the delivery of definitive offering documentation. The information in this blog is not intended and should not be construed as investment, tax, legal, financial or other advice.