Investment & Inclusion Series | DEI & VC Firms: Structural Barriers To Equity

Recent conversations around DEI in VC firms have centered on diversifying portfolios and hiring. But what happens if the very organizational processes and governance of these firms are actively creating barriers to achieving DEI initiatives? In this conversation, we discuss Pledges, Riders, Board Placements and more to understand what works and doesn’t, and what VC firms can do differently to create structural change.
This Conversation will be moderated by Banu Ozkazanc-Pan from the Venture Capital Inclusion Lab.
Speakers will also include:

Trista Bridges a strategy and sustainable business expert, who’s passionate about changing businesses of all types for good. Strongly believing that sustainable business = smart business, she co-founded Tokyo-based Read the Air to shift mindsets, business strategies, and ways of working towards business models that put sustainability at the core. More recently Trista has been working on how to embed sustainability, including topics such as diversity and inclusion, into VC funds’ operations and investment activities. She’s worked across various sectors throughout her career including in digital media, healthcare, consumer products, and financial services. Trista is co-author of the recently released book “Leading Sustainably: The path to sustainable business and how the SDGs changed everything”. She holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University and a BSE from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

Rohan Arora is a late stage investor and key member of the leadership board at Diversity VC, focusing on events and Diversity VC’s flagship internship for under-represented professionals in VC and investing, Future VC. Rohan has also spent a lot of time with our flagship standard for diversity in Venture Capital and investing, the Diversity VC Standard, a new assessment and certification process that sets a benchmark for best practice on Diversity and Inclusion in VC, with many major funds as participants. Rohan has been involved in mentoring a broad range of start-ups with a broad range of founders across fundraising, strategy and operations, across Europe and the US. Rohan has an extensive background in Diversity and Inclusion initiatives, and has been heavily involved with the diversity organization Sponsors for Educational Opportunity for a number of years. Rohan is a co-founder of Horizon, a top diverse talent network launching connecting professionals across Europe and the US in venture capital, private equity, corporate finance, law and technology, amongst other industries.

Deborah Frieze is founder and president of the Boston Impact Initiative, an impact investing fund focused on economic justice, which means investing in opportunity for all people—especially those most oppressed or abandoned by our current economic system—to lead a dignified and productive life. The fund takes an integrated capital approach, combining investing, lending and giving to build a resilient and inclusive local economy. Deborah is co-author (with Margaret Wheatley) of Walk Out Walk On, an award-winning book that profiles pioneering leaders who walked out of organizations failing to contribute to the common good—and walked on to build resilient communities. She is also founder of the Old Oak Dojo, an urban learning center where neighbors gather to rediscover how to create healthy and resilient communities.

This open & ‘imperfect’ conversation is calling in all investors, entrepreneurs and community builders who want to support a more diverse and equitable startup ecosystem. We understand diversity reflects more than race and gender and strive to be inclusive of other communities that have been systemically denied access.

This event is part of a series of conversations curated by The Capital Network & The Venture Capital Inclusion Lab titled: Investment and Inclusion - Effective Approaches and Practices. From pipeline, portfolio and performance, this Series will explore how investors can create a more diverse portfolio that will support underrepresented founders while growing their returns. We will look at the data, strategies and DEI best practices around doing so and look to experts who have achieved this.