All Raisers Didn’t Sign Up To Do Small Things

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All Raise

5 min readMay 9, 2023

By Paige Hendrix Buckner, CEO of All Raise

Hello All Raise! It’s with deep pride that I (officially) step into the role as All Raise’s Chief Executive Officer. Since joining the team a year ago today, I’ve supported every team member, worked with, or met volunteers from all corners of the country, collaborated closely with our Board of Directors, and deepened relationships with our partners.

There is so much work to do. I couldn’t be more thrilled to serve and lead this community.

All Raise has built one of the most powerful and impact-driven communities in the United States, and we’re uniquely positioned to create a tech culture where women and non-binary voices are leading, shaping, and funding the future. Our work is more important than ever, and we have the people and power to make the change that we want to see.

To help you get just as pumped as I am, I want to share the reasons why All Raise is on the cusp of making a massive impact in 2023 and beyond.

We’re in it to win it!

The data about disparities in tech and venture capital can be daunting and seemingly impossible to change.

According to Isabelle Solal and Kaisa Snellman in the Harvard Business Review, “Women are massively underrepresented among both venture-backed entrepreneurs and VC investors.” Crunchbase recently reported that companies founded solely by women receive less than 2% of all venture capital investments and All Raise’s research shows that women account for less than 15% of checkwriters.

This is wildly disappointing data considering women outperform men as investors and founders:

Harvard Business Review found that VC firms with more female partners (10% more) had 1.5% higher fund returns and 9.7% more profitable exits
First Round Capital reported that its portfolio companies with female founders outperformed their male peers by 63% in creating value for investors.
The Boston Consulting Group found that for every dollar raised, female-led startups generated 10% more revenue than male-led startups.
As the Female Founder Fund points out, women use 25% less capital per month than other founders. Emma Hinchcliffe explains that this tactic is “a useful approach to running a business in an environment in which the average time between a seed and Series A round has increased by five months.”

A systemic inequity of this nature wasn’t created overnight and requires a commitment to change. Five years into serving our mission, we remain dedicated to leading the change.

Join the All Raise community! Get on the list to find and connect with All Raisers across the country.

And, we didn’t sign up to do small things.

We’re here to catalyze intergenerational change. To create a world where our grandchildren, and their grandchildren, have a fair shot at leadership and wealth generation. We’re doing so by fostering a world-class community, providing exceptional programming for founders, investors, and operators, and tracking industry data as we strive toward parity.

We have a powerful network, 24,000 strong!

All Raise hit the ground running thanks to the tenacity of a coast-to-coast volunteer network. In the early morning, between meetings, late at night, and on the weekends, All Raisers built and ran programming to help checkwriters build their careers, founders prepare to fundraise, and operators secure a board seat. Their stories of the early days are thrilling and similar to the reminiscing you might hear from startup founders. While this group of 36 women started small, they became mighty by establishing programs, going from a grassroots movement to a non-profit, and founding a national chapter network in six cities–Boston, Chicago, DC, Los Angeles, Miami, and New York.

Now, not only do we have 150+ volunteers working on programs and chapters, but we also have a full-time, HQ team that is passionate about driving our mission forward. Our team of 11 (and growing!) operationalizes our vision in partnership with our steering committee and working group members. Because of this dynamic collaboration we have tested many programs, learned where to improve, and continue to iterate in the pursuit of more exceptional and impactful experiences.

Learn more from All Raisers for All Raisers and attend an upcoming Power Conversation.

Our community is our secret sauce and we are making moves!

For most of my life, I’ve been passionate about building community — at All Raise, we have it in spades. It’s the top reason I was so excited to join All Raise. Whether it’s at chapter events, the VC Summit, or in our VC programs, All Raisers are connecting to help each other achieve success as investors, founders, and operators. These relationships are having an even bigger impact than we anticipated:

All Raisers are sharing deals and co-investing. In fact, three All Raisers co-led a $22M Series A funding round for the AI fertility startup, Alfie.
All Raisers have been instrumental in launching the National Women’s Soccer League team Angel City and its newest Bay Area team.
After our Boston Chapter piloted the program in 2021, we launched the national Black and Latinx Media Mastery program to provide a FREE media training workshop for Black and Latinx female and non-binary early-stage founders.
We convened our first-of-its-kind townhall with VC Familia, Founder Familia, BLCK VC, Black Women in VC, and Gold House Ventures to help our communities process the evolution of SVB.

Join us! Become part of the All Raise Community!

We’re just getting started and we couldn’t be more eager because we have the community, the team, and the tenacity to create a more diverse and equitable ecosystem. I believe so deeply that All Raise is more than an organization…we are a movement.

If you’re interested in locking arms with us, here’s how to get involved:

I am excited to build with you. Let’s go!
Paige