Included VC stands by Black Lives Matter
This past weekend we hosted our 2nd Retreat with our Included VC Fellows, representing the change we want to make and see in the VC industry, and I couldn’t be prouder and hopeful, but also humbled and chastened.
At our retreat we were joined by our 30 Fellows and by representatives from the European VC community for 18 hours of sharing, learning and talking. There were some inspirational talks, some hard-hitting conversations, some home truths and some tears.
We founded Included VC in early 2019 to bring people from minority groups into the VC world because we recognised the systemic inequalities in the VC industry. We knew that words were not enough and together wanted to take action. NB: by “we” I mean Chris Tottman, Nikita Thakrar and myself.
Why? We know the homophily of venture capital firms limits their ability to invest in the very best founders and companies from all walks of life; we know that diverse companies and funds outperform their homogenous competitors; and we believe that the best way for the European VC community to progress and deliver great results — both in terms of financial and technical outcomes — is by:
- proactively and systematically building new networks in different locations with overlooked and excluded tech communities;
- engaging people with different experiences and perspectives; and
- building diverse teams of people who will see beyond the accepted wisdom and pattern recognition of our industry.
So “we” took action, together with Notion Capital and our many VC partners from around Europe. We came together to found Included VC in May 2019 to address the systemic challenges caused by the homogeneity of our industry.
Included VC is a 12-Month Fellowship to provide knowledge, access and opportunity to people from minority, excluded and overlooked communities who can accelerate change with our industry, helping to eradicate the problems associated with endemic homogeneity, unconscious bias and pattern recognition. Our fellowship is diverse with 60% female and 40% male fellows living and working in 14 European cities, with 56% identifying as BAME . It is an inspirational, supportive and ambitious group of incredible people. It’s a start, but it’s not enough.
So why humbled and chastened?
Because we have not spoken out about our abhorrence for the racial inequalities that still exist in our societies around the world and made explicit our resolute support for racial equality and Black Lives Matter.
As someone who has benefited from the inequalities in our society, it is hard to know what to say and do, but that is no excuse. I didn’t appreciate the hurt that my silence caused to our fellows and the wider community.
We will do better. We are galvanised to achieve our mission to change the face of venture capital in Europe and to hold ourselves to account to deliver on our promises. Most importantly we realise now that it is not enough to ‘not be racist’ and to rely on the fact that, “we are doing something.”
My colleague Joshua Olusanya wrote a powerful and moving article that he shared with everyone at Notion. Hard-hitting doesn’t do it justice. This quote struck me hardest and made me rethink my silence.
“As anti-racist allies it is your duty to speak up against the devaluing of Black lives until they matter.”
Joshua’s words helped me to understand how much my silence affected him and so many of our fellows.
One of our Included VC fellows quite rightly said: “You don’t get to pick and choose the topics you talk about. Included is a diversity and inclusion initiative and you need to talk about Black Lives Matter.”
I won’t deny it’s uncomfortable, but I’m also aware that my uneasiness doesn’t even scratch the surface of how difficult tackling this topic has been for others.
The only way that we’ll grow and change in the venture capital industry (and in all industries) is if we can get comfortable having conversations that make us feel uncomfortable.
We abhor racism and we stand by #BlackLivesMatter.
What can we do?
If you are BAME, are from an overlooked, marginalised or excluded community and would like to learn about venture capital then you can apply to join Included VC here.
And if you are interested in learning more about Included.VC, in mentoring or supporting our current & future fellows, leave a comment below.
