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All Raise Quarterly Quotient | Q2 2024 in review: A community dedicated to the movement towards parity

All Raise
All Raise
Published in
12 min readJul 25, 2024

All Raise Quarterly Quotient | Q2 2024
A quarterly round up from All Raise including program updates, events, and wins.

This quarter, we featured profiles of Vanessa Larco from NEA, Ita Ekpoudom of Gingerbread Capital, and Renata Quintini and Roseanne Wincek of Renegade Partners — all All Raisers who pivoted from different fields (product management, finance, law, and biophysics, respectively) to roles as partners at venture capital firms (Vanessa and Ita) or to start their own firm (Renata and Roseanne).

Women still occupy a small sliver of the VC space: according to PitchBook’s annual US All In report for 2023, only 17% of decision-makers at funds with >$50M AUM are female and 18% at funds with < $50M AUM. Funding for female-only founded startups remains flat at 2%.

There’s a significant effect across the startup ecosystem when women like Vanessa and Ita become checkwriters, and when women like Renata and Roseanne start new venture capital firms. We should also note that when it comes to nonbinary investors and founders, the research on any similar effects is limited. This is why All Raise has partnered with several organizations to create the Diversity Data Alliance, which will help shed more light here, and by extension encourage participation in VC across the gender spectrum. More on this below!

In this issue of the All Raise Quarterly Quotient, you’ll find…

All Raiser announcements

Ecosystem news and highlights

News you can use about VC and beyond:

Community activation through chapters and events

An All Raiser is multidimensional. We are investors. We are trailblazers. We are community builders.
~Ita Ekpoudom, Partner, Gingerbread Capital

In April, All Raise teamed with Arlan Hamilton of Backstage Capital to host a private dinner for the Los Angeles venture community at Your First Million Live. Named after Arlan’s latest book, Your First Million, the dinner gave those in attendance the opportunity to connect and discuss continuing to work towards parity and empowering the next generation of investors and entrepreneurs.

In Q2, All Raisers connected across the country at conferences, small group gatherings, and 15 chapter events. It’s these intimate spaces where our community gathers to help each other be successful — to get hired, promoted, and funded. Here are some highlights:

Boston

Boston hosted its annual Mix and Mingle with Boston’s GPs and LPs networking event. The aim was simple: to curate a unique space where exceptional women in the ecosystem could come together to get help making trusted connections and managing deal flow, and to get access to some of the most promising investment opportunities. But there was a twist…absolutely no pitching allowed! This event was all about fostering genuine relationships and nurturing a supportive community! We love seeing the energy around GP and LP relationships, and can’t wait to expand on this in the future!

And as hail pummeled Boston on April 4, 2024, energy at the Agents of Change event couldn’t be dampened. Led by the local All Raise chapter, the event proved its pull: more than 150 attendees braved the rough weather, packing the venue to standing room-only capacity.

This third annual All Raise Boston summit was hosted by the non-profit MassChallenge, known for connecting startups, experts, corporations, and communities. It was the perfect platform to learn from some of Boston’s biggest mentors and influencers, network, and dive into how to become agents of change toward gender parity.

Among the attendees were Allison Byers, All Raise Boston co-chair and CEO of Scroobious; and Caitlin Reimers Brumme, the CEO of MassChallenge. All Raise CEO Paige Hendrix Buckner gave the closing remarks.

And while All Raise champions investors, this event showcased All Raise’s commitment to founders, which is strengthened through our work with venture capitalists, a natural benefit of our focus on helping women and nonbinary VCs take, keep, and be successful in their seats at the table.

For those in town early for Agents of Change, the Boston chapter sponsored a screening of documentary film Show Her the Money, which “addresses how women are getting less than 2% of venture capital funding and demystifies what venture capital is.” Attendees gathered to be inspired by the real stories of women navigating their careers as founders and investors. If you have a chance to see the film in your city, we encourage you to…and be sure to keep your eyes peeled for All Raiser cameos!

Los Angeles

In honor of Juneteenth, the LA Chapter hosted an inspiring and empowering evening dedicated to connecting GPs and LPs for some soccer and networking! Our friends at BMO donated their suite for an Angel City FC match at BMO Stadium. ACFC investor Robyn Ward sat down with Ashley Balla, Partner at Halogen Ventures, for a fireside chat ahead of the match. Look out for our upcoming blog post featuring all the gems from this conversation!

The evening not only served as a testament to the progress of women in sports but also reinforced the importance of establishing meaningful connections that foster growth and success within the industry.
~ Montré Moore, CEO, AMP Beauty, All Raise LA Steering Committee member

Cassandra Stokes, Private Wealth Advisor, SVB

Though investors talk about investing all day, they rarely get the chance to discuss tactical strategies to invest in their own financial future.To solve this, All Raise LA teamed up with EVCA, to host Personal Finance for Investors: A Roundtable Discussion, a roundtable with Cassandra Stokes, Private Wealth Advisor at SVB. Attendees had a chance to network while learning how to optimize their income and improve their financial health.

Throughout my career in VC, the community at All Raise has meant everything.
~ Madeline Darcy, Managing Partner, Kaya Ventures, All Raise LA Steering Committee Co-Chair

Washington, D.C.

All Raise DC has been on fire this quarter, hosting four curated and unique events for investors and founders in the Capitol!

Pivotal Ventures partnered with our DC Chapter to host an LP + VC Breakfast, an intimate breakfast for partners, principals and limited partners. This small event supported investors in building strong connections and sharing insights on the market.

Teaming up with DC Startup Women, All Raise DC brought together more than 20 women and nonbinary founders and investors from across the DMV for a Spring Walk and Talk, to foster new connections and grow existing ones in the beautiful weather.

Co-hosted by the DOE Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains (MESC), All Raise DC held Building the Connective Tissue Between VC and Government Funding Programs, a private gathering dedicated to building greater connectivity between the women who invest in climate and foundational industries and the women who lead the government funding programs in these industries. Chapter leadership in DC had heard from government counterparts that they need help finding the best companies into which they can deploy their non-dilutive capital. This breakfast served as a step toward creating stronger feedback loops and ensuring the best companies receive funding. We’re absolutely here for this!

Finally, All Raise DC hosted an unforgettable Evening at the Kennedy Center in early May, bringing together investors for an exclusive evening of community-building and extraordinary music. Starting with a pre-concert reception with breathtaking views at the Kennedy Center’s panoramic Opera House Circles Lounge, attendees heard the National Symphony Orchestra’s special performance of Beethoven’s rarely heard Romances and Bruckner’s Ninth Symphony!

Miami

The Miami Chapter also partnered with WAVE’s (Women’s Association of Venture Equity) Southeast Chapter on April 19 for Insight Day at the University of Miami. This regional career day provided female students exposure to and insights on alternative investments through several panel discussions on the landscape and opportunities in venture, private equity, and alternative investments.

New York

All Raise NY hosted a couple of gatherings for NY Tech Week. The photo above is from an intimate invite-only lunch with 18 partners and general partners from New York, co-hosted by Caroline Hyde, Bloomberg Tech anchor.

Partnering with SVB for a NY Tech Week kickoff breakfast panel, All Raise NY celebrating the powerhouse women of NYC who are accelerating the venture ecosystem, featuring Charlotte Ross, Partner at Inspired Capital; ​Arianne Perry, Managing Director of VC at SVB; and ​Zehra Naqvi, Investor at Headline VC, NY SteerCo Member, and Founder of The Z List. Hundreds of people applied to join this event to make new connections and dig deeper into the ways that women are and will continue to shape tech and venture in NYC and beyond.

All Raise NY hosted “Breaking into Venture”: A Conversation on Lessons Learned, a panel discussion and book signing at First Round Capital. Panelists Allison Baum Gates, author of Breaking into Venture and General Partner at SemperVirens Venture Capital; Ita Ekpoudom, Partner at GingerBread Capital; and Hayley Barna, Partner at First Round Capital, discussed their personal stories, coupled with insights on what it takes to break into venture capital, navigate the pitfalls that insiders know to avoid, and build a long-term winning strategy that plays to your unique strengths. Attendees were gifted a copy of Allison’s book to keep the learning going!

To bring awareness to Mental Health Awareness Month, All Raise NY hosted a discussion and music therapy session with Spiritune founder Jamie Pabst, and Momo Bi, Partner at Watershed Ventures. Music therapy has been shown to help reduce stress and promote emotional well-being, and this event provided a wonderful opportunity to take a pause from the hustle and bustle of daily life in the tech ecosystem.

Program updates

VC Partner Cohorts

All Raise VC Partner Cohorts provide tight-knit peer groups and skill-building opportunities for partner+ level venture capitalists. Cohorts include participants from 11 different states, many of whom are participating in the program for the first time.

Our twelve captains — some returning to the role, some new — met for their first training. This year’s captains are: Stacy Bishop, Vanessa Larco, Megan Guy, Lauri Moore, Zaz Floreani, Adrienne Rees, Rebecca Kahnweiler, Katie Gray, Mary D’Onofrio, Susan Liu, Priya Saiprasad, and Linda Guo.

And now, some of the cohorts have started meeting up in person, including (from left to right) Yasmin Ferrine, Wendy Lim, Lauri Moore, Lyndsey Boucherle, Jenny He, and Sarah Smith.

East coast members of our Partner Cohorts also met for an NYC Power Breakfast on April 25, at First Round Capital’s new Soho office. More than a dozen attendees joined host Hayley Barna to discuss time management, hiring and onboarding, and more.

Meanwhile, on the West Coast, VC Partner Cohort members met for a Power Breakfast to discuss tactics for emerging managers to sustain and thrive in their funds as well as further build LP relationships. We are grateful to Cordova Cafe in Pasadena, CA for hosting us.

VC Principal Cohorts

All Raise’s VC Principal Cohorts, which create peer circles for associate through partner level investors, kicked off the program with their first sessions of the season, with Katie Andresen. In these sessions, the cohorts set outcomes for their experience in the program, including managing career progression and the path to partnership; professional development and skill building; how to be a better investor; navigating personal dynamics; and how to leverage stereotypical “female” attributes to reframe as a strength in VC. The next step for cohort participants will be achieving these outcomes during self-facilitated sessions, workshops, and more.

All I want to do is work in venture, and I know this is where I’m meant to be. That is why this program is so needed and important. Your support means everything.
~Sydney Wong, Principal, VenturX Capital

VC Champions

This program matches top veteran general partners with women, nonbinary, and underrepresented male principal-level investors. Our first set of pairings for the new season have been assigned and the program has been very well received so far. These mentorship connections are a great way for principals to ask questions and gain guidance that inform the next steps in their career. We also welcome a new Champion to the program, Arianna Simpson, General Partner, Andreessen Horowitz.

Terrific first match, I really appreciate the effort from this team!
~ Catherine Shin, Principal, Altos Ventures

Announcing: The Diversity Data Alliance

All Raise is thrilled to be one of the creators of the Diversity Data Alliance, the first coalition of industry organizations aimed at identifying and creating solutions for underrepresentation across VC and startups. We have have partnered with 2Gether International, BLCK VC, Diversity VC, Somos, StartOut, and VetsinTech on this project, and spent much of last year standardizing our data across organizations so we could share insights that would go into creating the largest, most comprehensive data set on diversity in VC and start-ups, and we were thrilled to officially launch the project on May 15, 2024, with an event at Bessemer Venture Partners in San Francisco. The launch party included a panel discussion featuring Jen Barnette, Special Counsel at Cooley; ​Marquesa Finch, Co-Author of California’s SB 54 as well as CEO of Pyrium and Founding Partner of F5 Collective; and Shu Dar Yao (the panel’s moderator), Managing Partner at Lucid Capitalism.

There’s still plenty of data to collect and standardize, not to mention to analyze and draw conclusions from. The Diversity Data Alliance’s work is only just beginning, and we’re thrilled to be a part of it.

All Raisers in the wild

Congratulations to our friends at Fika for a successful 9th annual First Look Retreat, and thank you for gathering our community. It was great to see so many All Raisers in attendance. Some of the notable speakers were Karen Bass, Los Angeles Mayor; Andy Konwinski, Co-founder, Perplexity.ai; Sara Hooker, VP of Research and Head of Cohere For AI; and Zach Perret, Co-Founder and CEO of Plaid.

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All Raise
All Raise

Written by All Raise

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