10 Diversity & Inclusion Leaders You Should Be Following
Hi There! Before I get to it, here’s a quick intro for some context:
My name is Cat Perez and I’m the Co-founder and Chief Product Officer at HealthSherpa, a website & team of people helping Americans find, enroll in and use affordable, individual health coverage.
As a portfolio company, we signed the Founder’s Commitment, launched by Kapor Capital 2 years ago. The purpose of the commitment is to create a culture of diversity and inclusion from the outset, and provide an incentive for companies to hold on to their values as they grow.
This was the start of my Diversity & Inclusion journey.
I’ve been fortunate to have access to so many great resources and mentors who consistently and boldly walk the walk. They are humble in their learnings and eager to share with others.
Chances are you’ve likely read about, heard of, met or seen these pioneers. These are folks who are and have been actively doing the work. If you’re looking for guidance, feedback or thoughtful insights, these are some of the leaders you should be following:
1. Ellen Pao
Ellen is an investment partner at Kapor Capital, the Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer at the Kapor Center for Social Impact. In the past she was interim CEO at Reddit and Partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. Ellen has written and spoken extensively about diversity and inclusion in tech and is the co-founder of the diversity consulting non-profit organization, Project Include.
2. Freada Kapor Klein
Freada is Partner at Kapor Capital and Kapor Center for Social Impact, and Founder/Board Chair at Level Playing Field Institute. She has over four decades of experience working at the intersection of racial/social justice and tech, with particular expertise in the fields of human capital and bias mitigation. Freada is also a co-founder of the diversity consulting non-profit organization, Project Include.
freada kapor klein | @TheRealFreada
3. Erica Joy Baker
Erica is a Senior Engineer at Slack Technologies. She is a seasoned software engineer and an outspoken advocate for improving diversity in the industry. Erica is a Tech Mentor for Black Girls Code and a co-founder of the diversity consulting non-profit organization, Project Include.
4. Laura I. Gómez
Laura is the Founder and CEO at Atipica, a talent discovery engine. She hails from Google, YouTube, Jawbone, and Twitter, where she was a founding team member of the International team. Laura is also a co-founder of the diversity consulting non-profit organization, Project Include.
5. Lisa Lee
Lisa leads diversity initiatives at Pandora. She is a self-proclaimed diversity geek who spends 90% of her time thinking about how to use tech as a vehicle to drive equality. She has a strong investment in community, non-profit and volunteer work.
6. Sonja Gittens-Ottley
Sonja is the Diversity & Inclusion Lead at Asana, where she’s responsible for crafting the company’s strategies for recruiting employees from underrepresented groups and creating an inclusive environment that allows them to thrive. In the past, Sonja was a global diversity program manager at Facebook.
7. Nicole Sanchez
Nicole is the VP of Social Impact at GitHub where she digs deep into the kinds of policies and procedures the company has in place to retain talent. She has roots in activism & graduated from Stanford with a degree in American studies.
8. Mandela Schumacher-Hodge
Mandela is a former public school teacher, education policy researcher, and PhD candidate. More recently, an entrepreneur in education and named to the Forbes “30 Under 30 in Education”. Mandela is currently at Kapor Capital supporting the development of the portfolio’s early-stage tech startups as it relates to business, social impact, and diversity and inclusion.
Mandela Schumacher-Hodge | @MandelaSH
9. Wayne Sutton
Wayne is a serial entrepreneur and co-founder of Change Catalyst and its Tech Inclusion programs dedicated to exploring innovative solutions to diversity and inclusion in tech. Wayne writes about entrepreneurship, startups, diversity & inclusion in tech at SocialWayne.com.
10. Mitch Kapor
Mitch is a pioneer of the personal computing industry, and an entrepreneur, investor and advocate for social change. As Partner at Kapor Capital and the Kapor Center for Social Impact, Mitch, along with his wife Freada Kapor Klein, invests in social impact tech startups that narrow gaps in opportunity and access for underrepresented communities and eliminate barriers to full participation across the tech ecosystem.
Hope you find this list helpful — Happy Following!
