Look at what we have achieved…
Now watch what we’ll be able to do.
It’s time to step up. We now all acknowledge and understand the need for lasting change.
Here’s what I’m doing. I’m going all in on diversity and inclusion and working full-time on Project Include. I’m going to accelerate efforts to change tech culture through VC firms and tech startups by making a full-time commitment.
Since Project Include launched, we’ve convened two cohorts of CEOs to focus on diversity and inclusion for their startups; we’ve advised dozens more leaders on specific inclusion issues; and we’ve provided a platform of 87 recommendations for leaders who want to pursue diversity in their own companies. The result? We saw real and tangible improvement in the companies we worked with over time.
We’re on the right track to build lasting change.
On top of this, we had more CEOs, venture capitalists — and, recently, limited partners investing in VC firms — reach out to us than we could actually help. They all saw, as we did, that founders and employees are sharing more and more stories about their experiences, and the public is holding companies and investors accountable for harassment and discrimination.
We took this as a positive sign: Even if we couldn’t help everyone who needed it, the increased levels of awareness, the expanded discussion, and our surging number of requests showed that tech is becoming more aware of the need for diversity.
But while we were looking back on the tremendous year we just had, I talked with the founding advisors for Project Include, and we agreed that Project Include could — and really should — do so much more — and that now is the time.
We saw all the attention the issues have gotten in recent months, from Times Up, to groundbreaking litigation, to #MovingForward. We saw the lasting impact of individual conversations — from encouraging CEOs to implement diversity and inclusion goals to inspiring an influential executive to switch to a job with more impact. We’re hearing from tech managers having the hard conversations about prior bad behavior of potential hires.
And we knew the moment for change is now.
We also realized that to do its best work, Project Include needed to change, too. Over the past year, we have done well with our model of self-sustaining funding for our startup CEO initiatives, but to truly make an impact I would need to devote myself 100 percent to Project Include, and we would have to be fully self-sufficient and independent. We need to work more closely with other tech efforts like we did with #MovingForward, because it’s become even clearer that we need meaningful change, we need it now, and we all need to work together to make it happen.
So that’s what we’re doing.
With these changes, Project Include can double the number of CEO cohorts we work with, and fund and develop VC Include — our program for investors to bring diversity and inclusion to their portfolio companies. We want to contribute to other nascent tech efforts — and hopefully imbue the tech ecosystem with our values of inclusion of everyone, a comprehensive approach, and metrics for accountability. By expanding our capacity and becoming truly independent, we look forward to working with these groups to accelerate true diversity and inclusion into the technology industry.
I’m sad today is my last day at the Kapor Center, which provided our initial (and for a while only) funding, office space, and fiscal sponsorship, and Kapor Capital; I’m grateful for the amazing coworkers, entrepreneurs, and old and new friends. And I’m glad for ongoing interactions with Kapor Center and Kapor Capital through my LPFI board seat, Freada Kapor Klein’s founding advisor role and Cedric Brown’s board seat at Project Include.
When I told Freada that I was going to go run Project Include full-time, it was bittersweet for her, too. “I’m sorry to lose you as a Kapor Capital partner and the head of D&I at Kapor Center,” she said. “But we are at a critical time for change, and Project Include has the momentum to really make a difference.”
Charles Hudson, a VC at Precursor Ventures, said, “With Ellen full-time, and the flexibility of Project Include’s new structure, we are thrilled to have the opportunity to champion diversity in tech with Project Include. It’s clear the tech community needs Project Include to bring D&I to more companies and the broader tech industry.”
Now let’s see where Project Include can go next. And I hope we inspire each of you to take action to create lasting change now.
