Why Inclusion & Diversity at Techstars? Because There Are More Than Four Shades of Brown

by Jason Thompson, VP of Inclusion & Diversity at Techstars

When I made the decision to join Techstars, I wanted to join because it was a way to let people know there are “more than four shades of brown.” The world is a diverse place full of people with different skin tones, identities, backgrounds and experiences.

What does “more than four shades of brown” mean? A couple of weeks ago my daughter, Piper, who is now in her second year of college came to me and said, “Dad look at this!” Piper put a makeup advertisement under my nose to look at and she said, “This makeup company makes 20 shades of makeup for white people and only four shades of brown! This company needs an inclusion and diversity program!” We both laughed, but the reality of this statement was too close to home. For my daughter, her brown skin is both beautiful and reminder of the work we need to do.

This experience with my daughter was an example of inclusion and diversity, both literally and metaphorically. Inclusion and diversity is about more than “four shades of brown” and the makeup ad with only four shades of brown is a framework for how I think about inclusion and diversity.

When I think about the company that developed the makeup, I began to ask myself questions… Did any of the employees of the company realize this disparity? If so, did they believe they could speak up (inclusion)? Did any of the employees have brown skin (diversity)? Were any of the employees from other ethnic groups, genders or countries?

I also wondered about the process this company used to make decisions. Was there a group of employees who sat together in a room to approve the ad? Was it possible that a group of employees saw the ad and everyone agreed that there were only four shades of brown? Did they decide that four shades was all that was needed for people with brown skin but 20 variations were needed for white people? Did they give any thought to the many different cultures in the world and how they use makeup?

I am sure that if I were to point out the narrow spectrum of shades of brown to this group they could understand the disparity in their offering. Inclusion and diversity work is about pointing out these types of disparities and developing solutions.

The challenge here is not simply to develop equal number of shades for people with brown skin. Rather, it is how does a company change a culture so employees can recognize the disparity and see the opportunity. Inclusion is developing a culture that prevents this from happening again and realizing that inclusion is an opportunity to expand your customer base.

The more I thought about this experience with my daughter, the more I began to think about the opportunity I&D brings to the Techstars worldwide network. When founders have a great product and start to think there are “more than four shades of brown,” they expand their perspective and therefore the potential for success.

I recently met with a founder that shared with me their technology. My first thought was that this could open so many doors for people with disabilities, even though that was not the original intent of the technology. If that founder expanded their view of the target audience to include different identities and abilities, the product would be better and their market size would expand.

I&D in the Techstars network is now a fundamental piece to how we help entrepreneurs succeed. I&D at Techstars increases the number of entrepreneurs, expands how technology improves the world and creates new synergies. I&D at Techstars, because there are more than four shades of brown.