At this point, the sad state of diversity stats in Silicon Valley is pretty well known — 11% female investor rate. The good news is that there is now some serious work – and cash – being dumped into solving the problem.
Take NVCA’s Diversity Task Force – led by CEO and President Bobby Franklin – for example. Bobby and company are investigating the lack of diversity in venture capital land, and putting some big brains to work on figuring out how the heck to tip the scale the other direction.
And then there’s Intel’s Diversity Fund. Created by former Intel girl-boss, Lisa Lambert, the Diversity Fund is turning the research into action. Essentially, it’s a big fat wad of dough – $125 million to be exact – dedicated to leveling the playing field a bit for female and underrepresented minority entrepreneurs.
It’s the largest venture capital fund of this kind. Ever. The money does things like provide access to resources like business development programs, tech expertise, and global network.
Why all the hoopla? We’ll let Bobby take this one: “The greater the number of diverse investors and entrepreneurs at the table, the greater capacity we have as a nation to innovate and bring the best ideas to bear.”
That’s what’s up, Bobby. Couldn’t have said it better ourselves.
