Startup funding has a diversity problem: Black, Latinx and Indigenous founders in the US receive less than 10% of VC dollars combined. One bright spot: entrepreneur support organizations (ESOs) like incubators and accelerators that are playing an ever-growing role in supporting, fund, and sustaining innovators of color.
Resource, co-led by Village Capital and The Black Innovation Alliance, is a nationwide project to support ESOs led by and focused on founders of color, including helping these organizations raise funding to build their operations and impact. The first cohort is listed below.
In this session, we will match participating funders/allocators with ESO leaders from around the United States in a structured, *no-pitch* environment, to provide a chance for funders to meet ESO leaders and provide mentorship and advice on how they present their organization, their vision, and their needs to funders.
This is a great way for allocators to provide these essential organizations with tangible value outside of direct funding, gain deeper insights into these organizations’ needs, and share best practices in funding with one another!
Resource First Cohort:
- Alfred Mathews, ESO Ventures
- Lucy Huang, Impact Ventures
- Deldep Medina, Black and Brown Founder
- Jessica Stago, Change LabsK
- Keisha Mabry Haymore, Wepower
- Kerrie Bowie, Majira Project
- Kunbi Tinuoye, UrbanGeekz
- Liz Gamboa, New Mexico Community Capital
- Luis Martinez, We Tha Plug
- Brooke Turner, Div Inc
- Melinda Weeks Laidlow, Beautiful Ventures
- Tammy Clottey, Collab Studio
- Garry Johnson III, First Founders
