Finding board-ready black women and women of color
Inclusion is a core commitment and core value for Valor. So when a friend of the firm asked us to help source board-ready black women, we realized there was a huge opportunity not only for our portfolio firms, where we strive for inclusive boards, teams and cap tables, but also for others. Just a few days after that post looking for talent, it had 11,000 views. Valor associate Cariana Morales created this public listing of Valor’s network of board-ready black women. It’s a V.1, and we look forward to hardening it and sharing the work. I want to thank the many leaders who helped us source this list and referred talent.
Picture your own boards and advisory councils.
Today is always the right time to act. Given the 15-35% performance premiums associated with inclusive boards, if your board is not inclusive, can you afford to wait? Let us suggest a bar for you–representation. Think of your customer base, paying special attention to the segment of that customer base that is growing (or should be growing). Make sure the spectrum of your customerbase and customer growth segments are represented.
There are many organizations doing leading work in this area. Him-For-Her is one such resource. They conduct a FREE board search for quality female candidates for paid and public boards. One of our portfolio firms just tapped this outstanding service last week. Try it!
Join Valor at an upcoming digital event for the inclusive innovation ecosystem Upcoming events
At Valor, we’re proud of our reputation for investing in under-represented founders and our Inclusion Premium investing philosophy. The majority of our portfolio is led by underrepresented founders. We run Startup Runway, the largest pitch event for under-represented founders in the country.