I often get asked, “Why do I keep going and pushing forward on being a voice for increasing access to capital for women and communities of color?”
Then I read articles like this one on Refinery29 by my friend Danielle Kayembe and I am reminded why. Not just from my own daily experience of butting up a system of “coded patriarchy,” but realizing that I am not alone and am speaking up and acting on behalf of myself and so many others.
The article shares…“Despite the increased scrutiny when it comes to funding and entrepreneurship, women’s access to capital is decreasing: In 2015, women were receiving 15% of total VC funding, and those numbers have declined to 2% in 2017.”
It goes on to say, “When a population influences 85% of consumer spending, yet only receives 2% of venture funding, there is a fundamental disconnect at the leadership level in the business and investment community.”
When I am up against it and hitting the walls of society’s limitations, and my own, I think about others before me – Galileo, Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks and so many more to inspire me to keep going and to tap into perhaps some of what they had to dig deep into – faith, being a huge part of it, and yes, of course, love.
I often hear from many of those in my community who have either come from more privilege or gained it through their own hard work that ultimately it comes down to being committed and holding a vibration and focusing on what we want, not what we don’t. While I am a yogi, and believe and know that is true, I also know that there is a 3D reality that has to be shifted in that process as well and relates to the expression, “On earth as it is in heaven,” that world leaders I mentioned before me and us have had to overcome in order to push progress forward.
There is a physical, human, 3D reality and density of existing conditions of things like “coded patriarchy,” that are systems that are in place that favor certain individuals or groups that take time, and the right leadership, to change. And while, we can individually or collectively see that shifting vibrationally, it still requires an action here on earth – for individuals, much like Rosa Parks, to take that first courageous step and sit in the front of the bus, for the greater wave of people to see a new reality, a different reality, a more equitable and fair reality, and then to follow, to get behind and really stand up to support that leader and those first leaders to continue to move the bar forward and change things.
When I read the statistic that access to venture funding for women has decreased from 15% in 2015 to 2% in 2017, I felt both a huge wave of relief – that validated the hard road of my own journey and experiences with our investment fund – and a sobering reality and sadness of how much further we have to go and wonder what it will take.
I don’t have all the answers, but perhaps I can share a few things that I have learned from my own journey, that could provide some insights for the path forward:
1. Leadership
As mentioned in the article, it all gets back to leadership, and I believe that leadership actually begins with male leadership. We need our male allies not just to stand up, speak up and run for office and other things that are supportive of women – but we also need them to take risks where it is needed – in investing in and increasing access to capital for women, and communities of color.
I have heard many male friends talk of crypto currency and other avenues that could be a panacea for women and minorities, yet still see very few women and communities of color in those conversations because they are still coded in very male frameworks. I have also heard of groups of men coming together to talk about how to support more women and/or minorities – which is extremely needed and valuable – and yet can barely get those individuals to the table.
Another example that I have seen over and over again in the investing world is that if a male friend makes an introduction to a potential investor, but he himself hasn’t invested, then more often than not, the potential investor won’t invest. Particularly, if they ask the referrer if they have invested and if they say they haven’t, then they most likely won’t either.
It requires leadership and having our male allies step out of their comfort zones, do something different in order to help change the game and shift the ratio.
2. Self Mastery
Another thing I have seen is the need for all of us – and in particular women – to hit new levels of self mastery. Many women may take offense to this or get defensive, but hear me out.
Women were only allowed to have their own bank accounts without a husband 43 years ago in the U.S. Do I need to repeat that statistic? It is mind boggling. But it speaks to something very important – along with all of the media messages for the last few decades – that we need a man, we need to find our prince and so on and so forth.
While women have become the largest influencers of consumer spending today, we haven’t always been that way. We also have to remember that because of “coded patriarchy,” and the system being set up in such a way that favors men at every turn – from business to media, technology, clothing, our civic infrastructures, and so much more, we have to be on our game and in full self mastery.
That is, when they go low, we go high. We – as women and communities of color - need to know the rules in order to beat them, and lift each other up in the process. The system is set up to divide us – and much of the time it works.
Look at the past election cycles – white women invariably voted against change that could have more positively impacted themselves and communities of color.
Only when we begin to better understand the dynamics that divide us and gain more self mastery in uniting ourselves, will we more swiftly turn the tides.
3. Courage & Compassion
Finally, we all need to have so much more courage to speak out, act out and bravely push the boundaries of where things have been to shift them to better outcomes for all. Yet, this will require doing so with much more grace and compassion than ever.
I went to an event on diversity and inclusion and when I got there, it was mostly women and communities of color. By the second speaker, the few white men that had been there left. Part of this was because the conversation got heated, which of course it often does. But we need to ask ourselves, is that working?
Clearly people on all sides are hurting. However, we all need to take a lens that we have all been suffering as a result of patriarchy – just in different ways – and we need to have more compassion for ourselves and others in those dialogues – and more gentleness in our approaches. Some may disagree, yet my experience, has been that all people respond better to kindness and a carrot, rather than a stick, and research in childhood education and beyond has only proven that.
If men have the choice between going to a cigar party and drinking bourbon with the guys or coming to a community event focused on diversity and inclusion, particularly one in which they will get beaten down, which do you think the majority will attend?
Exactly. While it may be a choice that privilege allows for, it still is the reality.
So if we want real change, we all have to shift into a place of more compassion and understanding things from the other side of the street, rather than attacking or judging each other from the beginning. Otherwise, change will be slow and painful, where it might actually move more quickly and become more fruitful.
I have been fortunate and blessed enough to have worked on diversity issues for much of my life, as the daughter of an immigrant and growing up with a community of immigrants, diversity was the beauty that was all around me. I have had the honor of being invited into rooms of all Black communities talking about mental illness and criminal justice to multicultural conversations about disparities and their individual and collective differences to being invited into some of the most white privileged boardrooms. I have seen and heard more different perspectives than many.
What I found in them all is that for the most part, we are all doing the best we can, with the lens and perspectives we bring, and that we want to do better for ourselves and our loved ones. Some of us have had more help – whether from our families, our communities or from society’s structures at large.
The key to moving forward is to find ways to empower, incentivize and lift each other up to unite, not divide us further, for the greatest changes to come. Coming from a place of love, compassion and kindness are some of the keys to the path ahead to increasing access to capital for women and communities of color – and to unlocking some of the greatest solutions to our economy and Mother Earth moving forward.