| DELIVERING ON DIVERSITY, GENDER EQUALITY, AND INCLUSION
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| This week, we consider the landmark confirmation of Dr. Lisa D. Cook to the US Federal Reserve Board. Plus: a look at who gets VC funding. |
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| This week, the US Senate confirmed Dr. Lisa D. Cook as a member of the Federal Reserve Board. Dr. Cook will be the first Black woman to serve as a Fed governor. |
| The Fed’s newest governor is an expert on innovation—and she says that racism and sexism are standing in the way of it. She often highlights the stats on US venture capital funding: only about 1 percent of VC funding goes to Black Americans. About 5 percent goes to women founders. And just 0.2 percent goes to Black women. The economist puts it plainly: “That’s got to change. That means that we are leaving a lot of ideas on the table.” After all, Cook says, “If you rely on the same old people, you are going to get the same old ideas.” |
| McKinsey analysis shows that access to capital is a major roadblock for Black founders in the US. White entrepreneurs start their businesses with an average of over $100,000 of capital, including nearly $20,000 in outside equity such as venture capital. Black founders, on the other hand, start with about $35,000 in start-up capital—including just $500 of outside equity.
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| Black-owned funds such as Harlem Capital and Backstage Capital (both founded in 2015 and referenced in this MGI report) are working to shift the status quo. Harlem Capital has set out to “change the face of entrepreneurship and create generational wealth for people of color and women.” Backstage Capital, which is headquartered in LA, describes investing in underrepresented founders as “the biggest opportunity in investment.” In the words of Arlan Hamilton, the fund’s managing partner: “We invest in the very best founders who identify as women, people of color, or LGBTQ+. I personally identify as all three.” |
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| Making the innovation process more inclusive would boost the US economy at large. Dr. Cook estimates that GDP per capita could be up to 4.4 percent higher if more Black Americans and more women were able to participate in the innovation economy. In other words, she says, standards of living would be higher for everyone. Dr. Cook takes care to emphasize the connection: “We are not just calculating GDP for GDP’s sake, but to achieve higher living standards.”
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| One American city—Atlanta—stands out as a site of inclusive innovation. That’s thanks in part to Georgia Tech, along with HBCUs, including Dr. Cook’s alma mater, Spelman College. Among the VC funds that are remaking the landscape is Atlanta-based Collab Capital, which is focused exclusively on Black founders. Launched in 2019, the firm closed its first $50 million fund last year.
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| Managing partner Jewel Burks Solomon (pictured above) founded her own start-up in Atlanta back in 2013. “At the time,” she says, “most investors I was talking to were trying to convince me to move back to Silicon Valley or maybe to New York.” In fact, being in Atlanta meant better access to her customers—and to key talent. |
| Editor’s note: It has been a pleasure leading Intersection. This is my last issue at the helm of the newsletter, so to all readers: thank you, and stay tuned! |
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| — Edited by Julia Arnous, an editor in McKinsey’s Boston office |
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