The Fellowship for Impact Fund I Managers is part of VC Include’s effort to speed the investment industry’s evolution by “creating an inclusive ecosystem of LPs and GPs from diverse backgrounds” (listen to founder Bahiyah Yasmeen Robinson on “Three drivers of inclusion alpha”).
Among the managers selected for the latest cohort are Douglas Watson of Measured Capital, an early stage venture capital firm that invests outside of major US tech hubs; Laura Fox of Streetlife Ventures, a New York-based firm that invests at the intersection of climate and cities; and Keith Daniel of Resilient Ventures in Durham, NC, that is expanding access to capital for African American founders.
The nine female and nine male managers will go through VC Include’s two-month program. With education and support, said VC Include’s Milton Speid, the managers “can unlock untapped potential and work towards a brighter, more inclusive future for all.”
Return on inclusion
Just 1.4% of US assets under management are entrusted by investors to firms owned by women or women of color. “VCI supports its fellows — who, while brilliant, have generally been underserved and overlooked by traditional capital markets – to accelerate innovative and profitable ventures that reduce inequities and drive economic growth,” said Liz Diebold of the Skoll Foundation, which supports the annual program alongside the MacArthur Foundation, Blue Haven Initiative, Pivotal Ventures and others.
