A new initiative led by a handful of leaders at Chicago venture capital firms wants to examine the diversity gap in Chicago's tech community, and identify ways the city's VCs and startups can become more inclusive.
Chicago Blend, launched officially last week, is a collaborative effort of venture capitalists in Chicago to measure and increase "DEI" (diversity, equity and inclusion) in Chicago VC firms and the startups that they back.
Modeled after a similar program in New York called NYC Blend, Chicago Blend is focused on three specific initiatives: collect diversity data across all Chicago venture firms, collect diversity data on Chicago's venture-backed startups, and build out a resource library where VCs and startups can go to find tools to help increase diversity, equity and inclusion in their teams.
Chicago Blend has already accomplished the first initiative, and the numbers aren't pretty. The group collected information on 348 employees at 70 Chicago-based VC firms that have made at least one investment in the last year and manage $5 million or more. Chicago Blend found that:
- 75 percent of the Chicago VC industry is male
- 86 percent is white
- 86 percent of executive-level roles are held by men
- 91 percent of executive-level roles are held by whites
The goal is to compile data so that the industry can fully understand the diversity challenge in front of it, and then develop strategies to improve the number of women and minorities at both local VC firms and startups, said Lindsay Knight, director of platform at Chicago Ventures and one of the eight people on the Chicago Blend board.
"The idea is to change the numbers," Knight said. "DEI can feel really, really daunting. A lot of people shy away from talking about it. It's scary to talk about, and it's hard to take the first step."
The next step for Chicago Blend will be to collect data across all venture-backed startups that Chicago VCs have invested in, looking at things like how many women work in tech and product and how many underrepresented minorities have board seats, for example. The group hopes to have this information collected by the end of 2018.
In addition to the resource library Chicago Blend has made, it plans to identify two to three specific initiatives to help fill some of the largest gaps based on all the data it collects.
"We also believe that Chicago is in a position to be the most diverse and inclusive startup ecosystem in the world," Knight said. "We hope we can help our community be more intentional about it."
Other Chicago Blend board members include John Tough, Energize; Kristi Dula, Pritzker Group VC; Gale Bowman, IrishAngels Ventures; Jackie DiMonte, Hyde Park Venture Partners; Devon Leichtman, Origin Ventures; Ryan Mundy, Techlete Ventures; and Elizabeth Coston McCluskey, Impact Engine.
You can see more of Chicago Blend's data here.
