Chris Motley, founder and CEO of early-stage Denver startup Mentor Spaces, seeks to help companies struggling to address diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
“Companies that do a better job than others apply the same rigor to the practice of DEI as they would if they were expanding their business overseas or launching a new product,” he said.
Motley sees mentorship as the key for businesses to succeed in this area. Mentor Spaces aims to make meaningful connections between employees at large companies and prospective, often underrepresented, talent.
“Mentorship is the strategy for companies to achieve their DEI goals,” he said.
His method is proving persuasive. Mentor Spaces, which launched less than a year ago, has already partnered with major companies like GM Financial, TIAA, T-Mobile and UBS.
With 50,000 members already, the startup’s technology uses machine learning and artificial intelligence to facilitate conversations between experts and mentees. These conversations are meant to align with a person’s professional interests and goals through group and one-on-one sessions.
As it grows in the DEI ecosystem, Mentor Spaces recently announced that it has raised a $2.5 million seed funding round led by The American Family Insurance Institute for Corporate and Social Impact. Other investors include ECMC, Portfolia, ReThink Education, Service Provider Capital and The Social Entrepreneur's Fund.
Motley said this capital will allow Mentor Spaces to expand its leadership team, boost sales and marketing efforts and accelerate product innovations.
Last year, as companies were forced home by Covid-19 and addressing the societal repercussions of George Floyd’s murder, Motley watched as more businesses began emphasizing DEI efforts. Companies across geographies and industries made statements, instituted policies and drove funding to address inequities.
As a Black founder, Motley said he’s keenly aware of the issues that limit underrepresented founders in the workplace. He also sees why companies struggle to follow through on DEI efforts.
“In this challenge of ‘how do you help companies better attract and retain underrepresented talent,’ you have to go to the problem that the very people you’re trying to attract have,” he said. The primary problems Motley sees are lack of confidence and lack of social capital or connections.
Because he doesn't believe DEI was top of mind for many businesses until last year, Motley said there needs to be a mindset change in how businesses address the issues.
“I don’t think anybody is doing that well, let’s be clear about that,” he said.
For companies, Mentor Spaces creates a unique way to connect with the underrepresented talent they are seeking. It also allows employees to grow as leaders, Motley said.
“One of the unintended benefits that come out of it is you allow your employee base to develop as leaders by also becoming ambassadors of your company and cultivating talent you’re trying to attract,” he said.
Motley said the goal for Mentor Spaces is to match people that share experiences, ignoring other outside factors.
“If you focus it on lived experience and break down the hierarchy of things like age and title, a lot of people are in a position to be a mentor to others. And a lot of people are in a position to be mentored by others,” he said.
His own interest in mentorship stems from one conversation.
“Had it not been for certain people and the conversations we had, I would’ve thought my range of opportunities would’ve been far more limited than what they were,” Motley said.
As a young kid growing up in Chicago, Motley was introduced to someone who worked at Goldman Sachs. He has a vivid memory of that conversation, easily recalling details about how that person looked and even smelled like success to him.
He also remembers hearing their job description and thinking, "I can do that."
Motley went on to attend Columbia University and launch a career that would land him at Goldman Sachs, just like his first business mentor. Now he seeks to set others on a similar successful path through his startup.
