Zhou Fang and her company Intersectional Group aren’t the typical founder and startup you’d expect in an accelerator program.
She is part of the current cohort of the Portland Incubator Experiment — which concludes with Demo Day Aug. 10 — and she is building a consulting firm focused on equity, diversity and inclusion with specialty in intersectionality. She has a particular passion around pay transparency and equity.
“As an immigrant, when I entered the workforce as an international worker, I had to accept a lot of conditions that most people aren’t aware of,” Fang said. “I had to jump through hoops to get sponsorship. I had to accept that I am going to make less money and have to cover legal fees for immigration lawyers. I had to pay fees to the (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.)”
Last year, after living in the U.S. for 12 years, Fang received a green card, so her immigration status was no longer tied to an employer. She set out to start her own business and build Intersectional Group.
She has an early roster of clients, and the business is her full-time job. By participating in PIE she was not only able to tap into the resources of mentors and the network of the accelerator, she was also able to share her expertise with the other founders about the importance of incorporating equity diversity and inclusion from the very start of a business.
“It needs to be part of the business strategy and not an afterthought,” she said.
The technology or product: Equity, diversity, inclusion and leadership consulting
How it makes money: Intersectional Group takes on clients for different lengths of engagement. Most contracts are for three to six months, but Fang will also take on shorter contracts depending on a company's needs. It provides live events, pre-recorded sessions as well as one-on-one executive coaching.
Size of market: Globally, $9 billion is expected to be spent on the diversity, equity and inclusion market. That number is expected to hit $30 billion by 2033, according to Fact.MR research.
Competition: The last several years have seen a rise in DEI service providers. Fang sees the growing space as one ripe for collaboration since each practice tends to focus on different elements of the much broader DEI market. She currently recommends several other practitioners in town that have added capabilities to her own.
Competitive advantage: Fang comes at this work with the lived experience as an immigrant, a woman and a Chinese person who has worked in the technology sector as a communications leader. She sees her framework of intersectionality as a unique offering. She is also involved in work to bring pay transparency to Oregon, either through community leadership within DEI or legislation. For the past two years, Intersectional Group has conducted pay transparency surveys to gather data on salary information that can be used to advance legislation on making pay transparency mandatory. Fang is chair of the policy committee at Women’s Foundation of Oregon and working to bring a pay transparency bill to Salem next year.
Business it could disrupt: The way that equity, diversity and inclusion as well as leadership have been understood.
Managers and their background: Zhou Fang is an immigrant, multicultural communicator and intersectional leader. She spent a decade in technology as communications director. She is a voting member on the Jade District Steering Committee, a board member at the Portland HR Management Association and chair of the Policy Committee at Women’s Foundation of Oregon.
Investors: Self-funded
Ideal exit: No exit plan so far
Closer Look
Company name: Intersectional Group LLC
Headquarters: Portland
Founded: 2022
CEO: Zhou Fang
Employees: multiple contractors
Web: intersectional.group
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