Rhode Island, along with most of the country, is in the midst of a reckoning.
Catalyzed by a string of high-profile deaths of Black Americans—particularly the alleged murder of George Floyd, who died in police custody in Minneapolis—thousands of Rhode Islanders have taken to the streets in recent weeks to protest racism and police brutality. And although law enforcement reform may not traditionally fall into the wheelhouse of leaders in the innovation community, organizations are beginning to turn inward, finding ways to make their own teams and programs more inclusive.
“We’re all sitting here and watching the news,” said Kajsa Whitney, meetings and event sales manager at Venture Café Providence. “We all knew this wasn’t new, but last week struck a chord, because it was clear as day.”
Venture Café and District Hall Providence, sister organizations that fall under the umbrella of Venture Café New England, are recommitting to their mandate to amplify voices of color in the Rhode Island ecosystem—a pillar of Venture Café already, which emphasizes that “innovation is for everyone,” but one that is especially urgent now.
Last week, Whitney was one of five panelists in a virtual Venture Café session framed around discussing racial inequity. That session was just a first step in Venture Café’s new action plan, which the organization outlined in a statement last week. Whitney and Sydney Manning, marketing coordinator at Venture Café Providence, have also put out a call for submissions to build a list of businesses and organizations owned or led by minorities in Rhode Island.
So far, the list has just a few responses, Whitney and Manning said. But the eventual goal is to create a robust directory that Venture Café and similar organizations can use to guide their programming. It might make a good reference for investors and consumers, too, as well as entrepreneurs of color who want to connect.
“it’s really hard to believe that something is for you if no one else in the room looks like you,” Whitney said. “We want to provide representation so people feel welcome and believe things are actually attainable, that they can launch and grow their businesses.”
Venture Café’s global team is considering hosting more pitch competitions, which traditionally have been a successful avenue to get more diverse founders in the room, Manning said. Venture Café Providence is also in talks to partner with other business-focused organizations and the Providence Mayor’s Office on events.
Those new initiatives, as well as the messaging around them, will be critical if the Ocean State innovation community wants to be more equitable. A February report from Fit Small Business on the state of Black entrepreneurship ranked Rhode Island the third-worst state for Black small business owners. The same report found that overall, just 1 percent of venture-backed startup founders are Black.
“It’s something Sydney and I, both being women of color, both see and feel in our day-to-day,” Whitney said. “If we feel that way and we’re in the [District Hall] space, imagine someone who isn’t in the inner circle. They might feel like it’s not for them. It’s this beautiful, glass, well-constructed building. If we sometimes feel like it’s not for us, imagine the rest of the community of people of color.”
Aside from Venture Café and District Hall Providence, a handful of other startup organizations with Rhode Island presences are making moves.
MassChallenge, which runs an accelerator in Rhode Island, has outlined steps to ensure its programs are more equitable. In an email, CEO Siobhan Dullea said she views those steps as early components of a “transformational process” designed to address MassChallenge’s overall organizational culture.
“We—and many others in the innovation community—are in a unique position to use our privilege, platform and networks to provide immediate opportunities to Black founders while working towards long-lasting change by breaking down systemic barriers in the innovation community,” Dullea said.
The process will begin with an analysis of the talent acquisition data on MassChallenge’s own team, as well as a review of application and finalist data to ensure the program’s existing recruiting and judging practices aren’t leaving out entrepreneurs of color. Each of MassChallenge’s 2020 programs will include anti-bias and anti-racist trainings for their mentors, startups and teams, and MassChallenge will also create a formal cross-cohort networks of founders from diverse backgrounds.
As Manning points out, it will take a great deal of collaboration for any long-lasting change in the Rhode Island startup ecosystem.
“Nothing is solved alone,” she said. “This is a team effort. The way that we move forward is together.”
