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Founders Forum and the broader Founders Family exists to serve the tech community. As a collective, our mission is to champion and support entrepreneurs, at every stage of their journey.
We know that like us, you’ve witnessed, and been horrified by, the events of the past two weeks, and that this outrage has sparked long overdue conversations about the inequalities faced by the Black community worldwide.
Within our sector, we recognise the impact on Black founders, investors, and operators across the tech industry, and acknowledge we must do more to support diversity and address underrepresentation.
This is especially stark given that less than 1% of venture funding goes to Black founders (Atomico), 75% of tech companies feature no BAME representation at the board level, and 70% feature no representation at executive level (Inclusive Boards).
As such, we have listened to our partners and colleagues, and will be launching a number of internal initiatives dedicated to supporting and promoting the Black tech community.
The first of these is FF Office Hours. Without providing access to the networks and connections of more privileged counterparts, structural imbalances will not be righted. In partnership with Color in Tech, this scheme offers mentorship to those working within or looking to enter the tech sector, and is also open to those from other BAME communities. Mentees can apply to be a part of the scheme here.
Beyond this, we will continue to listen, and work to improve our approaches and attitudes with our diversity and inclusion focused partners and family brands, including accelerateHER, Founders of the Future, Founders Pledge and Black Tech Fest, a new event series and community to celebrate Black innovation & creativity.
We are aware that there is much more to be done on this journey. To help us and others be informed, here are some additional resources that have been compiled by Founders Pledge and Founders Intelligence.
We are committed to learning, and welcome any feedback or suggestions for collaboration – via theteam@ff.co.
#BlackLivesMatter
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From the Founders Forum Family
Black Tech Fest
Black Tech Fest creates experiences and community to celebrate black innovation and creativity. Led by Color In Tech and London Tech Week, Black Tech Fest is a platform to celebrate the Black community and explore avenues for investment, creativity, education and expansive opportunities for wider impact.
Founders of the Future
Founders of the Future is on a mission to build a world-class pool of diverse and exceptional entrepreneurial talent who will build tomorrow’s high impact sustainable startups. Home of the national startup competition, The F Factor, Founders of the Future creates programmes, tools and events for future founders in their journey to become tech entrepreneurs.
accelerateHER
accelerateHER exists to address the under-representation of women in technology and secure an inclusive future across all business. We harnesses a global community of leaders in technology to mobilise change: our events provide founders with the crucial network and visibility they need to raise capital, access new networks and forge new business partnerships. We also equip senior leaders with tools to support a data-driven, action-focused approach to achieving diversity, equality and inclusion in their companies and to accelerate change in our industry. We are women first, but for everyone who is passionate about working towards gender parity.
