THE TIDAL EQUALITY CURRENT

Having completed the training (along with his staff), Ian has adopted a take-it-and-run-with-it energy, applying the Equity Sequence™ toward as many aspects of the program’s processes as he can. Toward recruitment. Toward admissions. And toward the curriculum.

Is a traditional science degree truly a necessity toward becoming an effective clinician? If a Black or Indigenous candidate were to come to an interview with a panel of all-White physicians, would their level of ease be the same as a White candidate’s? Does the four-year GPA average disadvantage students who might get off to a slow start but end up academically strong? All this questioning has led their task force to make tangible, measurable, concrete changes to the program.

As extremes of economic inequality, exacerbated by the pandemic, make it impossible to imagine simply going back to business as usual, the viral spread of far-right extremism and escalating nativist rhetoric make it hard to shake off a sense of foreboding.

We need to address head-on, rather than dance around, the parallels between White nationalist groups on the one hand, intent on maintaining the current power structure or even returning it to an outdated past, and the kind of uneasiness and resistance you still find in the professional world; the academic; the world of arts and entertainment; and countless others, toward the idea of expanding equity and disrupting or challenging an existing power dynamic in the process.

Bias training wasn’t created by people with experiences of discrimination and prejudice.

It wasn’t created by folks who were passionate about making a wave that would change the landscape and ultimately create a more equal world.

It wasn’t designed to actually work.

What we need to recognize is that the many manifestations and expressions of inequity are as numerous and as unique as the individuals who experience them. Only inequity itself if ubiquitous.

Many decision-makers are particularly susceptible in crisis situations to making mistakes and bad decisions due to overconfidence, excessive risk taking, and conscious and unconscious biases of all kinds.

So, let me say again, if your female founder support program (or event or bootcamp or network, or what have you) doesn’t educate women about the gender inequality of the VC ecosystem, you’re setting them up to fail.

Why do I care?  Because (in the US) more than $10B is invested annually, and that’s a LOT OF MONEY. Some of that is public money!

Public money being spent by public schools, public education institutions, health institutions… in many cases, organizations that aren’t flush with the cash that Fortune 500s wield.

Serving diverse populations with unique needs, PLs have a massive potential to augment social cohesion and wellbeing. But is the impact of PLs impeded by the fact our workforce is not representative of the communities we serve?