“When Camelback first started, our goal was to build a community of people committed to diversifying entrepreneurship. We know, though, that our work is about more than putting new faces to old problems. It is about how we can grow a community willing to use their assets to pass on a future that can work for everyone.”
Read More“I get to do really important work supporting Camelback Venture’s Capital Collaborative. For reference, Capital Collaborative is a program that works with mostly white grantmakers and social impact investors who are ready to critically examine and deepen their organization’s commitment to racial and gender equity — but may not know how. I’m proud of this and other work I do in service of building a more just and equitable world — but as a white father, partnered with a white wife, raising three white children I believe it is equally, and on some days more, impactful to be raising our children to be anti-racist.”
Read More“Part of that recovery is a woman who knows what it is to be the first; Kamala Harris, who will make history as the first woman, first Black woman, and first Indian woman to help lead the United States. Vice President Kamala Harris, alongside President Joe Biden, has nominated health and science teams that value the role of scientists, doctors, and data in getting the pandemic under control. With Quartolio, our team will do its part by releasing the Coronavirus Core, our solution for automated insights on global COVID-19 research.”
“In 2021, we are looking forward to brighter days, growth, and innovation. We launched a new Capital Collaborative cohort; we are reconfiguring the Camelback Fellowship, and we are investing in our network of past Fellows by building a team to support them.”
“As a Black woman leader and entrepreneur, it is empowering to witness Kamala Harris, an HBCU educated Black woman of Indian descent, become the first female Vice-President of the United States. This is a culmination of the work of many Black women leaders before her and I have no doubt she will follow their and her mother’s charge to leave the door open for others to follow. VP-elect Harris embodies the meaning of Sankofa as she constantly connects her source of inspiration to the audacious spirit of her mother and is deeply driven by the stories of her ancestors. In this I feel she is a kindred spirit, as my journey as an entrepreneur and leader are too tied to family lessons and legacies.”
“Enter: Kamala Devi Harris. We are about to watch you be sworn into office as the first ever female and BIPOC Vice President. Up until now, most of my Black female idols have been fictional (I changed my major in college after Scandal’s Olivia Pope reminded me that a Black woman could be a bomb leader). You are about to embark on a journey of critical importance. You will be both idolized and idealized at the same time, an immense honor, and a whole lot of pressure. As you step forward onto this new path, I hope that you will remember these tips for emotional and mental self-care…”
“I became an entrepreneur to solve what I call The Frizzle Problem: in the history of children's television, there has never been a real, live, human woman science role model. As a scientist, educator, and performer myself, I decided to be the role model I wish I had had growing up.”
“I started my first venture when I was literally nine years old making and selling mazes that I drew for my classmates. I learned that working for people teaches you how to better work for yourself. What I enjoy most about being a founder is both the autonomy and no direct person to stifle or reject my vision and direction, because they can't see the relative worth of what I propose. I also like the challenge of building what's in my head.”
“What I enjoy most about being a founder is seeing the results of my teams' hard work. I love being creative, adaptive, and supportive. I love having the ability to build a culture centered around trust and authentic care for each other, our customers, and their employees.”
“I had a vision to create something that I believed would add value and make the world a better place. I enjoy collaborating with smart and creative people.”
“I was tired of being in spaces, mistaken for the secretary, or told that I was too young to be the "Head" of something. Thus, I created my own table at Generation Success and took my seat there. What I enjoy most about being a founder is dreaming big, and often, then watching my dreams come true.”
“I taught in schools that were not led by us and didn't want to waste my few years on this earth asking permission to unleash our collective genius. I rather birth the new than fix the old.”
“As an entrepreneur, you are told "no" 90% of the time. You are your own and your company's own best advocate. You have to possess a ruthless "belief in our mission and vision” to build a team, grow a company, fundraise to support an idea, and work with customers through the ups and downs of the entrepreneurial journey. That all begins with an unshakeable belief in the mission and vision.”
“The promise of a better future. Embarking on this journey has meant staying committed to making sure the future is better, and different from the present state. I would not have started Words Liive unless I truly believed that I could impact the future. That's also the most enjoyable thing about being a founder. My decisions are directly and easily translated into outcomes. The proximity to the change we're helping cause is such a beautiful thing.”
What's your Equity Journey to an Antiracist Policy Agenda? Scott Jenkins is the Strategy Director of Lumina Foundation and proud Camelback Ventures Capital Collaborative supporter. Listen as he shares his personal equity narrative - a powerful story about learning and revolution.
Read More“The opportunity to design a school that is aligned to my value and vision for learning is what propelled me into this work. After more than 15 years in education including higher ed, early childhood, non-profit, governance, and corporate, I have seen the best and the worst of education at every level. Working to launch Capital Experience Lab Public Charter School gives me an opportunity to work with amazing educators to design a school with the best practices for student success.”
“I was interested in becoming an entrepreneur once I was exposed to massive inequities in the K-12 public education system after being a middle school educator for several years in urban Chicago. Today, I am most fond of being able to react to problems both internally and within the education space with great flexibility and autonomy.”
Read MoreWe’ve called them “Camelback’s Superheroes” in the past and as 2020 comes to a close that title couldn’t be more on point. The COVID-19 pandemic, a recession, and continued systematic racism which propelled the Black Lives Matter movement into the whitestream spotlight - these are just some of the herculean obstacles the BIPOC and women founders we call the #camelbackfam continue to stare down, skillfully adapt to, and work tirelessly to overcome navigating the unknowns of 2020 and beyond.
Read MoreThe makeup of my predominantly white world only started to change when I became conscious of it — and when I started to be more intentional about the relationships I was building both personally and professionally. My networks are more diverse now than ever, yet still predominantly white — and I acknowledge this will always be a work in progress. Why? Because for white Americans, our uninterrogated and unconscious ways of being are white. “Business as usual” defaults to white.
Read MoreI want to know what values and principles will guide your work in pursuit of justice and how will you hold yourself publicly accountable to striving to live out these values and principles each day. In my work supporting funders interested in a more community-centered and justice-oriented approach, the eagerness to sprint toward the creation and execution of solutions is inspiring, but without being firmly grounded in a set of values and principles their strategy is standing on a bed of quicksand.
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