Implicit Bias Workshop and Discussion
As climate investment increases and the VC funding gap for founders from underrepresented backgrounds, we know that a barrier remains to getting the best solutions that can solve the climate crisis to market due to bias. Uncovering implicit bias and understanding the role investors must play to address their own is crucial as this industry expands and we all aim to protect people and the planet. Join SecondMuse and Visible Hands for a workshop and discussion aimed at generating empathy and understanding for diverse founders’ experiences and tactical ways to be part of the solution.
This convening is an opportunity to engage around implicit bias in the investment process, identify opportunities to improve performance by reducing bias, and commit to more equitable practices in the investing space.
in partnership with
Visible Hands is an investment firm with a 14-week full-time fellowship program that supports underrepresented talent in building technology startups. We provide company building services and investments of up to $200k to our annual cohort of fellows.
Impact Experience builds bridges and deep relationships between impact investors, foundations, entrepreneurs, artists and local leaders to co-create solutions with marginalized communities.
Speakers
Tia Thomson | Associate | Visible Hands
Tia Thomson is a passionate equity-centered designer working to change the face of tech at Visible Hands. As an Associate, Tia leads design efforts, manages the cohort selection process, and supports fellows in building out their startups. Prior to joining Visible Hands, Tia was a Design Fellow at the U.S. Census Bureau’s Open Innovation Labs, where she facilitated development sprints with technologists to create public-facing digital tools using federal open data. She graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Design from Northeastern University.
Jenna Nicholas | CEO | Impact Experience
Jenna Nicholas is the CEO of Impact Experience which is focused on addressing the very critical (and timely) issues of structural racism and incorporates a variety of powerful tools to tackle prejudice by confronting and engaging with the historical and ongoing realities of inequality and racial bias. Jenna is also the Vice President of One Planet VC where she invests in early stage businesses in transformative industries, such as education technology, marketplaces, media and the future of mobility. Jenna formerly founded Phoenix Global Impact, a firm that specializes in impact investing, social entrepreneurship and strategic philanthropy.
Jenna has worked with the World Bank Treasury on green bonds and other sustainability projects and with Toniic helping to support an impact investing community. She has worked closely with the Calvert Special Equities team and is an advisor to the Nexus Global Youth Summit and Ethic, an online impact investing platform. Jenna is a Stanford Graduate School of Business MBA graduate, is a PD Soros Fellow for New Americans, recipient of the Stanford Social Innovation Fellowship, an Echoing Green Fellow, Forbes 30 under 30 for Social Entrepreneurship and a Summit fellow. Jenna has special links with China and co-taught a course at Tsinghua School of Economics and Management on Business Ethics, Sustainability and Impact Investing. Jenna also co-chairs the Emerging Leaders Council of LISC, a community development finance institution. Jenna is the Vice President of Stanford Angels and Entrepreneurs. She is an active member of the Bahá’í Faith.
Whitney Brown, Ph.D., MBA | Associate | Impact Experience
Whitney Brown is a healthcare innovation and investment professional focused on investments in new and transformative ways to promote equity and access in the medical system. Whitney is passionate about eliminating disparities in healthcare through changes in asset allocation, hiring practices, and legacy systems. She uses her knowledge of study design principles and research fundamentals to promote best practices in business. Whitney has worked with a number of start-up companies, investment funds, and healthcare providers to promote practices that support quality, affordability, and wide-spread distribution of innovative services and products. She envisions a world where patients are treated with dignity and respect regardless of socioeconomics and demographics.
Whitney earned her BA from Stanford University in Medical Anthropology and a Ph.D. from Yale University in Biological and Biomedical Sciences where she also earned a certificate in Global Public Health. Whitney returned to the classroom and completed her MBA specializing in Data Analytics in 2018. Whitney brings empathy and passion to the qualitative sciences. When not fighting against disparities in healthcare, Whitney enjoys yoga, assembling furnishings and gadgets (without the directions) and traveling on culinary tours around the world.
Chante Harris | Director of Climate Investment & Partnerships | SecondMuse
Chante Harris is a champion of launching innovative companies and solutions across some of the fastest-growing industries through successful go-to-market strategies and public-private partnerships. She has worked to scale nationwide campaigns, technologies, and ideas for the Obama Administration, Fortune 500 companies, and startups. As a go-to-market strategist, she has successfully driven long-term expansion for startups and established companies by leading them through the complex processes of winning procurement opportunities, securing pilot projects, undertaking design challenges, and launching community impact initiatives. Additionally, Chante has advanced Citywide and Statewide initiatives that champion climate change and the circular economy through the deployment of emerging technologies and the development of corresponding policies. She is joining SecondMuse with years of experience advancing the climate tech ecosystem in New York and other cities across the country.
Named by America on Tech as an Innovator and Disruptor and Women Enews as a Pioneering Woman in Sustainability, Chante is passionate about urban innovation and a fierce advocate for women and people of color’s representation in sustainability. She was selected as part of Summit’s inaugural Impact Fellowship class and currently serves as a Senior Summit Fellow. She is based in New York City, where she is a Go-to-Market Mentor for Impact by Women, Vice-Chair of Diversity for Teach For America-New York’s Associate Board, and an Emerging Leader for New York Women’s Foundation.
