We are all here for a reason, diversity, why every voice matters

By Theodora Lau and Bradley Leimer

A number is never just a number.

Behind every number, every 1 and 0, there is a human.

Whether it is a story about lack of diversity in the startup ecosystem, or around the current COVID-19 pandemic, we often cite numbers to tell a story — to add weight to a narrative. But how often do we lift the curtain behind that scene, to try to understand what is really going on — to try to challenge the status quo and change the narrative?

Let’s put these numbers in perspective.

Less than 10% of all venture capital deals are going to women, people of color, and LGBTQ founders. Despite increased awareness, we have barely moved the needle for gender equity over the past decades. What else is going on behind this curtain?

According to the latest Equal Pay Day Report from Women Who Code, while equal pay is an issue for all women, marginalized groups experience different levels of pay inequality. For every dollar that white, non-Hispanic men earn, black women were paid 61 cents, Latina women were paid 53 cents, and Asian women were paid 83 cents. Talent is equally distributed; opportunities are not. This needs to change.

When much of life comes from the luck of where we were born, whom we were born to, and what gender we are, how can we ensure that the playing field is as level as it can be? People born without wealth, without embedded privilege or access, those are often the ones with the most grit, the most determination. They do more with less – and they are often subject to a different standard. We must support efforts toward diversity and inclusion, to support those that often create the best ideas with less, those whose road is more windy, full of more bumps, but have a more proven way to succeed.

We must create more pathways to support diverse communities. Startups and diverse founders don’t succeed in isolation — they need strong local ecosystems and strong networks to thrive. We need more of these efforts to help diverse teams, teams of founders that are women, people of color, and/or LGBTQ. Underestimated founders are a force unto themselves. They have resolve. They are determined. They accomplish much more with much less. Diverse teams often have stronger business outcomes and deliver on more innovative ideas.

As Arlan Hamilton said in her latest book, It’s About Damn Time, “innovation comes from having the courage to be different and to do things differently.”

How can we do things differently and how can we turn these numbers around? When more diverse people and more women have the chance to succeed. When more diverse teams and more women are funded, when they are able to bring their ideas to market, and are successful and create a broader ecosystem of ideas that strengthen our communities. We need to work together to create a future where more of that success — more of the profit toward a greater purpose toward the common good — is shared by founders, their teams, their investors, and their local communities.

“When you expand people’s perception of what is possible, you enable them to think bolder, dream bigger, and achieve more.” Arlan Hamilton

We are all in this together.

We are all part of one humanity.

And each, and every of us, is much more than just a number. We are not just statistics.

We are all here for a reason.

We remain optimistic about helping be part of making these changes happen, helping create a more diverse and inclusive ecosystem, focused on increasing diversity of thought and diversity of action — the path forward is clear. It will take us all to make this happen. Will you join us?

Even the smallest actions matter.

It is time to change the narrative – to build a more equitable future for everyone.

Tune in for an empowering conversation with Arlan Hamilton via iTunes and Spotify, as Theo and Bradley of Unconventional Ventures chat with the founder of Backstage Capital about her remarkable journey. As she reminded us, we are all here for a reason. We all have a part to play in changing these numbers and changing the lives of others, to the betterment of our communities. Listen to this and every episode of One Vision podcast on your favorite player.

More about Irish Tech News and Business Showcase here

FYI the ROI for you is => Irish Tech News now gets over 1.5 million monthly views, and up to 900k monthly unique visitors, from over 160 countries. We have over 860,000 relevant followers on Twitter on our various accounts & were recently described as Ireland’s leading online tech news site and Ireland’s answer to TechCrunch, so we can offer you a good audience!

Since introducing desktop notifications a short time ago, which notify readers directly in their browser of new articles being published, over 30,000 people have now signed up to receive them ensuring they are instantly kept up to date on all our latest content. Desktop notifications offer a unique method of serving content directly to verified readers and bypass the issue of content getting lost in people’s crowded news feeds.

Drop us a line if you want to be featured, guest post, suggest a possible interview, or just let us know what you would like to see more of in our future articles. We’re always open to new and interesting suggestions for informative and different articles. Contact us, by email, twitter or whatever social media works for you and hopefully we can share your story too and reach our global audience.

Irish Tech News

If you would like to have your company featured in the Irish Tech News Business Showcase, get in contact with us at [email protected] or on Twitter: @SimonCocking