Cultural Leadership Fund

Level Up: Welcoming our New Cultural Leadership Fund Nonprofit Partners

Megan Holston-Alexander and Judene Small Posted May 15, 2023

Over the last 5 years, the work of the Cultural Leadership Fund (CLF) has been growing and evolving to increase access to career paths and leadership roles in technology as an important gateway to wealth generation for the Black community. We partner with organizations that are both upskilling technical talent and tackling frontier industries. We are pleased to introduce you to some of the new, innovative organizations we work with every day to advance our mission.

In 2018, we launched CLF I with a core group of nonprofit partners—our Ecosystem Partners—who are collectively upskilling African American talent on a national scale through education and placement, while also providing African American professionals access to roles in tech. But what’s unique and important about the Ecosystem program is that this group receives financial support through 100% of our management fee and carry for the life of the fund. In the nonprofit space, long-term commitments are not the norm and organizations are required to constantly fundraise with little-to-no reprieve. Our goal has always been to give our partners the time, space, and resources to prepare and embed talent in this ecosystem.

Building upon that, we are pleased to welcome new Ecosystem Partners:

  • ColorStack, Inc.: helping Black and Latinx computer science students get degreed and hired nationwide.
  • The Colorwave Project, Inc.: providing leaders of color access to roles at VC-backed startups.
  • The Hidden Genius Project: training and mentoring Black male youth in technology creation, entrepreneurship, and leadership skills to transform their lives and communities.
  • The Marcy Lab School: a college alternative helping students unlock the skills and the network needed to launch a financially-rewarding, purpose-driven career in tech.

While the ecosystem partner program leans into long standing organizations that have proven to increase the pipeline of Black talent into the tech industry, there was an opportunity to innovate on our model. As our firm’s investment areas expanded and new technologies proliferated—for example, the rise in popularity and interest in web3—we recognized the need to deploy capital more flexibly throughout the life of our funds. With this new strategy, we can now bolster organizations that, while they may be new, are squarely focused on meeting the needs of the Black community as new trends unfold.

It is with this motivation that we officially established CLF’s Community Builder partners. This gives one-time donations to nonprofit organizations and initiatives strategically aligned with our firm’s investment focus areas that we believe are shaping the future. These groups may run an innovative program or develop a specific project that can help move the needle for more Black participation in new tech opportunities.

We are happy to welcome these incredible partners to the program:

  • Black@: a token-gated virtual community and safe space for Black founders, creators, investors, and community builders to connect to resources, business opportunities, social experiences, and one another.
  • Black Collegiate Gaming Association: providing education, access, and career opportunities into the gaming and esports industry for Black & women of color college & high school students.
  • Black in Gaming Foundation: a community dedicated to cultivating, supporting, and promoting Black professionals in the video game industry.
  • Black Women In Blockchain: inspiring, training, and activating a talent and economic pipeline of Black women pursuing professional and entrepreneurial careers in blockchain and fintech.
  • National Math and Science Initiative HBCU Teach: supporting HBCUs in developing permanent STEM teacher preparation pathways.

Finally, last year we took an even deeper look at how we can increase our impact. Sometimes, an organization doesn’t exist and needs to be created to address specific opportunities. Because of this, we created another pool of capital to support high-touch, high-impact initiatives that start as experiments but may be just crazy enough to change the landscape for Black people in tech as we know it. The first of these efforts was bringing together founding members of the Black Digital Art Collective—a decentralized autonomous organization focused on increasing Black artists and creators’ presence and influence in web3 while also educating the Black community on crypto and web3.

CLF continues to identify new approaches for bringing African Americans into tech at the earliest stages of innovation. We want to make sure Black perspectives are represented and that everyone has an opportunity to participate in transformative technology. As our industry continually changes, our hope is that our programming and partnerships will do the same.

Stay tuned for updates and if you know of any organizations making big strides in the work, in the words of the great Rihanna, PULL UP.

Want More a16z CLF?

The a16z take on the future of technology.

Learn More
Recommended For You

Want More Cultural Leadership Fund?

The a16z take on the future of technology.

Views expressed in “posts” (including podcasts, videos, and social media) are those of the individual a16z personnel quoted therein and are not the views of a16z Capital Management, L.L.C. (“a16z”) or its respective affiliates. a16z Capital Management is an investment adviser registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Registration as an investment adviser does not imply any special skill or training. The posts are not directed to any investors or potential investors, and do not constitute an offer to sell — or a solicitation of an offer to buy — any securities, and may not be used or relied upon in evaluating the merits of any investment.

The contents in here — and available on any associated distribution platforms and any public a16z online social media accounts, platforms, and sites (collectively, “content distribution outlets”) — should not be construed as or relied upon in any manner as investment, legal, tax, or other advice. You should consult your own advisers as to legal, business, tax, and other related matters concerning any investment. Any projections, estimates, forecasts, targets, prospects and/or opinions expressed in these materials are subject to change without notice and may differ or be contrary to opinions expressed by others. Any charts provided here or on a16z content distribution outlets are for informational purposes only, and should not be relied upon when making any investment decision. Certain information contained in here has been obtained from third-party sources, including from portfolio companies of funds managed by a16z. While taken from sources believed to be reliable, a16z has not independently verified such information and makes no representations about the enduring accuracy of the information or its appropriateness for a given situation. In addition, posts may include third-party advertisements; a16z has not reviewed such advertisements and does not endorse any advertising content contained therein. All content speaks only as of the date indicated.

Under no circumstances should any posts or other information provided on this website — or on associated content distribution outlets — be construed as an offer soliciting the purchase or sale of any security or interest in any pooled investment vehicle sponsored, discussed, or mentioned by a16z personnel. Nor should it be construed as an offer to provide investment advisory services; an offer to invest in an a16z-managed pooled investment vehicle will be made separately and only by means of the confidential offering documents of the specific pooled investment vehicles — which should be read in their entirety, and only to those who, among other requirements, meet certain qualifications under federal securities laws. Such investors, defined as accredited investors and qualified purchasers, are generally deemed capable of evaluating the merits and risks of prospective investments and financial matters.

There can be no assurances that a16z’s investment objectives will be achieved or investment strategies will be successful. Any investment in a vehicle managed by a16z involves a high degree of risk including the risk that the entire amount invested is lost. Any investments or portfolio companies mentioned, referred to, or described are not representative of all investments in vehicles managed by a16z and there can be no assurance that the investments will be profitable or that other investments made in the future will have similar characteristics or results. A list of investments made by funds managed by a16z is available here: https://a16z.com/investments/. Past results of a16z’s investments, pooled investment vehicles, or investment strategies are not necessarily indicative of future results. Excluded from this list are investments (and certain publicly traded cryptocurrencies/ digital assets) for which the issuer has not provided permission for a16z to disclose publicly. As for its investments in any cryptocurrency or token project, a16z is acting in its own financial interest, not necessarily in the interests of other token holders. a16z has no special role in any of these projects or power over their management. a16z does not undertake to continue to have any involvement in these projects other than as an investor and token holder, and other token holders should not expect that it will or rely on it to have any particular involvement.

With respect to funds managed by a16z that are registered in Japan, a16z will provide to any member of the Japanese public a copy of such documents as are required to be made publicly available pursuant to Article 63 of the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act of Japan. Please contact compliance@a16z.com to request such documents.

For other site terms of use, please go here. Additional important information about a16z, including our Form ADV Part 2A Brochure, is available at the SEC’s website: http://www.adviserinfo.sec.gov.