- 6 weeks ago
Black women in the United States receive 0.036 percent of more than $288 billion dollars that is issued each year in venture capital funding. And all Black people receive less than 1 percent. The Fearless Fund attempted to address that problem but has now been sued. Hear from a founder and investor on the front lines of this struggle about what this fight means for you and why you should care.
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00:00Good afternoon. Thank you all for joining us. I'm up here to introduce you
00:14to someone that I have known for about a year. I met this woman at a very
00:23difficult point in her life where she was being attacked and is still being
00:28attacked. And you may remember that she said on television that she's not afraid.
00:35She's fearless. I want you to meet someone that I've had the pleasure to
00:43spend time with and learn about courage and learn about being fearless. The Chief
00:49Executive Officer for the Fearless Fund, Arian Simone.
00:58For the twelfth night in a row, a coast-to-coast call to action.
01:14Okay, I'm going to talk. But they were clearly supposed to have something on the screens. Oh, perfect. The year is 2020 and people gathered, as you can see on the screens, all around the world for one reason. Black Lives Matter.
01:38Black Lives Matter. For only one purpose. To stand in solidarity. In the wake of the death of George Floyd. As the tears, as you can see on the screen, rolled down people's eyes. Corporations poured out their pockets. Over 200 billion dollars.
02:08was promised. But where is the money now? Four years later, 2024, we are facing a war on diversity, equity, and inclusion. And as you can see on the screens, it has knocked on my doorstep.
02:26My name is Arian Simone. I serve as the CEO of the nation's first venture capital firm that is built by women of color for women of color. Thank you.
02:39And we are being sued. And we are being sued right now for alleged discrimination because we invest in black women. Yes. To share more about this story, I would like to call up my nephew, Carter Owens, to explain to you guys what is going on with this lawsuit.
03:00Thank you, Tony. Oh my goodness. Thanks.
03:19He's a little taller than that. You got it.
03:23My name is Carter Owens.
03:26It was important for me to be here today
03:28so I could support my aunt
03:29and talk about the problems she has to face.
03:32Did you know slavery started in 1526
03:36and continued for almost 400 years?
03:40Yeah.
03:45Later, the 13th Amendment was passed by Congress
03:48to rid America of slavery.
03:53Then Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1866, section 1981,
04:01to give us economic freedom and freed slaves the rights of others.
04:06And now they are accusing my aunt of violating the very law
04:11that was put into place to understand us and protect us.
04:16She is a black woman putting money into the hands of other black women
04:21to give them economic freedom.
04:31I find it interesting that that very same law that was meant to protect us
04:35is used to now attack my aunt and tear us down.
04:39and tear us down.
04:41Now, I know I'm just a kid, so some of you may not understand that I understand,
04:46but I do understand completely.
04:48So this is happening because the majority is afraid of the minority gaining power.
05:01This is why they are doing this.
05:03My aunt said that just because it's legal does not make it right.
05:08And she was right.
05:10She was right.
05:11She was right.
05:12Because the problem is nine times out of ten,
05:14when there is a financial, legal, or physical assault on a person of color,
05:18the attacker knows that their reason for doing it is wrong,
05:22but they convince themselves that it's right.
05:24Even when everyone, including everyone in this room, knows that it's wrong.
05:29So what I have to say is, you might have the power of the federal justice system,
05:38but my aunt has us, the people who know this is wrong, behind her.
05:43And that is why she will come out on top.
05:46Thank you all for listening. I appreciate it.
06:08The mics are hot.
06:09We need the president and CEO of the Global Black Economic Forum to come back on stage
06:14and lead us in this fireside chat talking about economic freedom.
06:25Arian, let's go back a year ago.
06:30August of 2023, I got a phone call.
06:37And that phone call was about the lawsuit that we have been living with for the past year.
06:42Mm-hmm.
06:43You were sued for providing grants to black women and women of color.
06:49Tell us how the last year has been for you.
06:53Oh, gosh.
06:55My life changed on August 2nd.
06:58The last year has been a time of standing up for all of our rights.
07:04It's not just about the fearless fund.
07:06What is at stake is all of our economic freedom that they are threatening.
07:11And I've had to not just run a venture capital fund, but I've had to do the job of making sure I'm advocating for the people at the same time.
07:20Let's talk about venture capitalism.
07:22Does everyone in this room know when we say venture capitalism what that means?
07:26Some of us do, some of us may not.
07:30So when we say venture capitalism, if you own a business and you're looking to grow that business, you go out to others to see if they were willing to invest in your company.
07:42And in exchange, they may get a portion like equity in your company.
07:47So you own 100%, but you want to grow your business.
07:51So you say, if you invest in my company, you get 5%.
07:55There's $288 billion that's allocated every year in the venture capital space.
08:02Arianne, I want you to talk about how those dollars flow to black women or don't flow to black women.
08:13Well, I'd like to share a few things.
08:16Women of color are the most founded entrepreneurial demographic.
08:20They are just the least funded.
08:22And I'm talking about less than a fraction of a percent, meaning not just less than a percent, a very small fraction even get to black and brown women.
08:34And in particular, black people, male and female, receive under a percent of venture capital funds.
08:42I want to explain how this takes place.
08:45Pension funds are literally the largest investors in private equity and venture capital.
08:53We know that pension funds are built off the backs of people of color.
08:58You're talking about teaching jobs.
09:01You're talking about firefighter jobs.
09:03You're talking about police-offer jobs.
09:05A lot of jobs in areas where we dominate.
09:07We dominate.
09:08That money then goes up to the 90% white male investors that are in PE and VC that then goes into white startups.
09:19It very rarely makes a full circle to come all the way back around on the communities who actually built a lot of the wealth that is being invested.
09:28So I want you all to know that because that is key.
09:32A lot of the pension funds come from city municipalities.
09:34So you want to make sure that you tell your city elected officials, I would like for our pension dollars to go towards black fund managers that are investing in black businesses.
09:47But let's put a final point on this, just for folks in the room to understand.
09:50There's $288 billion that's allocated every single year and only 0.036% goes to black women.
10:03Less than 1% goes to black people.
10:07The reason why I want to highlight that is because it goes to a story that you told me about why you started your company.
10:14I think other people should hear that story.
10:18I was a college student at Florida A&M University.
10:21Are there any rattlers in the house?
10:23Okay, I'm in the right building.
10:27And while I was in college, I was raising capital for my mall based retail store.
10:31And I went to go seek funding and guess what?
10:36I noticed that many of the investors did not look like me.
10:40And I made a promise to myself, don't worry about the investor landscape because one day you will be the business investor that you were looking for.
10:48And that promise looks like the fearless fund today, which is backed by JPMorgan Chase, PayPal, Bank of America, Costco, General Mills and a host of others.
11:05So you start your company to essentially help other people of color.
11:11You get sued.
11:13Some people may not appreciate that this case is about them.
11:20Some people may just see this lawsuit as a black woman giving money to other black people and this doesn't really affect me.
11:30And I've heard that sentiment before.
11:32What's your answer to someone who says this is really not about me?
11:37I'm not inventor capitalism.
11:39I'm not asking for money for businesses.
11:42Why would this be important to me?
11:44It is definitely important to you.
11:47Right now we are clearly caught up in somebody's political agenda.
11:51Right?
11:53I think everybody is aware of Project 2025 now.
11:55To break this down, there is a huge anti-American campaign going on.
12:02There are people who are pursuing the reversal of rights in this country, whether it's women's rights, whether it's gay rights, whether it's voting rights.
12:12There are people pursuing this.
12:15This right here is about the right to fund marginalized communities if and when racial disparities exist.
12:22This is definitely about you.
12:27Small businesses make up over 50% of the U.S. economy.
12:31Small businesses need funding.
12:33These are the dollars that are then going back in your community.
12:37These are the dollars that are used for job creation.
12:40At the Fearless Fund, we have created thousands of jobs just by what we do.
12:45So imagine not just us, but all these funds out here that are creating jobs that many of you in the audience have today.
12:54There is a domino effect.
12:56This is definitely about you.
12:59This is about you, your rights, your household, and your economic freedom.
13:05What is economic freedom?
13:08What does that mean?
13:09Because you use that phrase all the time.
13:12Tell folks what is economic freedom to you.
13:15Oh, my gosh.
13:17Right now, as I even stated yesterday we were on stage, we are being sued by people who are trying to stop us and calling it illegal that it's violating law for us to fund marginalized communities.
13:33That is a violation of my economic freedom.
13:37Economic freedom means that I am free in the area of my economics.
13:42It's just plain and simple.
13:45If I cannot have access to cash that is able to fund my business, you're violating my economic freedom.
13:53All these other rights, don't go wrong, they're all very important, but if I can't pay my light bill, if I can't feed my family, if I can't pay for things, this is problematic.
14:03I have to have money in order to survive in this world, the world we live in, and if you want to strip me of my money, you're taking away my economic freedom.
14:13How do you do this every day? How do you remain courageous? How do you wake up knowing that you have a lawsuit on top of your head? You have people that are looking to destroy your company. How do you remain fearless?
14:35I remain fearless when I hear stories of the people we have funded. Right now, we have funded, oh gosh, we have educated over thousands and thousands of women of color founders.
14:50We have awarded grants to over 500 businesses. We have invested seven-figure checks into companies. Prior to the Fearless Fund being in existence, an average fundraise for a black woman was $30,000.
15:05We came on the scene cutting seven-figure checks. That's what it is. Say that again. Prior to the Fearless Fund being in existence, the average fundraise of a black woman was $30,000.
15:15We came on the scene cutting seven-figure checks. That's what keeps me fearless. When I'm backstage and people who just even won this pitch competition are grant recipients of our grants, they're like, you don't understand how the money that you've given my company has changed our scope of our business. You've changed my life.
15:36That's what's encouraging. That's what's encouraging. The work and the impact that we do, that's what keeps me. And everybody in this audience, all the support that we've received, that keeps you going. And most importantly, I'd be remiss. My Lord and Savior is Jesus Christ. My faith is keeping me going.
15:54So, as we wind down, what does the future look like for you? What do you hope for when you close your eyes at night? What do you see the next year looking like? What do you see the next 10 years looking like?
16:14My hope for is actually policy work. And there are many political officials in this audience and even in this building.
16:26My hope is for lawmakers, presidents, vice presidents, congresspeople, even city officials, to stand up and protect the right to fund marginalized communities. That is my desire and hope for the future right now.
16:47So, as we close here, Arian said this before, but I think it's worth restating. She is now being enjoined from giving money to other black women who need it.
17:05And for those who don't think that this applies to them, think about HBCUs and the money that they are receiving.
17:17And think about someone saying that you're no longer allowed to give money to historically black colleges and universities.
17:25Or better yet, you decide that in your will, you want to be able to give money only to black companies.
17:33Can someone tell you that you can no longer do that?
17:39That's what this case is about.
17:42And Arian Simone has stood firm for the past year, pushing back against the attacks, both in the court of public opinion as well as in the courts.
17:53And I want to just say on behalf of everyone here and all of the folks that you've heard from and those that you haven't heard from,
18:00it has been my pleasure to serve as your lawyer.
18:05I've been representing her for now almost more than a year.
18:11The Global Black Economic Forum is behind you.
18:14Gibson Dunn is behind you.
18:16All of the lawyers that have been working with you are behind you.
18:20And we know that we will ultimately win this fight.
18:24We as black people have been attacked before and we always rise up.
18:28As Maya Angelou says, I rise up.
18:33Arian Simone, thank you for being a testament to that principle.
18:38And thank you all for embracing her for what she is.
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