Leigh-Ann Buchanan: Innovation works only when it is accessible and inclusive
Albert Einstein’s theory of special relativity has particular relevance today.
When I think about the national outcry for justice in support of black lives, I see this formula as a guidepost for action. For example, if I rewrite Einstein’s definition for E = mc2 (energy = mass x speed of light squared), as an application for the current movement, it would instead state:
The Energy of Change equals Collective Action times the Virality of a United Movement.
As a leader of an organization that in a few short years has managed to serve over 50,000 innovators and collaborate with 1,000 organizations local, international and national to provide over 2,000 free educational sessions, I personally understand the power of movements. I know that disparate treatment, segregated opportunities, siloed services and zero-sum perspectives serve as a counter to social and economic growth in our region.
The privilege of innovation is to use it as a tool of systemic change. This mechanism works only when it is accessible, inclusive and equitably distributed. Similarly, entrepreneurship can either advance the economics of inequality or disrupt cyclical poverty through upward mobility.
We have a fundamental choice in how we wield both.
If we believe that, at its core, innovation is a process designed to improve the human condition, then we can neither ignore nor fail to recognize that racial and ethnic justice — particularly for black lives, as is most evident in this moment — is central to what we do and who we are. At least it is for me and for our team at Venture Café Miami.
As a black, female, attorney and social-impact executive, I am all too familiar with the daily assaults of overt discrimination, racial profiling, micro-aggression and bias. I have been misrecognized as the court reporter instead of as an attorney appearing in court to represent corporate clients, subject to having a helicopter surveil my car “as back up” when stopped by law enforcement, and forced into silence by the labels “token and articulate” to describe my presence and performance.
In a world where only 1% of venture-backed founders are black, where black women-led startups receive less than .06% of tech venture funding and where 93% of venture capital firms report having no black investment partners, we can no longer claim that our innovation ecosystems are immune from systemic racism. Nor can we say with honesty that they have evolved beyond the more covert manifestations in the form of implicit bias, stereotype threat or discrimination.
Why?
Because racial indifference is endemic to our culture and society.
Smartphones, social media, digital identification, predictive algorithms and cloud computing have all demonstrated that innovative technologies have the power to change how we think, act, feel and behave towards each other. When used intentionally, I believe we can innovate our cultural context towards racial equity.
I, along with my team, are taking this moment to check our privilege, evaluate where we are unintentionally complicit in systems of oppression, and perhaps most importantly, assess where we can advance meaningful change.
Resistance, like diversity, appears in many forms. Leadership is my resistance.
I commit to using my platforms to innovate racial equity. This means convening our community and our leaders to articulate shared goals and collaborative activities that directly address systemic racism in the startup ecosystem and to create opportunities for black entrepreneurs. That includes doubling down in support of those leading such efforts like Black Tech Week, Black Angels Miami and Digital Grass.
Our mandate:
▪ Empathize: How might we create spaces of radical transparency that help us individually see from the other side — without expectation, judgment, retribution, shame or guilt?
▪ Educate: How might we accelerate access to tools and technologies that create awareness of the lived experiences of and effective strategies for individual/collective action?
▪ Empower: How might we uniquely and separately support those who are marginalized as well as those who desire to be action-oriented allies against systematic racism and oppression?
▪ Experiment: How might we — without fear of failure — exercise intention in trying new approaches towards achieving racial and ethnic equity for entrepreneurs and justice within society as a whole?
I certainly don’t have all (or any) of the answers. Perhaps we can all start with this: Let’s make an unequivocal personal commitment to get engaged in this work — amid discomfort, uncertainty or the potential consequences.
Visit venturecafemiami.org/racialequity to join this effort and we’ll be in touch with action steps.
Leigh-Ann Buchanan is executive director of Venture Cafe Miami, which connects entrepreneurs through its weekly Thursday Gathering, along with other educational and networking programs. She also founded Nyah Project, which provides meaningful travel experiences for youth from underserved communities.