Closing the Equity Gap

“This essential read for investors and activists illustrates the many intersections between smart investing and economic and social justice. It is a roadmap for shifting the standard investment model to address issues such as income inequality and the climate crisis.” — Al Gore, former Vice President, co-founder and Chairman, Generation Investment Management ”In this inspiring call-to-action, Mitch and Freada highlight a remarkable group of founders who draw on lived experience to develop new businesses that close gaps in access, opportunity, and outcome for low-income communities. Their stories show the power and the urgency of investing in the next generation of leaders and prove that change is possible, even when it feels hard.” — Valerie Jarrett, Former Senior Advisor to President Barack Obama”This message is so necessary for the startup and investing worlds to hear and act on, for much of the same reasons I decided to join this effort. It’s also about empowering entrepreneurs to build businesses run by and for the benefit of those previously left out.” — Serena Williams, Managing Partner, Serena Ventures”Freada Klein and Mitch Kapor are vital leaders shining the light towards changing the world through technology, with the radically true idea that more opportunity and diversity lead to the best outcomes.” — Garry Tan, CEO, Y Combinator”This playbook is not only for the technology and the VC community, but also for leaders in all industries, who want to level the playing field for entrepreneurs of color.” — Carla A. Harris, Senior Client Advisor, Morgan Stanley, author of Lead To Win”Mitch and Freada are Silicon Valley disrupters, but not with some new-fangled technology or business model. Instead, they ask founders, executives, and the industry the hard question: why don’t companies look like the world they serve? They have been my partners in building a more inclusive, more human, and higher-performing company.” — Jeff Lawson, co-founder and CEO, Twilio”This inspiring and forward-thinking book makes an ironclad case for the powerful financial and social returns we can achieve by building more robust pathways to opportunity for all people.” — Darren Walker, President, Ford Foundation”This is not just the story of how one firm made investments to lift up a new generation of leaders; it is a blueprint for how all of us can invest in people who, in turn, can change the world.” — Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Alphonse Fletcher University Professor, Harvard University

Freada Kapor Klein is an entrepreneur, an activist, and a pioneer in the field of organizational culture and diversity. She is the founder of SMASH, the Summer Math and Science Honors Academy, and cofounded the Alliance Against Sexual Coercion, the first organization in the U.S. to address sexual harassment. She holds a PhD in social policy and research from the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University and is a member of the Obama Foundation Tech Policy Council, the UC Berkeley Board of Visitors, and a board observer of the air quality monitoring company Aclima.io. Along with Mitch Kapor, Freada is a founding partner at Kapor Capital and cochair of the nonprofit Kapor Center in Oakland, California.

Mitch Kapor is a pioneer in the personal computing industry and an entrepreneur, an investor, and an advocate for social change. He founded Lotus Development Corporation and designed the Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet, cofounded the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and is the founding chair of the Mozilla Foundation, creator of the Firefox web browser. He also serves on the board of SMASH. Along with Freada Kapor Klein, Mitch is a founding partner at Kapor Capital and cochair of the nonprofit Kapor Center in Oakland, California.