Relevant Reading & Resources
Here is curated list of relevant readings and resources on diversity & inclusion for both founders and funders.
Benefits of Diversity in the Workplace
Credit Suisse: Gender Diversity and Corporate Performance
Harvard Business Review: How and Where Diversity Drives Financial Performance
Harvard Business Review: How Diversity Can Drive Innovation
McKinsey: Why Diversity Matters (article) (report)
Scientific American: How Diversity Makes Us Smarter
Women & Diversity in the Boardroom
2020 Women on Boards: Gender Diversity Index: 2011–2015 Progress of Women Corporate Directors
Deloitte: Missing Pieces Report: The 2016 Board Diversity Census of Women and Minorities on Fortune 500 Boards
Harvard Business Review: Why Boards Need More Women
Harvard School of Public Health: Why Diversity Matters: Women on Boards of Directors
NY Times / Catalyst: Female Board Members Are Good for Business
Women & Diversity in Venture Capital
Organizations to work with to help improve diversity and inclusion
Innovative ideas and tools from the Clayman Institute for Gender Research at Stanford University on how to create inclusive workplace cultures where people thrive and companies win in the global marketplace.
Fern teaches at Stanford Business School, including classes on Entrepreneurship from Diverse Perspectives, Entrepreneurship and VC from the Perspective of Women, and Equity By Design - Building Diverse and Inclusive Organizations. She also works with organizations such as LinkedIn, Sequoia, and Intercom on inclusive leadership and building diverse and inclusive organizations.
NVCA has compiled a number of resources for venture capital firms and startups to reference and adopt to address harassment and promote a more diverse and inclusive ecosystem. These include sample HR policies & best practices for addressing harassment & discrimination and a sample Code of Conduct Policy.
Paradigm partners with innovative organizations across industries – from Fortune 500 companies to leading technology startups – to design diversity and inclusion strategies, consult and advise on execution, and train employees and leaders.
Parity.org
Parity advocates for women’s representation at the highest levels of business—in the C-Suite and on the Board of Directors. They do this by promoting companies that demonstrate their commitment to gender parity, raising awareness about underlying issues, and providing facts and research that show the value in equal representation.
ProjectInclude.org is a non-profit that uses data and advocacy to accelerate diversity and inclusion solutions in the tech industry. They urge companies to implement diversity and inclusion solutions that incorporate the following three values: Inclusion, Comprehensiveness, and Accountability. They offer a very specific set of recommendations to help CEOs improve D&I.
TheBoardlist is a curated talent marketplace for the tech community to recommend, discover and connect highly qualified women leaders with opportunities to serve on private and public company boards.
The #MovingForward Project is a resource wiki to highlight VCs shifting the diversity, inclusion, and anti-harassment paradigm. They list VC firms who have chosen to self-report the steps they have taken to nurture a diverse, inclusive, and harassment-free workplace. This includes publishing policies and/or establishing a point-of-contact for issues and questions related to these topics.
Leaders for Leave is a founder-led initiative that recognizes the importance of inclusive paid leave. Paid leave is critical for companies that value families, care about their employees, and pride themselves on employee retention and staff development, and strive to create a positive work culture. For best practices and sample policies click here.