This partnership underscored our continued commitment to fueling female founders of color and the funds that invest in them, and we were thrilled to further delve into the trends shaping women’s wealth and legacy in 2024:

• The Great Wealth Transfer – where strategic investments can foster long-term legacy and generational wealth;
• Rising Female Entrepreneurship – a driving force in today’s innovation landscape.

Some Key Takeaways:

Adjust Your Patterns of Success

Recognize the value of women-led innovation, particularly in both traditional industries and tech. That said, also recognize that women of color continue to face significant hurdles due to biases in financing and reduced access to capital. As investors, we all have a role to play in helping make the connections and providing tthe capital, where possible, for promising founders to thrive and succeed.

“Who exactly is in our friends and family round?” —MzSkittlez (Mary Seats)
“We’ve had to do as much as we can with the little that we have; and still, we’ve outperformed”— Reham Fagiri, AptDeco

Adjust your criteria and due diligence processes to counteract these biases actively, ensuring that investments reflect a broader, more inclusive definition of success. This adjustment not only supports diverse talent but also creates a more future-ready, resilient portfolio.

Reframe Wealth with Liquidity, Longevity, and Legacy

Following insights from Melissa Dincher, consider wealth planning that prioritizes liquidity (easy access to funds for timely opportunities), longevity (sustaining wealth across generations), and legacy (building an impactful, values-driven financial legacy). Use this framework to balance immediate and long-term goals in a way that aligns with family values and the desire for societal impact. Above and beyond your personal investment strategies, recognize that building and sustaining a fund is not for the faint-hearted and requires strategic planning. 

Direct Capital Toward Female-Led Startups and Funds; and Set Measurable Goals for Gender Equity

Consider the diversity of that part of your overall porfolio that is your alernative investment portfolio to include female founders and women-focused funds. This includes assessing direct investments and aligning with funds that specifically support women in business, particularly those tackling challenges in underserved communities. Define measurable, transparent goals within your portfolio, such as tracking investment in female-led ventures or the diversity within leadership roles. Regularly review these metrics to ensure tangible progress and hold yourself accountable to your impact goals.

“Limited partners can do a whole lot more to influence who and what gets funded, and the reality is that they’re just not incentivized to do so right now. There is an air of caution in the wake of the lawsuits, and anti-ESG movement. But we must remain steadfast” — Anna Snider, Bank of America sharing about how Bank of America had deployed $550M in 4 years to diverse fund managers 

Women are over-mentored and under-funded: While we should do all we can to work with promising founders to share knowledge and helpful operational connections, we must take seriously that this must come hand-in-hand with support for financing their enterprises, whether that comes in the form of connections or direct funding.

Unlocking Capital for Scale: Alternative Sources of Capital for Emerging Managers

Ana Maria focused on strategies for emerging venture capital managers to attract and secure impact capital.These strategies guide emerging managers to balance authenticity and financial objectives while scaling their impact initiatives. Key takeaways include:

• Capital Sources for Impact: Emerging funds can access various impact capital sources, including Program-Related Investments (PRIs), Mission-Related Investments (MRIs), Donor-Advised Funds (DAFs), and LP investments. Each source offers unique structures like loans, guarantees, and equity, tailored to support positive social outcomes.

• Critical Elements for Attracting Investors
  • Investment Thesis: Must align clearly with the impact goals of potential funders.
  • Impact Metrics: Should be rigorous and structured around an established framework.
  • Track Record and Expertise: Emphasis on experience in deal execution and impact management.
  • Capital Structure: Flexibility and sustainable financial return potential are essential.
• Practical Recommendations
  • Develop a pipeline of impact-oriented investors and align messaging with their motivations.
  • Build strong community relationships and ensure readiness for investor due diligence.
  • Clearly articulate a unique value proposition, emphasizing scalability of both impact and returns.

Cost Efficient Legal Structures

“While building a fund can be exciting, what’s key is ensuring the foundations are planned for well. We’ve seen many that did not have the right protections in place and paid the price later. We look forward to working with and supporting the next generation of managers” — Howard Mulligan, Offit Kurman

As Monique Aiken reminds us “we cannot unsee what we’ve already seen”; the question remains: what will we all do with the influence we have in our own realms of impact?

Become a better Ancestor

Insights from Monique Aiken on system-level investing and becoming a better ancestor for the next generation.

“In our world today, racial, ethnic, and gender inequities still pose systemic risks. Oppressive practices can manifest in the form of social unrest. The costs of injustice and inaction have included the extinction of communities, people groups, and ecosystems. Now that we know about these problems, in the words of Mama, it is our (moral and ethical) responsibility to do something about them” Monique Aiken

Additional system-level investing resources recommended by Monique

• Brief explainer on system-level investing from UN PRI 
• TIIP (The Investment Integration project) publications 
• Monique’s nonprofit – Make Justice Normal