#StartupsEverywhere profile: Preston L. James, II, Co-Founder and CEO, DivInc
This profile is part of #StartupsEverywhere, an ongoing series highlighting startup leaders in ecosystems across the country. This interview has been edited for length, content, and clarity.
Driving Entrepreneurial Innovation Through Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Austin-based nonprofit organization DivInc is working to drive systemic change across the U.S. startup community by fostering the growth and development of underrepresented entrepreneurs. The organization is focused on connecting entrepreneurs of color and women founders with the mentors, connections, opportunities, and resources needed to create more authentically inclusive startup communities. We recently spoke with Preston James, II—the Co-Founder and CEO of DivInc—to learn more about the organization’s work supporting underrepresented founders, their recently launched Social Justice Innovation accelerator program, and what policymakers and entrepreneurs can do to support diversity, equity, and inclusion across the startup ecosystem.
What in your background made you interested in transforming the startup community for underrepresented entrepreneurs?
In the simplest terms, the startup ecosystems were whitewashed on a national level and not inclusive. I’d go to various investor events, demo days, and pitch competitions, and there were just not a lot of people of color or women in the room. Too often, I would be the only black guy in the room. It just wasn’t right, and I didn’t see anything being done to address it with any sense of urgency. There were a lot of panel discussions about the lack of diversity, but it just got to a point where I decided that I was done with all of that. We all know the problems. Nothing against talking, but It was just time to put in the work.
So I thought that, if I’m going to be a part of this startup world, then I’ve got to do something to make it more authentically inclusive, diverse, and equitable for everyone.
Tell us about DivInc and how the organization is helping to drive diversity and inclusion across the startup ecosystem.
From DivInc’s perspective, it’s about creating something that’s programmatic where underrepresented founders and women get access to best-practice know-how, access to the networks, and access to the financial capital. Once you get access to all of those resources, you still have to overcome the bias which is oftentimes the gatekeeper to the real opportunities. This is not just about underrepresented entrepreneurs, but also about broadening the entire ecosystem by being more inclusive when it comes to leadership, mentors, advisors, investors, and talent.
Underrepresented founders and women are not in the same networks as traditional white male entrepreneurs, so they were not getting that same access. How do you learn from startup failures and successes if you’re not even talking to the people who have done it? So we wanted to almost force our way into the existing startup ecosystem and say, “We are here, and we’re going to be here.” Great ideas are not limited to a certain race or gender. Nor are they determined by zip codes. Case in point: those stop lights we pass by everyday were invented by a black man named Garrett Morgan. And the gas mask, yes, that is his, too. Dr. Jane Wright and her father came up with what is known today as chemotherapy. So we want to inspire the Garrett Morgans and the Dr. Wrights of the world!
Part of that meant breaking into the big bubble that the startup community occupies. DivInc was formed so we could operate within that big bubble that’s predominantly white and male. So what we do is we take our entrepreneurs and train them, give them best practices, provide them with mentors, and then bring in investors. Entrepreneurs get to participate in that big startup bubble, and then next thing you know we’re all kind of blending in.
Our intention was to create this authentic and inclusive culture within the broader ecosystem, and bring that diversity into the startup community. And because we're so diverse and inclusive, the broader ecosystem becomes better as a result of that.
I know you recently began accepting applications for your new Social Justice Innovation accelerator program. Can you tell us more about this program and its focus on eradicating systemic inequalities?
With COVID-19 and the killing of George Floyd, we couldn't just stand by and not use our expertise and existing structure to quickly bring about transformational change. The thought for me was that we’ve got to do something different and go in another direction, right now. And these changes can’t be small and incremental, but they need to be bold, big, and transformational.
We’re passionate to bring innovators together with activists and leaders through our program to identify innovative solutions that can be adopted in an accelerated manner. I think that tech innovation or process innovation, combined with social activism, is a win-win. If we put more attention on understanding the root causes of many of these problems, then we can develop solutions that directly address them. In the startup world that's what we do—we look at problems and try to find solutions to fix something.
We do not have the right information and data about a lot of things that are being done to drive inequities and disparities. Some people don’t think there are still disparities that exist. But there are things that innovation and activism together can do to create real solutions and change behaviors. And as a result of those behavioral changes, then maybe mindsets will change.
We are looking for innovative for-profits and nonprofits that uniquely address criminal justice reform, healthcare, education, housing, and voting. We know it will take more than just our work—and we are bringing in experts from all of these areas to partner with us—but we must take responsibility to do our part to move our country forward. The great thing about this is we're already well-positioned. Over the past four years, we've built an infrastructure of innovators, partners, and changemakers all working together. We're making this existing resource available for people who are already doing the tough social justice work that we need to support further. Make no mistake: this is an insanely heavy lift, but we just have to try right now.
Entrepreneurs of color and women founders often experience additional hurdles and barriers when launching startups. What can the startup community do better to support underrepresented entrepreneurs?
Leaders and industry must listen with open minds and hearts. They need to be open to changing their minds, to educate themselves, and to acknowledge that we have deeply rooted problems that need to be addressed, right now. For a lot of folks, they are trying to do this. Secondly, leaders need to stand up and verbally own up to being part of the problem and commit to being an intentional part of the solution going forward. And third, leaders need to start building a culture of inclusiveness by bringing new voices to the table where things are going to get done. There needs to be immediate action to change the culture. We can do that by quickly adding diverse board members, executive leaders, and investor partners. Compensation policies probably need to change, marketing needs to change, investment theses need to change, targeted partnerships need to be formed to intentionally diversify human and social networks, and program offers need to change.
Leaders who want to genuinely do better around diversity, equity, and inclusion need to be willing to partner with organizations—internally and externally. Go hire a person of color or a woman to be your partner. When you do that, it’s not just the color or gender, but it’s also their perspectives, experiences, and network. They bring a whole different network of people, and that’s what you need to expand your reach and messaging and investment opportunities and everything else.
White leaders should also spend a little more time getting informed about the true history of America and the true experience of people of color, women, immigrants. I recently heard of a CEO who was unaware of the history of East Austin, where it was mandated by law in 1920s as the only place where black people could live in Austin. Not knowing that part of history in Austin is pretty critical.
It will be uncomfortable at first, but let’s face the reality—Black and Brown people are made to be uncomfortable every day. So, how about if we share that "uncomfortable" load a little more equitably? These things need to be done immediately—and culture and authenticity are key. If culture is not authentically inclusive—where everyone feels welcomed, that they are treated fairly, in a place where they can thrive—all efforts for change will fall flat. So at the end of the day, white leaders need to stop being so fearful of difference and of being uncomfortable. Create a new normal that loves and lives for diversity, equity, and inclusion for your culture.
What steps can state and federal policymakers take to better support underrepresented entrepreneurs?
If we look at this from a socioeconomic perspective, we need to empower people of color and women by providing them with equitable opportunities. When you look at women—and specifically women of color—they are by far the fastest growing entrepreneurial demographic in the United States. We need to create policies that fully support women. So we need to talk about policies that allow women to receive paid leave so they can effectively support their families. Why are we the only industrial nation that doesn’t have that? It doesn’t make sense, and we have to support them if we want to get to a place where we are prosperous.
Due to COVID, we also saw the federal government provide trillions of dollars in economic recovery funding. We are also witnessing accelerated criminal justice reform efforts now because of George Floyd's killing by the police. Why do we wait until we "need" to? It would be wonderful if we were more proactive in our support of the Black community in general. Similar needs to be done for Latinx and Native American peoples. We need to do these things very intentionally and put the policies in place to do that.
Regulations, bureaucracy and taxes, and the federal government can make it so difficult and so challenging for entrepreneurs to be entrepreneurs. They need to make it a lot simpler, and they need to encourage business ownership and provide support to organizations that support entrepreneurs.
What is your goal for DivInc moving forward?
We plan to expand our impact across the country. We want to support thousands of founders per year to build successful businesses. We want to see the racial wealth gap decrease as a result of greater business ownership and success amongst people of color and women, especially Black people. We know when DivInc shows up, we transform ecosystems by removing barriers for people of color and women. The transformation also occurs as a result of collaboration across the ecosystem.
I believe we’ll see some emerging startup ecosystems that are vibrant, inclusive, and increasingly successful as a result of that. Most importantly, we help create a culture of greater diversity, equity and inclusivity that permeates throughout the entire community. We want to make our country a better place for everyone.
All of the information in this profile was accurate at the date and time of publication.
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