“It’s about coming full circle where both equity scenarios intersect for greater productivity, success, and impact.”
At a time when diversity, equity, and inclusivity (DEI) are at the forefront of a national movement toward social justice, we caught up with our own Matt Zwiebel, Director of Pledge 1% Colorado.
“Most often, we hear the term ‘equity’ in a social context,” says Matt, who’s focused on creating a more inclusive startup community across Colorado. “Of course, the term ‘equity’ also describes a financial instrument. Same word, two very different scenarios.
“I’ve always been interested in finding ways to thread together these two understandings of ‘equity,’ and inspire entrepreneurs and employees to be change agents around how they embrace DEI in their businesses.”
Indeed, by disrupting traditional models of philanthropy, Pledge 1% Colorado continually catalyzes local entrepreneurs to push the status quo. Launched by your Community Foundation, Pledge 1% Colorado connects young companies’ future success to philanthropy by allowing them to easily pledge 1% of product, or 1% of profit to local communities.
Continues Matt, “There’s a lot of talk in the startup world about DEI, but the needle is moving only slowly. So I came up with this idea of what it would look like to separate startup impact into two categories – near term impact and long term impact – where near term impact recognizes why inclusivity matters, why diversity matters, and why making your company more equitable will help you be more fruitful.
“It’s about coming full circle where both equity scenarios intersect for greater productivity, success, and impact.”
As such, Matt and the Pledge 1% Colorado Board of Directors – also with support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, additional to the Knight Foundation’s support of our annual nonprofit pitch competition over the past four years – are committed to formalizing DEI work as central to the mission of Pledge 1% Colorado.
“My goal is to move DEI forward, now,” says Matt. “When this ‘moment’ ends, we’ll lose the unique opportunity to ignite DEI work among Pledge 1% member companies.”
How to get started? By creating an app, of course, with the significant and invaluable creative input of Aaron Clark, CEO and founder of Equity Solutions. Aaron is a multi-faceted technologist working to advance the placement of underrepresented groups in today’s workforce.
“When we first started talking to startup founders, they acknowledged that DEI is something they want to tackle,” explains Matt. “But we all know that just hiring diverse talent isn’t enough. Inclusion is the means by which diverse talent feels welcomed and heard.
“At the same time, for many of the founders we work with, spending hours or days on trainings related to DEI work isn’t realistic, no matter how timely and necessary. So we thought, how about an app that provides DEI education modules for startup founders? From teachings around equity assessments to understanding unconscious and implicit biases to exploring systemic privilege and power to DEI tools for workplace integration.
“Put another way, the app – DEI Today – empowers founders to take daily, manageable steps toward an equitable future.”
Learn more about how DEI Today will help build healthy businesses for the benefit of all, and sign up to be among the first to know when the app is launched! And in case you missed it this morning, you can still listen to our July radio show on KGNU Community Radio, featuring Matt and Aaron in conversation about diversity, equity, and inclusion.
