ALEX STEINMAN

The Coven

A lot of people will say we haven’t made progress in the past few years, but that would be a disservice to the millions of Black people who’ve been working to drive change. Black and Brown people have always done for themselves what systems won’t. We consistently rely on ourselves and our communities to launch and sustain our businesses, our dreams, and our careers. Everyone else is always just catching up.

For a Black woman, fundraising is insane. The numbers are dismal. Investment in founders of color rose slightly in 2020, but now it’s back down to record lows. It’s going to take time to change the stats. A lot of new funds are popping up that are focused on gender-lens investing or diversity-lens investing, or are run by Black and Brown fund managers. That’s exciting. Hopefully, they’ll be fully funded and sustainable, but I know they’re struggling to close their rounds. Some of them are not ready to write checks yet.

Now, the economy is another factor. We’re hearing that investors are tightening their belts and investing in existing portfolio companies, but if their existing portfolio looks like a bunch of White dudes, that’s who’s going to make it through economic struggles.

We just have a long way to go. It’s going to take all of us to realize that just and equitable future we dream of, but I remain hopeful. I see the work people are putting into bringing more inclusive funding, more support for entrepreneurs. I hope we find ways to sustain this engagement long-term, so those systems are in place—and even better—for generations to come. That’s why I do this work, so my kids don’t have to deal with this. But it took us 400 years to get here. It’s going to take more than three years to undo it all.

The Coven is a Minneapolis-based co-working space focused on experiences of women and nonbinary and trans people. Last year, co-founder and CEO Alex Steinman grew group memberships 400 percent; she’s raised $3 million in funding.