Q & A

 We recently sat down with Gloria M. Ware to find out more about her passions, her calling, and generally dive in deeper to get to know her.

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Add What are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced in your work over the last few years?

The biggest challenge for me, in terms of some of the organizations that I’ve work with over the years, is lack of capacity. Many businesses support organizations with programs or initiatives that are designed to serve communities of color receive nominal funding or allocate nominal funding towards the diverse programming.

Everyone wants to start a business. Many people that I work with have good hearts, their intentions are in the right place, but the systems that they work in make it very difficult for them to be effective. One of the things I do is provide research around alternative funding sources for their client base, customized to their clients’ needs. But when you have a small staff that's juggling so much, sometimes you don’t have the capacity to execute. Whenthere is an opportunity to build capacity, there are issues finding the salaries or funding available for marketing or paying additional staff. I do think there needs to be more funding available to support building a pipeline of people that are qualified and passionate about supporting entrepreneurs in a trauma-informed way and then ensuring that advisors and leaders have all the resources that they need to actually execute on their goals.

You keep reading about how we only get one percent of venture capital, and I’d love for us instead to focus our energy on identifying and developing alternative forms of social, financial and customer capital. . e spend too much energy and time demoralizing diverse founders and business owners with these abysmal statistics that haven’t changed in 15 years.

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Developing alternative business models to the startup status quo has become a central moral challenge of our time. These alternatives want to balance profit and purpose and put a premium on sharing power and resources.

Why is getting investments in this alternative model crucial for those who seek it?

In a 2020 study, Citigroup identified that $13 trillion was lost in potential business revenue from discriminatory lending to Black entrepreneurs, with an estimated 6 million jobs not generated as a result. We all lose when innovators don’t have the resources needed to move the country forward.

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How do we shift the narrative about the role of capital in BIPOC communities and reframe the perceptions of the risk involved?

There’s something to be said for creating your own narrative, because in my experience, shifting the narrative has not been easy–even when you’re applying sound logic.

I am a data-driven person and I do believe in having data, but there's so much data that exists and people still do what they want to do. I remember having this conversation with a colleague and there was a DEI related initiative that I wanted to pursue, and they asked, “Well, where is the data to support that idea?” My response was, “I don't need to have the data, this is my lived experience.”

Ten years ago, early in my DEI leadership journey, McKinsey was coming out with these reports and studies around the business case for diversity. As a former banker, I was so excited to finally have the data that everyone was asking for, but there were always individuals who to find some fault in the reports and argue that data was not accurate, that there some flaws in the research methodology, any excuse to invalidate the evidence.Companies and organizations consistently pay top tier consulting firms hundreds of thousands of dollars to deliver studies and reports on a wide variety of topics,on ,butut all of a sudden, these companies don't want to believe the diversity data that these same consulting and research entities were producing..The never ending appeals for more data to justify DEI investments can often be an excuse not to act.

Ultimately, people that are truly ride or die for systems transformation are going to trust the stories of BIPOC founders, and when we say, “I need this,” they’ll give us all that we ask for. So, let's focus on doing the work. Let's just focus on getting Black and Hispanic founders funded. Let's do that and let those be the stories. Let’s promote the visibility of Black women entrepreneurs, because often their success stories are underplayed or ignored.

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What are the top three pieces of advice you would give to BIPOC entrepreneurs, who are dedicated to both purpose and profit, as they are starting or scaling their business?

The first piece of advice is to know your history and that of your ancestors and let it inspire you. A lot of this is about your mindset. A healthy business starts with the entrepreneur, and that means having a healthy mindset, healthy body, healthy network. We've all been affected by internalized racism at work and in life and been traumatized by that, and that can affect how much mental energy and strength you have to invest in your business. You know the history of your people, if you know the history of this country, you can understand how our ancestors and those in power have maneuvered in the past. You can find inspiration in those stories of founders who had to overcome more difficult circumstances than you are facing. Take that energy and those success stories of the ancestors and apply it to your determination to continue moving forward.

Another thing I would say is: Know your “why.” Why are you pursuing this entrepreneurial path? Because sometimes we get so caught up in executing that we lose track of our purpose and passion. So know your “why,” and let that drive your ability to stay focused and move forward or pivot as needed.

Finally, understand the power of customer capital. This advice stems from my experience as a banker and working in venture capital. . Focus on your customers. I find that many founders who are raising money don't know as much about their market or their customers as they really need to, because that takes time, expertise, access to research and energy. Understandably, they’re focused primarily on building products and/or raising money. But if you focus on truly understanding your target customer, being their best friend, building that relationship,asking the hard questions and designing around their stated needs, that is ultimately going to get you funded.

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What is the call to action for investors who seek to promote social justice through investment solutions?

Take time for self-reflection and thinking about how institutionalized racism, and especially internalized racism, might be affecting your perceptions, decisions, actions and outcomes.

From that self-reflection, you can begin re-evaluating governance models and organizational structures. Seek Opportunities to invest in your personal development and your institution’s growth and evolution. Surround yourself with leaders who are taking risks and innovating at scale. Challenge the process. Be a leader and not a follower. It takes courage to change the status quo. There are going to be some wins and some losses, and often our losses are subject to more scrutiny. Ultimately, you're missing out on valuable returns if you’re repeatedly fishing in the same pond.