Black Lives Matter.
2020 should be a year in human history when this statement is not controversial and doesn’t need to be said, but unfortunately this is not the case. Black lives and livelihoods are threatened daily by discrimination and structural inequity across every facet of society. This should not be a reality in 21st century America or across the world but it is. Black Lives Matter.
Change will require conscious action from individuals in the choices they make on behalf of themselves and the organizations they are part of. This applies to us as members of the blockchain investment community in the way we allocate capital, help steer network governance, and make decisions related to hiring and selecting vendors. At CoinFund, we can do better on all these fronts and we reaffirm our commitment to do so. Moreover, one of the core reasons for why we are in the blockchain space today is we believe that blockchain technologies will help to level the playing fields of finance, tech, and society, and create immense positive social impact for historically underprivileged people.
As we observe Juneteenth, we are focusing on what we can do on our part. We stand in solidarity with the Black community and make the following pledge to purposefully and actively strive for diversity in the hires we make and the founders we work with across the blockchain products we support, and beyond:
- We unequivocally oppose systemic racism and police brutality.
- We will formalize a diversity recruitment and advancement plan at our organization.
- We will formalize a plan for creating more opportunities to invest with Black, female, and minority founders.
- We will continue to donate to nonprofits that fight systemic inequity and racism and promote technology opportunities and education for minorities. At this time, we are particularly excited to support the #CryptoForBlackLives Gitcoin Grants campaign, set up with the help of our own Devin Walsh.
- We will listen, think, and work on other ways to help.
A big thank you to Robert Greenfield IV of Emerging Impact for his work and for inspiring this pledge.
The CoinFund Team
Jake, Alex, Oleg, Seth, Devin, Ryan, Jason
