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Investing in racial diversity: a call to action to the venture capital community

Nature Biotechnology volume 38, pages 925–927 (2020)Cite this article

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To the Editor — The murder of George Floyd has yet again shone a spotlight on racial injustice and police brutality in the United States, his death joining the collective history of violence and inequality faced by racial minorities in this country and beyond. Floyd’s killing by police also brought back the teachings of my father, a Black man who grew up during the racial turmoil of the 1960s. He told me to always look presentable so I would be disarming, always ask for a bag when leaving the store so they wouldn’t think I stole something, and always be deferential to authority because I had less room for error. These words were etched into my consciousness as a multiracial kid growing up in a predominantly white environment.

My parents also reinforced the importance of education because they knew it would be key in gaining access to circles to which someone of my race and gender would not have otherwise. And it worked: I earned a PhD and an MBA, and these degrees opened biotech’s doors and led me to life science venture capital (VC). Yet my progress seems futile when I am one of the few, if only, female racial minorities in biotech VC, with few being groomed in the pipeline behind me and even fewer ahead in senior positions.

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  1. Abingworth, Boston, MA, USA

    Jackie Grant

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  1. Jackie Grant
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Correspondence to Jackie Grant.

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Supplementary Table 1

Top 25 US-based early-stage life science VC firms selected for deal activity, capital invested and influence in the biotech ecosystem.

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Grant, J. Investing in racial diversity: a call to action to the venture capital community. Nat Biotechnol 38, 925–927 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41587-020-0624-y

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