Fortune, August 8, 2023, Group behind affirmative action cases sues venture fund backing Black female founders for racial bias, a potential precursor to attacks on corporate DEI
Last week, a conservative activist group behind the Supreme Court case that limited affirmative action in higher education sued early-stage venture capital fund Fearless Fund for racial discrimination. Atlanta-based Fearless Fund, led by general partners Arian Simone and Ayana Parsons, backs women of color entrepreneurs.
When the Supreme Court issued its affirmative action decision in June, diversity and inclusion experts warned that the corporate world could soon see similar challenges come its way. “Everyone’s been waiting for the other shoe to drop,” says Susan Lyne, managing partner at BBG Ventures, another early-stage fund that invests in diverse founders. Now, it has.
The outcome of this case could have implications far beyond one small Atlanta-based fund, from larger VC firms that explicitly invest in diverse founders to diversity and inclusion efforts among the behemoths of corporate America.
