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00:00THE CEO, SHARON, JOINS US NOW. FASCINATING. THAT ' S WHAT ' S SO ENTICING ABOUT THE STORY. YOU DON ' T JUST PILOT PROGRAM IN THAT THERE WAS RACIAL BIAS BAKED INTO SOME OF YOUR INVESTMENTS AND DECISION-MAKING. SHARON: ABSOLUTELY. CAROLINE, THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME ON FOR THIS CONVERSATION. YOU ' RE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT. THE RATING IS WELL WORTH DOING IF YOU ' RE AM INVESTOR OUT THERE. IT WAS CLEARLY HUMBLING TO BE AN ORGANIZATION THAT THOUGHT IT HAD REMOVED BIAS FROM ITS INVESTMENT PRIUS -- PROCESS ONLY TO LEARN WE INTERSECT GENDER AND RACE, WE HAD JUST AS MUCH OF A PROBLEM AS OTHER ORGANIZATIONS. CAROLINE: AND TO THAT POINT, YOU THEN SORT OF LOOK AT TRYING TO FIX THAT. FROM THE IMMEDIATE, [GASP], I CAN ' T BELIEVE THIS IS OCCURRED, WHAT WAS IT YOU NEEDED TO DO? SHARON: YOUR INHALE WAS EXACTLY WHAT MY INHALE WAS. IT WAS A VERY PUBLIC MOMENT WHEN WE DISCOVERED IT. IT WAS AT A DINNER PARTY HOSTED BY THE COMPANY THAT WE DID NOT INVEST IN BUT WITHOUT WAS BEST IN CLASS. AN 80% OF THE CEO ' S WERE BLACK. AND THEN, FEELING KIND OF SMUG IN THAT MOMENT, INCLUSION AT THAT FANTASTIC DINNER, REFLECTED ON OUR PORTFOLIO, WHICH HAD ZERO BLACK CEO ' S IN IT. BUT HERE WERE THE COMPANIES THAT HAD PASSED ON BUT WERE EXCEPTIONAL. WE ' RE HOSTING A DINNER TO CATCH UP ON THE. YOU ' RE RIGHT. WE JUMPED RIGHT IN. DAY TWO -- I CALLED DAY ONE THE DINNER. DAY TWO WAS A REALLY HARD MOMENT FOR US, ORGANIZATIONALLY. WE HAD A FRANK CONVERSATION ABOUT THE FINDING AT THE DINNER. AND THEN WE DID THE HARD WORK OF LOOKING AT OUR PERSONAL DATA. YOU KNOW, YOU MENTIONED THAT IN THE MARKET, SOMETHING ' S HAPPENING THAT ' S NOT ALLOWING VENTURE TO FLOW. THAT ' S ALL WELL AND GOOD. BUT WHAT WE DID WAS DELVE INTO OUR OWN DATA AND MADE, IN THIS REPORT, OUR ACTIONS AND OUR FINDINGS VERY PUBLIC BECAUSE WE LEAVE IT ' S PART OF THE SOLUTION. CAROLINE: OK, SO THREE YEARS SINCE THE PILOT LUNCH. YOU ' RE DOING THE LEARNINGS. YOUR PORTFOLIO IS NOW HOW MUCH PEOPLE OF COLOR? SHARON: THE FUND IS 50% BLACK FEMALE CEO ' S. WE ONLY HAVE FOUR COMPANIES RIGHT NOW. BUT IT ' S THROUGH THE HARD WORK THAT WE DID THAT WE WERE EVEN ABLE TO DEPLOY THAT. THE DIRECT INVESTMENT PROGRAM, 25% OF THEIR INVESTMENT POSTS LEARNING ARE INTO BLACK FEMALE CEO ' S. FUNDAMENTALLY, WHAT WE HAD TO DO IS ACKNOWLEDGE WHILE OUR SOURCING AND SCREENING AND INVESTMENTS OF THE BUSINESSES WERE HUGELY INCLUSIVE, AND WE HAD REMOVED BIAS IN THAT, WE HAD FAILED TO APPRECIATE. WE ' RE TRULY AT THAT FINAL MOMENT OF INVESTMENT DECISION-MAKING AND PRIVATE EQUITY OR VENTURE CAPITAL, A HUGE DEAL ON THAT PERSONAL CONVERSATION AND THE GUT CHECK. THAT ' S WHERE WE FOUND THAT OUR GUT CHECK HAD BIAS BUILT INTO IT. AND WE HAD TO FIND VERY THOUGHTFUL AND PROCESS DRIVEN WAYS TO REMOVE THE GUT CHECK FROM OUR INVESTMENT DECISION-MAKING. SOUNDS COUNTERINTUITIVE, BUT ITS THE HARD WORK WE HAD TO DO. WE ' RE BETTER INVESTORS FOR IT. OUR PERFORMANCE NOT ONLY CONTINUES TO BE EXCEPTIONAL, IT USUALLY INCLUSIVE OF WOMEN IN COLOR. CAROLINE: WHAT WAS IT, THE GUT CHECK MOMENT? WAS IT THE FACT THAT BECAUSE HE WENT FROM SIMILAR BACKGROUND THAT YOU WEREN ' T GETTING THE UNDERSTANDING THAT YOU WANTED, AND THEREFORE HOW YOU ' RE ENSURING YOU ' RE GOING GEOGRAPHICALLY WHERE YOU NEED TO GO, THE PIPELINE IS WHERE YOU NEEDED TO BE? SHARON: IN FORTUNATE THING ABOUT BIAS IS THAT IT HATED IN THE SOFTER SCIENCES. AND IT ' S NOT AS EASY AS EXACTLY THIS. BUT I ' LL GIVE YOU EXAMPLE OF SOME OF THE DIFFERENCES. ONE WAS QUESTIONS ASKED AT THE POINT OF INVESTMENT. WHEN WE MEASURED THE QUESTIONS ASKED, THE BLACK WOMEN WERE ASKED WHAT THEY HAD ACHIEVED WITH THE CAPITAL THEY ' VE RAISED SO FAR. OUR WHITE WOMEN TENDED TO BE ASKED ABOUT THE POTENTIAL OF THEIR BUSINESS, WHERE THEY WERE TAKING IT, THE OPPORTUNITIES FOR INVESTING. SO YOU CAN SEE HOW JUST THAT SUBTLE DISTINCTION, VERY SUBTLE, RIGHT? NUANCED. SO WHAT WE HAD CHANGED IS THE QUESTIONS WE ASKED. WE DID NOT DEVIATE FROM THE QUESTIONS BASED ON THE

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Leveling the Investment Playing Field

Astia CEO & Managing Director Sharon Vosmek joins Caroline Hyde in an exclusive interview as they release the findings of their three-year pilot program aiming to tackle racial bias within investment decision-making processes and thus enabling investments to flow into a more diverse portfolio. (Source: Bloomberg)

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