A Decade of Shifting: Culture Shift Labs Celebrates 10th Annual Culture Shifting Weekend with Largest Ever Gathering of Black and Latinx Venture Capitalists and Institutional Investors

NEW YORK, Oct. 31, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- This fall's invitation-only summit produced by Culture Shift Labs (CSL) presents a rare opportunity for leading companies and investors to meet, vet, and invest in the fast-growing ecosystem of Venture Funds run by Black and Latinx founders. 

Hosted by Salesforce, CSL's annual three-day Culture Shifting Weekend NYC is the largest gathering of Black and Latinx venture investors. The event offers institutional investors, social impact investors, corporate VCs, and the broader investment community direct engagement with this burgeoning niche of general partners (GPs), and seeks to solve for historical inequity in the asset class.

"I could not be more excited for our 10^th anniversary event," said Andrea Hoffman, founder and CEO of Culture Shift Labs. "We have always said that there is profit in diversity and inclusion, and this gathering of top institutional investors and Black and Latinx VCs speaks to the very essence of that fact.

"CSL has built the largest database of diverse-owned venture capital firms (over 300) that seek the right partners for their funds. Historical lack of awareness of this community has limited companies' ability to access new revenue streams, co-investment opportunities, competitive advantages, acquisitions and initiatives that can propel their businesses forward. Our event fills this unique and unmet need in the marketplace." 

In addition to host Salesforce and lead sponsor Vista Equity Partners, more than 180 representatives from companies such as Boeing, Colonial Capital, Hearst, Morgan Stanley, PayPal, RBC Capital Markets, SAP, Silicon Valley Bank and Uber and foundations including Kellogg and Surdna are scheduled to attend.

To date, the event has enabled over $100M in new investor money directed to GPs who have attended. Beyond this committed capital, VCs who attended last year's event are currently being vetted for additional $50 million of investment. Due to the higher number of institutional investors and GPs expected at this year's Weekend, CSL estimates funding will increase to $300M.

"Vista Equity Partners is pleased to be aligned with work that supports financial inclusion," said Robert F. Smith, Founder, Chairman & CEO at Vista Equity Partners. "Culture Shift Labs, through their Culture Shifting Weekend gatherings, is building a formidable ecosystem of investors and entrepreneurs who can now gain access to capital and community."

EVENT DETAILS

• Lead Sponsor: Vista Equity Partners
• Investors Attending: Corporate VCs, nonprofit foundations, fund of funds, family office CIOs, pension funds and angel investors, including:
  • Colonial Consulting
  • Cambridge Consulting
  • University of California, Office of the CIO of the Regents
  • Carnegie Corporation of New York
  • USAA
  • Cambridge Associates
  • Bessemer Trust
  • Surdna Foundation
  • Kellogg Foundation
  • Gingerbread Capital

VCs Attending: Over 45 Black and Latinx VCs will be attending including Carmichael Roberts, Co-Founder and Managing Partners of Material Impact, a $110M fund and Miriam Rivera of Ulu Ventures, a $100M fund.

• Featured Speakers:
  • Fireside chat featuring:
    • Juan Martinez, CFO, Knight Foundation
    • Iqram Magdon-Ismail, co-founder, Venmo
  • Latinx VC female panel featuring:
    • Lauren Pfeifer, VC Investor, Maschmeyer Group Ventures
    • Carmen Palafox, Partner, MiLA Capital
    • Noramay Cadena, Co-Founder and Managing Director, MiLA Capital
  • Over 15 Black and Latinx VCs who will share their stories before they reveal who they are

For more information please visit the event website https://www.cultureshiftingweekends.com/nyc-2019-new

This event is open to select media representatives by request.

ABOUT CULTURE SHIFT LABS (CSL)
CSL advises Tech & Fortune 500 Companies, Non-Profits, CEOs, Cities, Investors and Philanthropists on creating and activating growth and innovation through diversity and inclusion. CSL applies their Knowledge + Network Formula™ to produce measurable outcomes for clients including leveraging their 6K Database of Black subject matter experts to increase diversity on corporate and non profit boards, in the c-suite and help companies be deliberate about diversity in corporate venture, corporate development, mergers & acquisitions and more. Culture Shift Labs is based in New Jersey with a satellite office in San Francisco, CA. http://www.cultureshiftlabs.com/

ABOUT CULTURE SHIFTING WEEKENDS (CSW)
Culture Shifting: A Weekend of Technology, Innovation & Social Impact is an annual invite-only bicoastal event that takes place in Silicon Valley and Silicon Alley. These are the only events of their kind in the United States that unite over 300 accomplished Black & Latinx tech executives, entrepreneurs, investors, innovators and social impact leaders to celebrate, collaborate, and consummate deals.

Each coast has a different format; Silicon Valley is the largest gathering of Black leaders in tech, innovation and social impact. Silicon Alley is the largest gathering of Black and Latinx Venture Capitalists. CSW is an annual signature event of Culture Shift Labs.
https://www.cultureshiftingweekends.com/

ABOUT ANDREA HOFFMAN
Ms. Hoffman is an advisor, dealmaker, strategist, speaker, author, and the founder and CEO of CSL. Leveraging more than 20 years of strategy, business development and advisory experience, she consults with senior leaders and C-suite executives across a wide range of industries on finding new growth opportunities. By helping clients see past long-held perceptions regarding the intersection of innovation, inclusion and diversity, she guides clients to insights that unlock growth. Her advisory services help clients to see how business, technology and demographic shifts are related, and how leveraging those forces to improve business and societal impact are both possible and profitable. Ms. Hoffman's second book, 50 Billion Dollar Boss: Stories from African American Women Entrepreneurs on Leadership and Success(Palgrave Macmillan) was published in 2015, and nominated for a 2016 NAACP Image Award. She has included in a wide range of media outlets, from Bloomberg and the Christian Science Monitor to Fast Company and Washington Post and has spoken or led panels at Milken Global Conference and National Association of Corporate Directors.

CONTACT INFORMATION 

Chris Gillick
ICR
[email protected]

SOURCE Culture Shift Labs

Related Links

http://www.cultureshiftlabs.com