INNOVATORS UNITED ON WHAT MATTERS

Venture Café New England Community, 

We believe that innovation is a process to improve the human condition. The same goes for Thought & Action. 

Venture Café Cambridge, Roxbury Innovation Center, Venture Café Providence and our District Hall’s in Boston and Providence were founded on the pillars of inclusivity and fostering impactful innovation for everyone’s benefit.  And now, more than ever, we are re-committing ourselves to bringing people together at every level to do just that.

THOUGHT: Our efforts to encourage equity and inclusion, focus on creating solutions that reflect ethical principles as a family. We all, conveners, collaborators, and allies have a responsibility to use our platforms in the innovation ecosystem to create safe, inclusive spaces where all voices are welcome, and none are privileged.

We believe networking and knowledge sharing are essential to driving meaningful progress. However, we can not do this work alone; we have to stand together as one voice to inspire and motivate people to strive for racial equity across the ecosystem.

ACTION: We are creating and contributing to diverse programming in Providence and greater Rhode Island, as well as, Greater Boston. We continue to build on our Pathway Program connecting our entrepreneurs of color with college interns from local community colleges in exchange for college credit. In addition, we have pivoted our Roxbury Pitch Night to offer a virtual community space to expand the reach for small businesses and entrepreneurs to pitch their business ideas. These are just a few steps of many, related to our continued efforts to bolster equity and accessibility in our communities.  

RESOURCES:  In addition, we are sharing a collection of links directed towards actionable ways to contribute to the movement: “In Defense of Black Life”, as a way to do your part and to get involved in more meaningful change.

VCNE is willing to do the work, support the work, and amplify the work that needs to be done. Please, let us know if you would like to be engaged in this work to support our black community.  Let us know how you can contribute.  Let us know what you need.  Drop us a note and we’ll be in touch with next steps.

Onward,

Daniel Vidaña, President Venture Café New England

Rachael Reints, Associate Director District Hall Boston + Roxbury Innovation Center