In June 2020, 14 white leaders came together to form the Colorado Tech Coalition for Equity and Inclusion. These individuals answered a call for justice and engagement that accelerated with the death of George Floyd, yet began more than 400 years ago.

The Coalition aims to broaden access and improve equity dialogues in Colorado while designing better pathways to provide tangible assistance to Black, Indigenous, and People of Color working as entrepreneurs or in a startup in the Colorado ecosystem. The Coalition has hired the Equity Consultants of Colorado to lead their efforts as they build the foundations for transformative change in diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.

In addition to funding, each founding member is contributing hours of in-depth work to assess their own personal biases, followed by thorough anti-racist trainings. A foundational tenet of the Coalition is to understand and leverage their white privilege to support the BIPOC community explicitly through creative, social, and financial channels. The members take a long-term view, understanding that this work is not about obtaining a credential. It's a commitment to the ongoing actions of transformation in the face of entrenched oppression and opposition.

Members are currently engaged in Strategy Labs (facilitated workshops exploring individual, interpersonal, and institutional beliefs that drive the ‘why’ behind DEI work) led by the Equity Consultants of Colorado. At the conclusion of this program, the Coalition will unveil its findings and an initial framework for creating sustainable impact to the BIPOC community, to be released thereafter.

The ultimate goal is for these leaders to chart a course of action for themselves, their companies, and the broader Colorado ecosystem that will break down barriers and create a more just society for all.