Supporting a new generation of founders, investors, and leaders in Silicon Valley.
Join us for the 2nd Annual Responsible Innovation Founders Summit this Thursday 11/10.
When we set out on a year long process of interviewing VC-backed founders, investors, and public interest technologists about how they approach responsible company-building practices (e.g. from construction of diverse captables, to incorporation, governance, hiring practices, etc), we were taken back by the thoughtfulness that was taking place in the startup community. Far from the whims and problematic choices of Big Tech CEOS and their enablers, a new generation of founders and investors are taking the lessons from the past 20 years of tech innovation and building a new responsible innovation playbook.
While there is a nascent community of VC-backed builders and thinkers, most of the startup and Silicon Valley infrastructure — from venture capital portfolio services to the resources given to founders at leading accelerators — does not yet fully acknowledge or support this emerging community.
While creating a new model for tech innovation and tech company-building seems like a battle of David and Goliath, we are building bridges and creating community with “fellow travelers” in Silicon Valley and beyond who see managing risks, embedding stakeholder values, establishing good labor practices, etc., as a business imperative.
To this end we are grateful for our partnership with the Responsible Innovation Labs and together we’re excited to bring the 2nd Annual Responsible Innovation Founders Summit to Betaworks in NYC, Gusto headquarters in SF, and virtually this year. This year’s Summit will feature founders backed by leading venture capital firms and accelerators such as YC Combinator, GV, SVAngel, General Catalyst, Tiger Global, Bessemer, and others, including Toyin Ajayi, MD (CEO, Cityblock), Josh Reeves (CEO, Gusto), Rachel Romer (CEO, Guild Education) — with the full list below.
The goal of this Summit is not only to convene world-class founders and investors building the next big technology companies, but to build a bridge with leading thinkers in civil society, so we can foster an equitable, just, and sustainable tech sector.
Join us!
Responsible Innovation Founders Summit — Full Speakers List
- Toyin Ajayi, MD (CEO, Cityblock)
- Josh Reeves (CEO, Gusto)
- Rachel Romer (CEO, Guild Education)
- Rachel Gillum, PhD (Head of Global Policy, Ethical Tech, Salesforce)
- Laurie Segall (CEO, Dot Dot Dot Media. Former Correspondent, 60 Minutes)
- Safiya Umoja Noble, PhD (MacArthur Fellow. Professor and Director, UCLA Center on Race and Digital Justice)
- Lexi Reese (Executive in Residence, General Catalyst)
- Matt Schulman (CEO, Pave)
- James Williams, PhD (Research Associate at the Oxford University)
- Susan Mac Cormac (Partner, Morrison Foerster)
- Shaily Baranwal (CEO, Elevate K-12)
- Justin Hendrix (Founder and Editor, Tech Policy Press)
- Chapman Snowden (CEO and Co-founder, GoBuild (YC21))
- Bilal Zuberi (General Partner, Lux Capital)
- Laura Weidman Powers (Partner, Base10)
- Lauren Peate (Founder and CEO, Multitudes)
- Vivek Katial (Data and Founding Team Member, Multitudes)
- Garrett Smiley (CEO, Sora Schools)
- Risto Lähdesmäki (Chief Product Officer, Sora Schools)
- Quentin Clark (Managing Director, General Catalyst)
- Clara Brenner (Managing Partner, The Urban Innovation Fund)
- Timothy Wang (Managing Partner, The Westly Group
- Raina Kumra (Founder, Spicewell. Partner, The Fund LA. Co-creator, EthicalOS)
- Claire Shorall (CEO, Topknot
- Adrian Haro (CEO, The Workers Lab)
- Janet Haven (Executive Director, Data & Society)
- Jon Zieger (Founder, Responsible Innovation Labs)
- Lyel Resner (Head of Public Interest Tech Studio, Cornell Tech)
