The past decade has seen a huge rise in demand for professional women’s networks, but these networks have failed to serve women of color – often at tremendous cost.
Our networks overall are segregated: on average, 91% of white people's friends are white and 83% of Black people's friends are Black. Personal and professional networks are key to financial success, healthcare, legal support, and building empathy and understanding, but our segregation drives the racial wealth gap – and no women’s network has overcome this barrier.
At the same time, Black women start businesses at 3x the rate of other women, but have received less than 0.35% of all venture funding.
Level was born from the idea that by working together toward the common goal of investing in Black women, we can both serve the cause and build authentic cross-racial relationships, leading to a unique and robust multiracial network.
Level
We are a small but mighty team!
We are a startup in the professional women's space with a specific focus on racial equity. Our goal is to build a racially diverse network of women, coming together for the common mission of tackling the racial wealth gap.
Our Story
Nikoa and Jenny met in 2012 at Columbia Business School and formed a powerful friendship. Seven years later, Nikoa was working in corporate America in Ohio and interested in becoming an entrepreneur, but despite doing ‘everything right’ (attending Howard and Columbia Business School, pursuing a career in real estate finance), the centuries’ long racial wealth gap in the US meant she lacked the financial safety net to take that risk. Nikoa became focused on the incredible entrepreneurship of Black women, who start businesses at 3x the rate of other women, and the vast inequity in their funding, as Black women have received just 0.06% of venture funding since 2009.
Meanwhile, in New York, Jenny began attending events of popular and fast-growing professional women’s networks, and she saw how racially homogenous they were, despite talk of diversity. She researched and found that on average in the US 83% of Black people's friends are Black and 91% of white people's friends are white. She realized that in her life, networks had been core to finding jobs, staying in jobs, accessing professional resources, and building empathy and understanding, but a chasm exists in networks across racial lines.
In 2019, Jenny and Nikoa came together and envisioned a multiracial network that was also a fund for Black women entrepreneurs, and Level was born. Level’s vision is that by working together toward the common goal of racial equity, we can both serve the cause and build authentic cross-racial relationships, leading to a unique and robust network of women.
My Level Women's Equity Circle was an eye-opening time that I am extremely grateful for. It was a beam of light during a dark period in Spring 2020, and I always looked forward to the honest conversations and challenging myself. Level's impact will be felt for years to come - not many groups can say that - and the investment we made and will continue to make into Black entrepreneurs is inspiring.
Tiara Budd Ramos - Manager of Talent Programs, Lyft