Silicon Valley Capital for Democracy Roundtable
The day after the election, we invite investors, funders and philanthropists to join us for this discussion on the current state of the elections and our democracy, and for how venture funding, family offices, GPs & LPs, philanthropy, and innovation in general can better protect and revitalize our democracy, while we help our democracy better support innovation and our economy.
While some people seem to think that venture profits and democracy are at odds, that's far from the reality we've seen in this country.
Capitalism and democracy hold each other up. Every term sheet depends on functioning courts, fair competition, rule of law, and public investment in research and education. And a democracy needs an economy that delivers for enough people that they keep believing in it.
Co-Conveners
Chris Yeh, Founding Partner, Blitzscaling Ventures
David Nabti, Founder/ED, DemocracyWeek.net, and designer of the Democracy Impact Framework
Melissa Hooper, Executive Director, Center for Constitutional Democracy, UC Law SF
We’ll focus on two things:
1️⃣. Improving finance flows to companies and organizations that strengthen our democracy. Grant cycles are slow, venture returns are hard, and many investors see "fiduciary responsibility" in the frame of months and not years. We’ll look at how venture investors, family offices, GPs & LPs, and philanthropists can back this work better and together, and how we can make "democracy" more profitable than things that hurt democracy.
2️⃣. Support more innovation in civic and democracy work. Civic tech startups, brining "democracy" into diverse sectors and business models, nonprofit civic innovation, and more, as we build towards launching the Democracy Accelerator.
This builds on the SF Innovators & Investors for Democracy Forum on October 8 and our draft Democracy Impact Assessment.
RSVP and we’ll send details as they’re confirmed. Questions or partnership ideas: partner@democracyweek.net. More at democracyweek.net/capital.