125: The Current State & Future For Black Investors w/ Mandy Bynum

Name: Mandy Bynum Mc Laughlin

Business Name: BLCK VC

Current Title: CEO

Location: San Francisco, CA

Educational Background: Bucknell University

About Mandy: 

Mandy Bynum Mc Laughlin Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of BLCK VC since February 2022. Prior to becoming the CEO, she took part of BLCK VC’s apprenticeship and was a Black Venture Institute Fellow. She has an expert approach to fostering racial equity and inclusion, a background in enterprise sales leadership and experience serving as angel investor and limited partner for several women- and Black-led funds. Besides being the CEO for BLCK VC, Mandy is also the CEO and Co-Founder of Race Equ(al)ity Project, an organization that creates tools and content that empowers individuals and support organizations to make workplaces and cultures more equitable.

She built her career in tech across numerous functions, including sales and operations. She has been a lifelong student of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion as she has built her career in an industry where she was in the minority and sought to bring others up through her leadership. She is an avid supporter of nonprofits with a focus on marginalized student and employee groups. Mandy uses her business background to ground DE&I efforts and metrics in the understanding of how the business operates and what is required to make the business more successful. She double majored in Political Science and English, Civil War; Political History through Popular Music; Ancient Storytelling and Creative Writing from Bucknell University.

DURING THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN:

• What a venture capitalist (VC) does
• The current state of Black underrepresentation in the VC space
• The importance of having more Black people in VC
• The challenges that keep Black people out of the VC space
• Policies that will transform the state of the Black VC community
• Tips to help you transition into VC 
• Tips for Black entrepreneurs looking to secure funding

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

• [PROGRAM] Breaking Into Venture
• [NETWORK] BLCK VC Scout Network
• [PROGRAM] Black Venture Institute
• [REPORT] State Of Black Venture Report
• [NETWORK] BLCK VC Community

Thank you so much for listening! If you liked this episode, please subscribe to “The Black to Business Podcast” and rate and review on Apple Podcasts:

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OTHER PLACES TO LISTEN: Apple | Spotify

STAY CONNECTED: 

Mandy Bynum: Website  | LinkedIn  

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