Strategic Plan Executive Summary CAMELBACK VENTURES SUMMER 2018
THANKS FOR LOOKING AT THIS DOCUMENT introduction I am often asked what was the a-ha moment that created Camelback Ventures. The reality is that Camelback is the manifestation of a life’s worth of moments. The moments of being the lonely-only (or one of very few people of color) in so many spaces – education, law, and entrepreneurship. The moments of failure – of previous ventures, of watching other entrepreneurs of color (EOC) fail when it wasn’t necessary. The moments of outrage – for students denied a quality education; for communities who live with violence and trauma daily; at our collective addiction to the “tranquilizing drug of gradualism.” The moments of meeting someone and remembering what is so obvious – that genius is equally distributed, but access is not. I founded Camelback because these moments told me that if we invested in entrepreneurs with a different set of experiences, perspectives, and motivations than the status quo – people of color, women, immigrants, among others – that they would emerge and create new value. Some questioned whether the talent was there. The answer was – and still is – an emphatic YES. Both this organization and our Fellows have experienced tremendous growth and celebrated incredible wins. And the truth is, our country truly cannot afford to ignore that genius any longer. The U.S. has one of the worst rates for childhood poverty on the planet. This not only falls short of our ideals as a nation of opportunity but costs us $1.3 trillion each year – this is 5% of our GDP and 28% of our federal budget (New York Times*). In the private sector alone, if we closed the racial business ownership gap, it would add nine million jobs, one million businesses, and $300B to worker income to the U.S. economy (Center for Global Policy Solutions*). When our children do not have a future, our nation does not have a future. This is a matter of national security. This document outlines the role Camelback Ventures will play in moving our communities forward and securing the future of our children and nation. But first, I want to start and end with gratitude: thank you to everyone who has supported us in our journey so far (including our funders, below, and the friends and family we thank on our end page). Please reach out and let us know what you think of this document and/or if you see something you want to partner on. Onward,
Aaron T. Walker CEO & Founder
Thank you to our financial partners* for their belief in us, and whose support makes all our work possible.
* See source list on next page. Funder logos indicate partners who supported with $100k and above. Additional gratitude to our partners at the 2018 NOLA Foundation, Paula Sneed & Lawrence Bass, and the Surdna Foundation, as well as our supporters with Kauffman Foundation, the Ford Motor Company Fund, Lingo Ventures, New Profit, Samantha Berg, Stephen Rosenthal, and Wells Fargo. || Photography credits in New Orleans: Alison Moon for WWNO's "Out to Lunch" at Commander's Palace; Camelback team in March 2017, photo by Harlin Miller at the Top Mob Wall
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WHY WE DO WHAT WE DO the problem: unrealized value “We need this,” said Michelle. “Exactly what I needed,” said Vincent. Michelle Ching and Vincent Cobb are two of 46 Fellows who said they needed Camelback. They are two of over 830 who applied to the Fellowship. They are two of thousands of aspiring entrepreneurs of color (EOC) and women – in education and beyond – who are seeking a place like Camelback.
The question is, why do they need Camelback? There are over 170 accelerator programs in the U.S., and 150 programs, fellowships, funding opportunities focused on social entrepreneurs. If genius is equally distributed, why is it that people of color and women are saying that they need Camelback to achieve their entrepreneurial aspirations? We see two principal reasons:
1. The racial wealth gap in America creates a huge hurdle to financing new ventures. Median Black wealth is 12x less than median White wealth [1]
WHITE WEALTH
12x LATINX
TODAY
Median wealth for Latinx families, right now, is $2,000 [3] BLACK
WHITE WEALTH
It is estimated that the median Black wealth by 2053 will be zero; and White wealth will increase [2]
BY 2053
WHITE WEALTH
Asians families at the top are often doing better than Whites, but those at the bottom are doing worse [4] In New York City, AsianAmericans have the highest rate of poverty of any racial group [5]
ASIANS
Education and history are intertwined in the racial wealth gap. Most recently, the post-WWII G.I. Bill was a boon to much of America – but not people of color, who, even after serving, were excluded from access to this opportunity. Even now, "Black and Latino families with a member holding a four-year degree own just a fifth of the wealth of equivalent white families. In fact, they own less wealth than a white family whose head has just a high school diploma.” [3]
2. There is a race and gender "tax" on EOCs and women that impacts venture deveopment. Entrepreneurship itself takes both a physical and psychological toll. The pressure of conveying that you have everything together – when you do not – leads to additional shame. [6] These demands are compounded for EOCs and women, ranging from financial responsibilities for family, to social isolation and lack of trusted support system, to dealing with gendered and racialized aggressions. [7] This isolation, pain, and pressure hinder their ability to grow their venture. This constant management of other people – their finances, biases, reactions – rather than their business creates a need for a place where they can focus on their development. A place where they will be coached as leaders, where their potential is seen as a strength, and where their mistakes are not seen as character traits.
Enter Camelback Ventures; the friends and family round for people who don't have it Beyond the financial support, Camelback offers a needed space for entrepreneurs of color to build, iterate, and develop themselves and their ventures.
S O U RCE S - AVA I L A B L E ON L I NE Previous page
The New York Times: “The Cost of Keeping Children Poor," Mark Rank, May 2018. Center for Global Policy Solutions, "Color of Entrepreneurship," April 2016.
1. Economic Policy Institute: "The Racial Wealth Gap" by Janelle Jones, February 2017 2. Forbes: "Median Wealth Of Black And Latino Families Could Hit Zero By The Middle Of The Century" Erik Sherman, September 2017
3. Fortune: "Blacks and Latinos Will Be Broke in a Few Decades." by Josh Harxie, September 2017 4. Center for American Progress Race and Ethnicity: "Wealth Inequality Among Asian Americans Greater Than Among Whites," December 2016
5. HuffPost: "Asian-Americans Have Highest Poverty Rate In NYC, But Stereotypes Make The Issue Invisible," by Kimberly Yan, May 2017 6. Forbes: "7 Reasons Entrepreneurs Are Particularly Vulnerable to Mental Health Challenges" by Megan Bruneau, April 2018
7. FastCompany: "This Is What It’s Like To Be The Only Black Woman Founder At A Pitch Event," by Linda Dishman, January 2018
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WHO WE'RE ROOTING FOR our solution: cohorts of empowered, diverse leaders
Forefront Cultures
Numbers indicate location at time of Fellowship; one per city is highlighted here. Visit camelbackventures.org/fellows to learn more
46 camelback fellows
our identification process
94% of Fellows identify as people of color, 55% as women, many as the first in their family to go to college, and as immigrants or children of immigrants. Camelback has supported 9 schools, 18 for-profits, and 19 nonprofits, across 14 cities, creating 314 new jobs.
at-a-glance fellow success Our $1.7M direct investment (plus programmatic support) has catalyzed Fellows raising an additional $20M from follow on investors.This is a 10x ROI (return on our investments). Most importantly, their innovations have impacted over 65,000 lives.
93% venture survival rate
60% raised their desired next round
Our initial strategy was to focus on those that were overlooked at institutions we know well, and our strategy continues to evolve. Early-stage EOCs are less likely to consider themselves “entrepreneurs” compared to their White counterparts. Given this, we built a recruitment strategy that could meet EOCs in a variety of places including leveraging partnerships and referrals, digital and content marketing, and in-person events. We developed criteria and a rigorous, three-stage application process that allowed us to make decisions based on the strength of the idea, team, and opportunity. Because we understand that EOCs may be coming from a variety of backgrounds, we were better equipped to look past the nonconsequential traits and viewpoints that others might have red-flagged.
46 530
applications in 2015
applications in 2018
1100% growth In 2018, we selected13 Fellows (a 2% selection rate!)
Sampling of Fellows' history prior to Fellowship
10% of each cohort featured in Forbes 30 Under 30 in Education and/or Social Entrepreneurship See camelbackventures.org/press for more Fellow wins
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WHAT'S GOOD? our program
the camelback fellowship Our six-month Fellowship is Camelback's first core offering, supporting development of both founder and venture. We provide coaching, capital, and connections, believing that these three pillars are critical to the evolution and success of any organization. We also emphasize the building of community and share our carefully curated entrepreneurial curriculum. Our experiential workshops held over three Summits tackle a variety of subjects, such as hiring the right talent and experimenting with design sprints. Each year, we have worked hard to gather and incorporate program feedback from Fellows. Today, we have a refined Fellowship program that can transform leaders and their organizations. After completing our program, Fellows who had previously been rejected by NewSchools Venture Fund have received major NSVF grants, become Echoing Green Fellows, and enter accelerators like Halycon and AT&T Aspire. Our work has been recognized by EdSurge, LinkedIn, AllState, Gusto, and the Obama White House.
THE TANGIBLE GOOD Since 2015, we have provided the following to underrepresented entrepreneurs:
1,500+ hours in 1:1 leadership and venture coaching. Each Fellow builds a customized growth plan
$1.7 million in investments. $40,000 per Fellow, who often use this to go full-time, run a full program, or hire a developer
30+ discrete introductions per Fellow in industry experts, funding, media, and potential partners
91% of 2017 Fellows ranked the Camelback "family" as important as our capital investment
CAMELBACK BUILDS AND EVOKES TRUST WITH EOCs GRUNIG RELATIONSHIP INDEX These measures around trust have been validated by academicians, and the following utilizes measurements provided by the study. Reflects completed cohort surveys from 2016 and 2017.
STAKEHOLDERS ENGAGE WITH OUR CONTENT Our newsletter open rates are consistently multipe percentage points above the national average for education or entrepreneurial newsletters. After every update, we receive several qualitative notes each time from our network about how much they enjoy and appreciate our content. We feature Fellow stories, entrepreneurial advice, and letters from our founder.
Newsletter Subscribers
0
1000
Summer 2015 during inaugural cohort
2000
Winter 2016 three months after rebrand
4000
so tired of applying to things that when Camelback crossed my path, I didn’t even want to. But I started watching one of the videos on the homepage, when people talk about a
it’s the flyers, the stickers, the manifesto… everything is clearly intentional. We notice." Wisdom Amouzou Co-founder of the HadaNõu Collective 2017 Camelback Fellow
5000
Spring 2018 after concentrated brand & mar/comm work
"Everything that Camelback does looks good. Different. Cool. I was
community, and thought, 'This is different.' Whether 4.4 out of 5 stars; the average Summit score by Fellows. Fellows complete several workshops around five core competencies
3000
WHAT WE BELIEVE how our country could be
our unique value proposition
"My worst nightmare for this work is that it leaves people,
Camelback is uniquely poised to do what others cannot
the real people, completely out. That’s thoughtless,
and will not do: identify promising underrepresented
and something that people who put equity in air
entrepreneurs; develop them into strong ventures and leaders; and then create a larger platform to promote their ventures and their leadership.
quotes, who only know privilege, will continue to do. It’s why I believe Camelback’s work and mission is invaluable. It’s more than
Our secret sauce? The psychological safety we create that allows our entrepreneurs to become the best version of themselves. This empowers our entrepreneurs to grow exponentially and bring confidence to their work which has a ripple effect in their organizations, their communities, and
a program that just gives you a warm fuzzy feeling. We need this." Xiaohoa Michelle Ching Founder of Literator 2017 Camelback Fellow
VISION
mi ssion
over time, the nation.
Camelback Ventures is an accelerator that identifies, develops, and promotes early-stage underrepresented entrepreneurs with the aim to increase individual and community education, and generational wealth. In twenty years, Camelback will have contributed to a nation of liveable communities where everyone has the opportunity for a quality education and a good life.
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WHAT'S COOKING our next big moves We have a quote on the door of our office: “You are either getting better or getting worse, but never staying the same.” So, we aim not to just get bigger, but better, to make the bright spots even brighter. We want to launch new work across our theory of change (identify, develop, and promote) while also improving the work we have already started (read more on the next page).
"good jobs" initiative w h at & WHY
Serving only education entrepreneurs alone is not enough. It takes a myriad of efforts to solve complex systemic problems. We see an important opportunity to impact the world of work, i.e. the culminating step in the education continuum and a space that often impacts education options for students who aspire to more. The circumstances of poverty create overwhelming obstacles; hence, the need for the creation of good jobs. Furthermore, 12% of applications to the Camelback Fellowship in 2018 were focused on are focused on economic development and workforce development (high leverage opportunity for EOCs!). Made possible with support by J.P. Morgan Chase, the Surdna Foundation, and 2018 NOLA Foundation.
where
Our pilot will be focused in New Orleans (our hometown) where 50% of Black men are unemployed, and despite the highest rate of entrepreneurship being amongst Black women, they only receive 2% of all receipts
when
Pilot (with working title: Good Jobs Initative) to begin this fall. For progress and how to get involved, follow our newsletter and check out camelbackventures.org/goodjobs
RUTHLESS FOR GOOD FUND w h at
Any investor knows that when you something good, you don't walk away – you double down; we want to invest in some of our strongest ventures and varied verticals with a new $10 multi-million dollar fund (yeah, we're dreaming big). We anticipate making at least 25 equity or debt investments in our most promising Fellows.
why
We have seen that $40k often is not enough for Fellows to maximize their learnings and to seize market opportunities. We view these investments asadditional fuel for our EOCs showing early results, but need more support to bridge to the next stage of funding. The Fund will be able to catalyze faster and greater social impact, as well as help ensure Camelback's sustainability
when
Y'all, it's hard to find 11.5-mil (operating costs, baby! If you want to be a lead investor, send Aaron a note). Our goal is to make our first investment by 2019.
INVESTOR FELLOWSHIP w h at
Our goal is to encourage investors to take the steps necessary to identify, fund, and support EOCs from all walks of life. We will co-create this Fellowship with an advisory council of investors who will help us craft a meaningful for their community. Camelback needs $545,000 over the next two years to launch, but we plan generate revenue by charging fees and ensuring sustainability. Major pilot funding by the Wal-Mart Foundation
why
Camelback can prove bright spots that should be invested in of all backgrounds and experiences. Yet, our ability to scale is limited to the number of ventures we can fund. By helping to improve the overall funding environment, we can exponentially increase the opportunities for Camelback EOCs and EOCs in general.
when
Camelback hosted our inaugural Ecosystem summit in September 2017 to begin to gather our communities together. Official pilot with new curriculum to begin this fall. If you're interested in participating, write to elizabeth@camelbackventures.org
See next page for our strategic priority to improve our existing Fellowship offering and evolve our team. Photos by Chloe Jackman, Gigsy, and Robson Hatsukami Morgan
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WHAT'S COOKING our next big moves
fellowship 2.0 and sustainability why
Overall, the assessment of the Fellowship experience has been overwhelmingly positive. This reflects our continuous push over the years to assess what works and bolster areas of weakness in program. Consistently strong aspects include our community and the mastery of our five core competencies. We will continue to iterate and improve our programming, as well as seek opportunies to develop Camelback's sustainability.
w h at
Quick Win Innovations: tackle the problem of entrepreneurs feeling overwhelmed by all the options available to support their venture growth; create an interactive tool with our framework to help applicants navigate the entrepreneurial journey double our efforts to customize the Fellowship experience; therefore requires prioritizing funding and time for R&D to create supports for various success profiles (ex: school leaders, tech founders) Long-Term Innovations: Camelback only accepts a small percentage of applications; improve decision phase for all involved by analyzing and building current successful pipeline partnerships (StartingBloc, 4.0 Schools, New Schools Venture Fund, and Echoing Green) and seek other strategic partner opportunities Respond to Fellows' requests for more learning content during and after the Fellowship; buy or create our own content (including packaging our existing custom modules). Potential for earned revenue and/or publication Funding Diversification
FUNDING SOURCES:
Private philanthropy
Individual donors & misc
Corporate Sponsorships
Earned revenue
2018
2022 GOALS
strategic partnerships why
w h at
Camelback’s platform allows us to endorse and promote investment-ready leaders and ventures. We do this by leveraging our network, connecting Fellows with aligned funders and facilitating collaborations to strengthen Fellows enterprises. As we assess our existing Strategic Partners, there is an opportunity to deepen how we leverage them to promote our Fellows. Continue and maintain our intentional partnerships strategy with organizations that support our Fellows' leadership growth and venture (ex: Reach Capital) Empower past Fellows' success and engagement through new programming, resources, and intentional connections; strengthen connections to encourage collaboration (ex: 2017 Fellows Hattie Mitchell and Tony Weaver, Jr. joined together for Media Representation Week) Share success stories and explore partner with media organizations (ex: NationSwell), as well as by continue to highlight Fellows in Camelback’s media
growing our team why
Camelback has relied on a lean team. Team members have absorbed multiple work-streams and have achieved incredible results. We have also leveraged outside expertise for functional roles, such as finance, accounting, and administration. To execute on our stated strategic priorities outlined in this plan and to scale, we will need to build capacity around several areas, including internal operations, governance structure, organizational impact, and sustainability.
w h at
We recently hired a Director for our Good Jobs pilot and can't wait to launch. Over the next 12 months, we plan to hire a full-time COO/operations lead to support the day-to-day ops and lead team communication; a lead for Strategic Partnerships; a data, analytics, and insights lead; a Community Manager; and to grow our board to 6 - 8 industry experts.
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HOW WE ROLL our manifesto
RUTHLESS FOR GOOD We created our manifesto to share our vision of what it means to be ruthless for good. At its core, the manifesto and slogan are how we express, with urgency and intensity, our desire to create an equitable and just world. how we express with urgency and intensity, our desire to create an equitable and just world. “The Ruthless for Good manifesto reminds me of the core why. Not just the why of why I do this difficult work. But why me? Why do I feel that I am uniquely positioned? Why do I believe in myself? Why do I still try, even when the losses outweigh the wins? " Yannell Selman 2017 Fellow
The Camelback Ventures Ruthless for Good Manifesto was created in Summer 2017 by Founder & CEO Aaron T. Walker and Director of Creative & Marketing, Amanda Tien.
RUTHLESS IN ACTION We formally launched the Ruthless for Good manifesto at our Ecosystem summit in September 2017 that brought together past and present Camelback Fellows, entrepreneurs, investors, media, industry experts, creative professionals, educators, and more. We then launched a content series during our recruitment in the Fall/Winter 2018 that featured stories with Fellows and team on how they have embodied this spirit in their journies and work. In Spring 2018, we participated in a one-day charitable fundraising campaign, GiveNOLA, and featured Ruthless for Good heavily in our messaging. We also gave back some of our proceeds to a Black woman-owned coffee shop in our neighborhood who supported the local homeless population with free food. Read Fellow stories and more at camelbackventures.org/ruthless
3-part mini-series featuring insights and advice with school founders
Our first Fellow piece in the series by Tyler Brewster
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IN MY FEELINGS in conclusion WE BELIEVE that whatever you are looking for you will find. For too long we have not looked for entrepreneurs of color for solutions to the problems we want to solve. What has been the result? We have more than enough iteration and not enough innovation. We have made a lot of progress, yet we have not fulfilled our potential. Yet, as an impact sector, we are sitting on an unmeasured asset. While we have not quantified its value, here is what we do know.
WE KNOW that when you come to this country at nine years old from Togo, watch your parents sell food out of the kitchen to make ends meet, and launched three “side hustles” by the time you were 23...you probably have the grit to start a school where students solve real-world problems. We know that if you grew up in a household in which you thought science was “what Black people do" because your parents believed it was important for you to believe in Black genius...you probably are the right person to lead a movement for Black parents and family engagement. We know that if you were the first in your family to go to college (and then get a Master's degree) and your first job was in technology...you probably have the vision to lead a company to help more Black and Latinx high school students get into tech.
AT CAMELBACK, WE ENVISION a new world where we finally see a return on investment on the productive potential of entrepreneurs of color. This productive capacity can create millions of new opportunities for education and economic change. But to see ROI, we must first invest. Recent data from Next Street shows that entrepreneur of color-led organizations make up about 10% of nonprofit social ventures. If these organizations were to receive just the amount of investment proportional to their representation, then we would need to invest an additional $22 billion into EOC-led organizations. At Camelback, we will do our part. We cannot do it alone. We need your coaching, capital, and connections to witness the power of our sectors' most productive potential. And when we do this together, we are confident we can create a nation of liveable communities where everyone has an opportunity for quality education and a good life.
Photos of New Orleans by Harlin Miller for Camelback
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A THANK YOU AGAIN TO OUR FINANCIAL PARTNERS who make the work possible. We are so appreciative of anyone who has ever fought for Camelback and believed in our mission and vision. Thank you to the myriad of individual donors, as well as to our larger partners. In particular, the Walton Family Foundation and Marc Sternberg, New Schools Venture Fund and Deborah McGriff, and AT&T and Brooke Hanson.
Please see opening letter from founder and CEO Aaron for additional gratitudes.
A THANK YOU TO OUR FRIENDS; Y'ALL INSPIRE US AND KEEP THE WORK ALIVE to our strategic partners who have sent in recommendations, reviewed applications, donated their office space, donated their time, donated money, who have partned with us on events, retweeted our stuff, who have sent us great people...the list is so long. Thank you. A few shout-outs to some folks in particular, in alphabetical order: 4.0 Schools, City Year, Conscious Leadership Group, DRK Foundation, Echoing Green, EdLoc, EdSurge, Gusto, Kapor Center for Social Impact, Latinos 4 Education, Leadership in Educational Equity, NationSwell, New Schools for New Orleans, OWG Talent, R/GA, StartingBloc, Teach for America, The Management Center, Venture for America. to our visual artists that keep us looking good and work with our small budgets to tell our stories. In particular, big thank you to Chloe Jackman, our Bay Area queen; Harlin Miller, our New Orleans portrait master; the good folks at Gigsy; the Live Image Photo Booth team (we see you Mike Chan!) in Oakland; and Sophie Luo for hooking us up with a dope video production crew and creating our fantastic 2017 film together. to a few individuals who have really gone above and beyond: Adam Sterling from Berkeley Law, who's always looking out; Connor Skelly from Bridgespan who asked how he could help and became a super-app-evaluator; David Hamilton, our NOLA improv guru from Day One; Deb Katz, from the Conscious Leadership Group; and Paula Sneed, who we can't thank enough for her unwavering support.
AND A THANK YOU TO OUR FAMILY WHO BUILT THIS WORK Director of Venture Excellence Elizabeth Bates for building (from nothing) a very big something Director of Creative & Marketing Amanda Tien for keeping us looking fresh and leading recruitment efforts Chief of Staff Ami Magunia for rolling with the punches and getting us ship-shape our former data guru, Jon Losey, for upping our data game and continuing to contribute even after moving on our friend and strategy guide, Beverly Watson, for putting in the time to help us design our future CEO Aaron T. Walker for founding this organization and guiding our ship our Startup Coaches (the artists formerly known as Entrepreneurial Engineers) who build with our leaders our evaluators – anyone that ever reviewed an application or interviewed a candidate – we literally couldn't do this without you (we see you, team teacher moms – Tracy Tien and Elizabeth J. Bates) our Board and Advisors for sharing their wisdom and brilliance with us and last but certainly not least, our Fellows – who shared their dreams with us, and have continued to build love and trust with us. We are so proud of you, and we've always got your back.
WITH LOVE,
camelbackventures.org
@camelbackorg
@camelbackventures
@camelback-ventures
" BEGINNING
CAMELBACK
WAS A TRANSFORMATIONAL MOMENT IN MY LIFE. When you come from a background like mine, you don’t think you’re the right person. You think that there’s someone else out there, someone better than you, that’s actually going to do it. At the first Camelback Summit, I looked at Aaron and thought, 'Oh, s**t. I guess I am the right person because this crazy guy is telling me I am, and he just gave me a check for $40,000.' Because of my experience with Camelback, I finally realized that I am THE right person. It doesn’t matter how I feel about it or not. The reality is that I am the founder. Our success will always be indebted to Camelback. Every time I see a young person of color and/or woman that has an idea to shape education in this country, I will always tell them to consider Camelback." Jacob Allen co-founder of pilotEd Schools 2015 Camelback Fellow pilotEd empowers students through a transformational, unique racial identity curriculum, ensuring that they will be on-track for future academic gains, forever interrupting generational cycles of poverty. In the years after the Camelback Fellowship, Jacob and his co-founder Marie Dandie were featured in Forbes 30 Under 30, PBS, and USA Today. pilotEd recently received a 7-year charter in Indianopolis.
@camelbackorg
@camelbackventures