Podcast appearances and mentions of Freada Kapor Klein

Freada Kapor Klein isn't your typical venture capitalist. She's thrown out the standard investment playbook in order to close the opportunity gap for low-income communities. She explains how her firm is investing in entrepreneurs and startups solving real-world problems — and the measurable difference it's already making. After the talk, Modupe urges us all to rethink success  — so the focus is on tangible impact and meaningful relationships.

Freada Kapor Klein isn't your typical venture capitalist. She's thrown out the standard investment playbook in order to close the opportunity gap for low-income communities. She explains how her firm is investing in entrepreneurs and startups solving real-world problems — and the measurable difference it's already making.

Freada Kapor Klein isn't your typical venture capitalist. She's thrown out the standard investment playbook in order to close the opportunity gap for low-income communities. She explains how her firm is investing in entrepreneurs and startups solving real-world problems — and the measurable difference it's already making.

Freada Kapor Klein isn't your typical venture capitalist. She's thrown out the standard investment playbook in order to close the opportunity gap for low-income communities. She explains how her firm is investing in entrepreneurs and startups solving real-world problems — and the measurable difference it's already making.

Earlier this year, Consumer Reports, in collaboration with the Kapor Center, debuted "Bad Input," three short films that set out to explore and to create public awareness about how biases in algorithms/data sets result in unfair practices for communities of color, often without their knowledge. In this episode of the show, I talk to Lily Gangas, Chief Technology Community Officer at the Kapor Center, and Amira Dhalla, Director of Impact Partnerships and Programs at Consumer Reports, about the film and about state of AI at the intersection of race and equity, and the importance of educating the public if we want to see change in the future of AI and human values. Consumer Reports is an independent, nonprofit organization that works side by side with consumers to create a fairer, safer, and healthier world. They do it by fighting to put consumers' needs first in the marketplace and by empowering them with the trusted knowledge they depend on to make better, more informed choices. The Kapor Center's work focuses at the intersection of racial justice and technology to create a more inclusive technology sector for all. Founded by Freada Kapor Klein and Mitch Kapor, the center seeks to develop a vision and practice to make the tech industry more diverse and inclusive. The Kapor Foundation, alongside Kapor Capital, and the STEM education initiative SMASH, takes a comprehensive approach to expand access to computer science education, conduct research on disparities in the technology pipeline, support nonprofit organizations and initiatives, and invest in gap-closing startups and entrepreneurs that close gaps of access for all. The Kapor Center seeks to intentionally dismantle barriers to tech and deployment of technologies across the Leaky Tech Pipeline through research-driven practices, gap-closing investments, increased access to computer science education, supporting and partnering with mission-aligned organizations, advocating for needed policy change, and more. 

Welcome to episode #886 of Six Pixels of Separation - The ThinkersOne Podcast. Here it is: Six Pixels of Separation - The ThinkersOne Podcast - Episode #886. How can we change the way that businesses get funded? Are the best businesses actually getting funded? What about investments that truly have impact? Dr. Freada Kapor Klein and her husband, Mitch Kapor, are a dynamic duo striving to make the tech industry more diverse and inclusive. Both co-founders of Kapor Capital and the Kapor Center, they invest in tech startups that aim to dismantle the barriers of access for low-income communities and communities of color. Freada is the founder of SMASH, an organization that provides rigorous STEM education to low-income students of color across the U.S. She is also a vocal advocate against sexual coercion, a member of numerous influential councils, and the author of the revealing book, Giving Notice, which explores the hidden bias in workplaces. Adding to their shared legacy, Freada and Mitch have co-authored the book, Closing The Equity Gap, which offers insightful strategies to address the disparity in tech access among different socioeconomic groups. The book, echoing their combined mission, is an important step towards a more equitable tech landscape. Freada's huband, Mitch, is a stalwart of the personal computing industry and a savvy startup investor. He is the founder of Lotus Development Corporation and the designer of Lotus 1-2-3 (the spreadsheet!). He is also co-founder of The Electronic Frontier Foundation and the founding Chair of Mozilla, the creator of the Firefox web browser. In this episode, Freada explores the challenges of investing, the economy and how what we back in venture capital is a strong indication of how our communities will evolve. Enjoy the conversation.... Running time: 55:32. Hello from beautiful Montreal. Subscribe over at Apple Podcasts. Please visit and leave comments on the blog - Six Pixels of Separation. Feel free to connect to me directly on Facebook here: Mitch Joel on Facebook. Check out ThinkersOne. or you can connect on LinkedIn. ...or on Twitter. Here is my conversation with Freada Kapor Klein. Closing The Equity Gap. Giving Notice. Kapor Capital. Kapor Center. SMASH. Follow Freada on LinkedIn. Follow Freada on Twitter. This week's music: David Usher 'St. Lawrence River'.

In part 2 of this episode with veteran founders and investors Mitch Kapor & Dr. Freada Kapor Klein, we get into the data of building human-centered cultures. In part one, we heard how Mitch and Freada went all-in on investing their values, committing 100% of new investments in “gap-closing” companies that aim to improve society, even as they aim for scale and liquidity as well. Now, Mitch and Freada can share how that's played out in practice, with both positive examples … and some negative ones as well. (Yes, they were early investors in Uber!)Read a transcript of this episode: https://mastersofscale.com/Subscribe to the Masters of Scale weekly newsletter: https://mastersofscale.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Freada Kapor Klein and Mitch Kapor's work began as it has continued—trying to level the corporate playing field. In the early 1980s, Mitch founded Lotus Development, and later brought in Freada to make the company “the most progressive employer in the U.S.,” as he says in today's episode. Both of them had a personal interest in closing these gaps—Growing up, Mitch was not terribly well socialized and often did not fit in, something which became a large part of his identity. As an entrepreneur, he saw an opportunity to create a workplace culture where everybody would have the chance to be accepted for who they were. Freada, on the other hand, had family history, experience as an activist and an in-progress Ph.D. in social policy and research behind her interest in changing the corporate setting. Now, the pair serve as founding partners of Kapor Capital and have recently published a book, Closing the Equity Gap, discussing the changes that need to be made to the standard investment model. Freada, Mitch and Brilliant Thoughts host Tristan Ahumada discuss the impact of several of the gap-closing companies mentioned in the book, the opportunities they found through their focus on gap closing and the current societal divisiveness. ---- Mentioned: Bitwise Industries Promise Pay HealthSherpa Numerade Daivergent Freada Kapor Klein and Mitch Kapor are the authors of Closing the Equity Gap: Creating Wealth and Fostering Justice in Startup Investing. Learn more about Kapor Capital at kaporcapital.com and find them on Twitter @mkapor and @TheRealFreada.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Freada Kapor Klein and Mitch Kapor's work began as it has continued—trying to level the corporate playing field. In the early 1980s, Mitch founded Lotus Development, and later brought in Freada to make the company “the most progressive employer in the U.S.,” as he says in today's episode. Both of them had a personal interest in closing these gaps—Growing up, Mitch was not terribly well socialized and often did not fit in, something which became a large part of his identity. As an entrepreneur, he saw an opportunity to create a workplace culture where everybody would have the chance to be accepted for who they were. Freada, on the other hand, had family history, experience as an activist and an in-progress Ph.D. in social policy and research behind her interest in changing the corporate setting. Now, the pair serve as founding partners of Kapor Capital and have recently published a book, Closing the Equity Gap, discussing the changes that need to be made to the standard investment model. Freada, Mitch and Brilliant Thoughts host Tristan Ahumada discuss the impact of several of the gap-closing companies mentioned in the book, the opportunities they found through their focus on gap closing and the current societal divisiveness. ---- Mentioned: Bitwise Industries Promise Pay HealthSherpa Numerade Daivergent Freada Kapor Klein and Mitch Kapor are the authors of Closing the Equity Gap: Creating Wealth and Fostering Justice in Startup Investing. Learn more about Kapor Capital at kaporcapital.com and find them on Twitter @mkapor and @TheRealFreada.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Freada Kapor Klein and Mitch Kapor's work began as it has continued—trying to level the corporate playing field. In the early 1980s, Mitch founded Lotus Development, and later brought in Freada to make the company “the most progressive employer in the U.S.,” as he says in today's episode. Both of them had a personal interest in closing these gaps—Growing up, Mitch was not terribly well socialized and often did not fit in, something which became a large part of his identity. As an entrepreneur, he saw an opportunity to create a workplace culture where everybody would have the chance to be accepted for who they were. Freada, on the other hand, had family history, experience as an activist and an in-progress Ph.D. in social policy and research behind her interest in changing the corporate setting. Now, the pair serve as founding partners of Kapor Capital and have recently published a book, Closing the Equity Gap, discussing the changes that need to be made to the standard investment model. Freada, Mitch and Brilliant Thoughts host Tristan Ahumada discuss the impact of several of the gap-closing companies mentioned in the book, the opportunities they found through their focus on gap closing and the current societal divisiveness. ---- Mentioned: Bitwise Industries Promise Pay HealthSherpa Numerade Daivergent Freada Kapor Klein and Mitch Kapor are the authors of Closing the Equity Gap: Creating Wealth and Fostering Justice in Startup Investing. Learn more about Kapor Capital at kaporcapital.com and find them on Twitter @mkapor and @TheRealFreada.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Can you build with conscience and still succeed? Mitch Kapor & Dr. Freada Kapor Klein certainly think so. As tech industry veteran founders and investors, Mitch and Freada have long embraced non-traditional metrics that put humans at the center. Mitch co-founded Lotus, the 1980s software giant, and hired Freada to help make the company “the most progressive employer in the U.S.” And years later, their early-stage VC firm, Kapor Capital, aligns their portfolio with their values, investing in companies that close gaps in access and opportunity. Human-centered metrics don't just improve cultures — they improve the bottom line.Read a transcript of this episode: https://mastersofscale.com/Subscribe to the Masters of Scale weekly newsletter: https://mastersofscale.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It's easy to despair at high levels of inequality and lack of access to capital and resources that still face entrepreneurs who aren't white, male or well-connected. @Freada Kapor Klein's career is a beacon of hope for those of us looking for real, practical solutions. The Fund, @Kapor Capital, which she co-founded puts its money into underrepresented founders with huge impact on the entrepreneurial ecosystem and benefits for all of us! She is going to be joining me to discuss her new co-authored book "Closing the Equity Gap" to share with others how it's done. Join us live on May 5th at 1pm EST or catch the recording afterward. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thoughtsparksritamcgrath/message

In this episode, Freada Kapor Klein shares her expertise on investing in seed-stage tech startups that aim to close gaps of access, opportunity, and outcome for low-income communities and communities of color. As a venture capitalist, philanthropist, and author of "Closing the Equity Gap," Freada offers a comprehensive approach to making the tech industry more diverse and inclusive. She also discusses how investing in these gap-closing startups can lead to a more equitable future while generating profits. Tune in to learn about dispelling myths around investing and marginalized groups and the importance of "distance traveled" entrepreneurs. Don't miss out on this insightful conversation on how to make money by doing good. Full show notes at: www.roote.co/episodes/how-can-you-actually-make-money-while-closing-the-tech-gap-with-freada-kapor-klein Support the podcast on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/rhyslindmark. The Rhys Show - Insights from The Frontier https://twitter.com/RhysLindmark helps you become a live player building our solarpunk future. Join our fellowship https://twitter.com/roote_

Despite economic headwinds and job cuts, companies backed by venture capital—including many in the Bay Area—drive the U.S. economy, accounting for hundreds of billions of dollars in sales and profits. However, most of this wealth winds up enriching entrenched investors and favored private interests, further widening economic inequality. Two well-known technology investors and entrepreneurs, Mitch Kapor and Freada Kapor Klein, have committed their lives to doing things differently and finding ways to close these equity gaps. As they explain in their new book, Closing the Equity Gap: Creating Wealth and Fostering Justice in Startup Investing, Kapor and Kapor Klein build on their work at the Oakland-based Kapor Center and Kapor Capital, two institutions that invest in seed-stage tech startups focused on closing gaps of access, opportunity and outcome for low-income communities and communities of color. They share their core beliefs that all companies must make a positive impact. They share stories behind some of the most remarkable companies ever launched, and they argue that the standard investment model doesn't work, explain how it can be fixed, and say what the future could look like if more investors joined them. Come hear about their new roadmap for investing in tech companies that defy assumptions from Silicon Valley to Wall Street, and their belief that entrepreneurs who overcome obstacles in life are a far better predictor of long-term success than the schools they attend or investment dollars raised from friends and family. Together, the Kapors have launched close to 200 companies, invested in impactful and profitable companies whose services or products close opportunity gaps for communities of color and low-income communities, and shown that their approach can also provide strong investment returns and growth. Join us as Mitch Kapor and Freada Kapor Klein share how they've "done well by doing good" and how you can, too. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Washington Post senior writer Frances Stead Sellers speaks with Freada Kapor Klein and Mitch Kapor, authors of “Closing the Equity Gap” and Betsy Conway, director of the Lowe's Foundation, for a series of conversations about leading with purpose, investing in employees and connecting with consumers. Conversation recorded on Tuesday, March 28, 2023.

 Natasha interviewed one of venture's most iconic duos: Mitch Kapor and Freada Kapor Klein of Kapor Capital. The investors recently published a book, "Closing the Equity Gap: Creating Wealth and Fostering Justice in Startup Investing," connecting scrappy stories of entrepreneurs to their investment thesis to the returns that other venture capitalists are clamoring to land.In today's episode, we're talking about:Their book and why the pair chose to do it nowMitch and Freada's broader thoughts on impact investingcriteria for success and investor due diligence.For episode transcripts and more, head to Equity's Simplecast website. Equity drops at 7:00 a.m. PT every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, so subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotifyand all the casts. TechCrunch also has a great show on crypto, a show that interviews founders, one that details how our stories come together and more!

Mitch Kapor and Freada Kapor Klein, Founding Partners at Kapor Capital, discuss their book Closing the Equity Gap: Creating Wealth and Fostering Justice in Startup Investing. Hosts: Carol Massar and Jess Menton. Producer: Paul Brennan.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mitch Kapor and Freada Kapor Klein, Founding Partners at Kapor Capital, discuss their book Closing the Equity Gap: Creating Wealth and Fostering Justice in Startup Investing. Hosts: Carol Massar and Jess Menton. Producer: Paul Brennan.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Freada Kapor Klein and Mitch Kapor, founders of early stage VC firm Kapor Capital, talk about their new book, "Closing the Equity Gap."

We have special guests on the podcast - Freada Kapor Klein and Mitch Kapor. The founders of Kapor Capital have released a new book, Closing the Equity Gap, and, on this episode, they discuss their life missions to make the tech industry more diverse and inclusive. Tune in to learn how the two got their start, founded Kapor Capital, and have been pioneers in impact investing. They impart important lessons on the power of “distance traveled” founders who harness their early experiences to found companies that better serve society. You'll hear stories about the two youngest partners of Kapor Capital, Ulili Onovakpuri and Brian Dixon, plus some of their exciting investments. The Kapors challenge the notion that investing with a diversity and equity lens doesn't create returns. We're here for it!

We sit down with Freada Kapor Klein, Founder of the Level Playing Field Institute, to discuss sexual harassment in the workplace, closing opportunity gaps for lower-income individuals, and the need for intersectionality in everything we do. We also discuss her new book, "Closing the Equity Gap: Creating Wealth and Fostering Justice in Startup Investing," which has been met with acclaim from Al Gore, Serena Williams, Valerie Jarrett, and more. Find out more at www.closingtheequitygap.com.

There’s an idea that’s long been gospel in the venture capital industry, that investing in companies that have a positive social impact is a money loser — impact investing is “concessionary.” But what if it isn’t? Mitch Kapor is a well-known tech investor. He helped create the Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet and was an early Uber investor. But for the past decade, Kapor and his wife, Freada Kapor Klein, have focused on companies that they say fill a gap, whether it’s social, information or opportunity. And in 2019, their firm, Kapor Capital, reported that in fact it does make money. Lots of it. “Marketplace Tech” host Molly Wood talks with Mitch Kapor.

There’s an idea that’s long been gospel in the venture capital industry, that investing in companies that have a positive social impact is a money loser — impact investing is “concessionary.” But what if it isn’t? Mitch Kapor is a well-known tech investor. He helped create the Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet and was an early Uber investor. But for the past decade, Kapor and his wife, Freada Kapor Klein, have focused on companies that they say fill a gap, whether it’s social, information or opportunity. And in 2019, their firm, Kapor Capital, reported that in fact it does make money. Lots of it. “Marketplace Tech” host Molly Wood talks with Mitch Kapor.

There’s an idea that’s long been gospel in the venture capital industry, that investing in companies that have a positive social impact is a money loser — impact investing is “concessionary.” But what if it isn’t? Mitch Kapor is a well-known tech investor. He helped create the Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet and was an early Uber investor. But for the past decade, Kapor and his wife, Freada Kapor Klein, have focused on companies that they say fill a gap, whether it’s social, information or opportunity. And in 2019, their firm, Kapor Capital, reported that in fact it does make money. Lots of it. “Marketplace Tech” host Molly Wood talks with Mitch Kapor.

There’s an idea that’s long been gospel in the venture capital industry, that investing in companies that have a positive social impact is a money loser — impact investing is “concessionary.” But what if it isn’t? Mitch Kapor is a well-known tech investor. He helped create the Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet and was an early Uber investor. But for the past decade, Kapor and his wife, Freada Kapor Klein, have focused on companies that they say fill a gap, whether it’s social, information or opportunity. And in 2019, their firm, Kapor Capital, reported that in fact it does make money. Lots of it. “Marketplace Tech” host Molly Wood talks with Mitch Kapor.

The following is a conversation between Freada Kapor Klein, Partner at Kapor Capital, and Denver Frederick, the Host of The Business of Giving. The need to “build back better” in the wake of the cataclysmic events from this past year is at the top of most people's minds, but good intentions are no longer good enough... or are piecemeal solutions. Freada Kapor Klein, a partner at Kapor Capital and co-chair of the Kapor Center, understands better than most what changes are truly needed to assure for an equitable, diverse, and inclusive rebuild. And she is with us now.

The impact of a global pandemic has been far reaching, and according to data reports, it’s clear that here in America communities of color are being hit disproportionately hard by COVID19. Analysis from The COVID Racial Data Tracker revealed that in many states, African-American deaths from COVID19 are nearly two to three times greater than would be expected based on their share of the population, while Hispanic/Latinos make up a greater share of confirmed cases in 42 states plus Washington D.C.. In our first episode of Onward On-Air, host Jake Soberal facilitates a conversation with Rich Dennis, CEO of Essence & Sundial, Congresswoman Barbara Lee, of California’s 13th District, and Freada Kapor Klein, Partner at Kapor Capital and Kapor Center, on how the pandemic has impacted communities of color and what we can do to respond.

Welcome back to Access & Opportunity. In these unprecedented times of COVID-19, we're checking in with some of our favorite guests from previous seasons to understand how they're adjusting their schedules, their businesses, their outlook, and their investing styles. In this episode, Carla welcomes back Dr. Freda Kapor Klein, Founding Partner at Kapor Capital and founder and co-chair of the Kapor Center for Social Impact.Dr. Kapor Klein appeared in season one and in season three, so we wanted to see how, despite the current circumstances, she continues to create opportunities for underserved communities and to close the gap in the venture funding landscape. We discuss how she's thinking about new investments, how she sees the challenges and the silver linings that many startup businesses are facing in the time of COVID-19, and specifically, how it's affecting early-stage companies, the investing community, and the VC community.https://www.morganstanley.com/what-we-do/inclusive-innovation-and-opportunityThe guest speakers are neither employees nor affiliated with Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC. (“Morgan Stanley”). The views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of Morgan Stanley. The information and figures contained herein has been obtained from sources outside of Morgan Stanley and Morgan Stanley makes no representations or guarantees as to the accuracy or completeness of information or data from sources outside of Morgan Stanley. Morgan Stanley is not responsible for the information or data contained in this podcast.This podcast does not provide individually tailored investment advice and is not a solicitation of any offer to buy or sell any security or other financial instrument or to participate in any trading strategy. It has been prepared without regard to the individual financial circumstances and objectives of persons who receive it.© 2020 Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, Members SIPC.

Silicon Valley venture firm Kapor Capital recently released its annual Impact Report, which clearly demonstrates that they have not sacrificed returns when investing in women- and multiculturally-led businesses. In this episode of Access & Opportunity, we welcome back Dr. Freada Kapor Klein, a founding partner at Kapor Capital and founder and co-chair of the Kapor Center for Social Impact. Dr. Kapor Klein talks to us about that report, about the principles that guide Kapor Capital's investment strategy, how a focus on skills instead of pedigrees can be both inclusive and effective, and how a new approach to venture capital might help change the capital-access divide. This is the final episode of our third season of Access & Opportunity, where we have been exploring how influential investors, from across various pools of capital, are helping women- and multiculturally-led businesses gain access to capital. After you’ve listened, and while we work on Season 4, check out more of our content on the Morgan Stanley Inclusive Innovation and Opportunity page:https://www.morganstanley.com/what-we-do/inclusive-innovation-and-opportunityThe guest speakers are neither employees nor affiliated with Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC. (“Morgan Stanley”). The views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of Morgan Stanley. The information and figures contained herein has been obtained from sources outside of Morgan Stanley and Morgan Stanley makes no representations or guarantees as to the accuracy or completeness of information or data from sources outside of Morgan Stanley. Morgan Stanley is not responsible for the information or data contained in this podcast. This podcast does not provide individually tailored investment advice and is not a solicitation of any offer to buy or sell any security or other financial instrument or to participate in any trading strategy. It has been prepared without regard to the individual financial circumstances and objectives of persons who receive it. © 2019 Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, Members SIPC.

Mitch Kapor is fond of saying, “genius is evenly distributed by ZIP Code, but opportunity is not.” So, in 2011 Mitch and his wife, Freada Kapor Klein, set out to tackle this issue by investing in seed stage tech startups closing gaps of access, opportunity, or outcome for low-income communities and communities of color in the US. After more than 100 investments over eight years, Kapor Capital has not only been able to generate gap-closing social impact but has done so while achieving financial returns in the top quartile among VC funds of similar size. In this episode, Mitch shares lessons learned from his journey into impact investing and tries to dispel harmful biases still embedded in the VC community.

Venture capitalist and prominent activist Freada Kapor Klein, the founder of Kapor Capital, talks with Recode's Teddy Schleifer about diversity in tech and impact investing. In this episode: In this episode: Kapor Klein’s background; her first forays into activism; why the term “sexual coercion” is more meaningful in the workplace than “sexual harassment”; holding managers accountable when they don’t live a company’s values; why did Kapor Klein and her husband Mitch Kapor become impact investors?; how to have values as a VC; being an Uber investor during the company’s discrimination scandal; how is Dara Khosrowshahi doing?; why the venture capital industry is “flunking” the diversity test; startups that widen inequality; the problem with how All Raise measures diversity; Kapor Klein’s publicly quiet supporters; what does impact investing really mean?; Bill McGlashan and the college admissions scandal; making college admissions more equitable; why Kapor Klein is optimistic about the world; and the 2020 presidential campaign. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From high school computer science classes all the way up to VC partner meetings, women and people of color remain underrepresented in the technology ecosystem. Even so, diversity-focused social scientist and venture capitalist Freada Kapor Klein is hopeful about the future of technology and entrepreneurship. As a partner at Kapor Capital, she provides seed-stage funding to technology startups that make a positive social impact on low-income communities and communities of color. Drawing on her work both as an investor and a diversity researcher, she offers strategies that founders and funders alike can pursue to make the tech world more diverse and inclusive.

From high school computer science classes all the way up to VC partner meetings, women and people of color remain underrepresented in the technology ecosystem. Even so, diversity-focused social scientist and venture capitalist Freada Kapor Klein is hopeful about the future of technology and entrepreneurship. As a partner at Kapor Capital, she provides seed-stage funding to technology startups that make a positive social impact on low-income communities and communities of color. Drawing on her work both as an investor and a diversity researcher, she offers strategies that founders and funders alike can pursue to make the tech world more diverse and inclusive.

From high school computer science classes all the way up to VC partner meetings, women and people of color remain underrepresented in the technology ecosystem. Even so, diversity-focused social scientist and venture capitalist Freada Kapor Klein is hopeful about the future of technology and entrepreneurship. As a partner at Kapor Capital, she provides seed-stage funding to technology startups that make a positive social impact on low-income communities and communities of color. Drawing on her work both as an investor and a diversity researcher, she offers strategies that founders and funders alike can pursue to make the tech world more diverse and inclusive.

“Most people in the Silicon Valley tech ecosystem… believe that institutions are meritocracies,” says Freada Kapor Klein, a founding partner of Kapor Capital. “If you believe that self-serving nonsense then you believe that if there's no diversity in your circles, it's because whoever's outside isn't good enough, and it's an incredibly dangerous and inaccurate belief system.” In the season 1 finale of the Access & Opportunity podcast, Carla Harris talks to Kapor Klein about how her Oakland-based venture capital firm, which she co-founded with her husband, the computer visionary Mitchell Kapor, is breaking down the investment barriers for startups run by women and multicultural entrepreneurs. To date, 56% of Kapor Capital’s investments have gone to startups with a founder who is a woman or a person of color from an underrepresented background. “We’re often the first money in, and our investment has signaling value—that we believe in this entrepreneur, in this business model, and we’re going to help them succeed,” says Kapor Klein.Taking it a step further, Kapor Capital has also invested in startups with a social justice angle that look to help underserved communities. One such venture—Pigeonly—helps families find affordable ways to keep in touch with incarcerated relatives. It’s all part of Kapor Klein’s evolving approach “to both identify leaks in the pipeline and to plug them.” The guest speakers are neither employees nor affiliated with Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC. (“Morgan Stanley”). The views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of Morgan Stanley. The information and figures contained herein has been obtained from sources outside of Morgan Stanley and Morgan Stanley makes no representations or guarantees as to the accuracy or completeness of information or data from sources outside of Morgan Stanley. Morgan Stanley is not responsible for the information or data contained in this podcast.This podcast does not provide individually tailored investment advice and is not a solicitation of any offer to buy or sell any security or other financial instrument or to participate in any trading strategy. It has been prepared without regard to the individual financial circumstances and objectives of persons who receive it.© 2018 Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, Members SIPC.

10,000 Innovators announcement with Hank Williams, Mitchell Kapor, Freada Kapor Klein and Dr. John Silvanus Wilson Jr. Platform, Morehouse College and the Level Playing Institute announce the formation of 10,000 Innovators. The program is focused on bringing more underrepresented minorities into the tech industry.

Jarvis Sulcer, Allison Scott, Hailey Shavers, Ruby Alcazar, join us from the Level Playing Field Institute to discuss the year round STEM program in Bay Area High Schools for minority women. We discuss the program, how to apply, and get an idea of what it is like from Hailey and Ruby. lpfi.orgTranscriptSpeaker 1: Spectrum's next Speaker 2: [inaudible].Speaker 1: Welcome [00:00:30] to spectrum the science and technology show on k a l x Berkeley, a biweekly 30 minute program bringing you interviews featuring bay area scientists and technologists. Speaker 3: Good afternoon. I'm Rick Karnofsky. Brad swift and I are the hosts of today's show stay. We're talking about science education of underrepresented minorities with the level playing field institute who run the smash. Some are math and science honors Academy that happens here [00:01:00] at Cau and at Stanford, UCLA and USC. We have the executive director, Jarvis saucer, the director of research and evaluation, Alison Scott and scholars, Ruby Alcazar and Haley Shavers. Jarvis, why don't you tell me a little bit about LPI? Speaker 4: It's a level playing philosophy to them. Our mission is to remove barriers for students of color who are pursuing degrees in stem and stem being science, technology, engineering and math, and to untapped their potential for the advancement [00:01:30] of our nation and the organism. We're founded in 2001 by Freada Kapor Klein focused on issues in the workplace around diversity and we started off Smash Academy at Berkeley in 2004 and we've continued to run the program and they've expanded to UCLA, USC and Stanford for the last couple of years.Speaker 5: Can someone summarize what Smash Academy is? So Speaker 4: smash you. They three year five week residential program for low income students with color who have we interested in pursuing stem degrees [00:02:00] in college and so we support these students through our five week residential program starting in the summer after ninth grade year and they stay with it for three years. Then we brought in additional support in the first two years of college and one of our strategic partners. Speaker 5: And can you tell me how scholars get involved in the program? Speaker 4: Most scholars come from the nine payer counties and they are first nominated by their teachers think they have to get a math and science recommendation and they go through a rigorous application process similar to what a senior in high school [00:02:30] with experience going to college. And then there's a application, they complete math assessment group interviews with staff and even current scholars than a program. And then we make a selection of the students who are about a 30% acceptance rate of students who apply. Speaker 5: How did you do find out about the program? I was friends with Rachel seems nice and she told me about the program and she said, Haley, I know you math [00:03:00] and I know you really like this so you should apply. And I was kind of skeptical. I was like, that's my summer. I'm trying to go places. She's like, just do it. And I did. I got in and it's best. It's the best. I like it. I like it a lot. Yeah.Speaker 6: Well my sister was actually a scholar before I was and so I found it from her. She's four years older than I am. The way she found out was through her guidance counselor at a high school. What kind of activities do take place over that five weeks? Speaker 7: [00:03:30] I think scholarships speak to that because they live and breathe it, breathe it. Speaker 6: It's been different almost every summer. Our schedules. We have classes five days a week, sometimes even on Sundays. So those classes include the core class like math and science and our science writing class. But we also take like tech media, engineering electronics, and then we also have guest Speakers, we call them Speakerseries. We listen to different than people that come from like stem fields and what they're doing with their lives and their careers. And [00:04:00] we also go on a lot of field trips. What's your favorite activity? Speaker 5: I think my favorite activity would have to be a field trip we took to Pixar, we got to tour the place in Emeryville and we also got to sit in on a presentation by one of the programmers who worked on brave. It was, it was really fun to see the inside of Pixar and just to see how they've created all the great movies that I've watched since I was little. Speaker 2: Yeah. [inaudible] Speaker 8: [00:04:30] you are listening to spectrum on k a l LX Berkeley. We're talking to the level playing field institute about science education of underrepresented minorities.Speaker 7: So a lot of research shows that our students come to us from schools. [00:05:00] Those are typically under-resourced, which means that they lack oftentimes access to high quality teachers, advanced placement courses that would prepare them for success in college. Um, in addition to extracurricular activities such as the ones that the scholars described that they participate in smash though, including things like computer science or robotics, which they might not have it there, high schools. And so that's a really great way smash is found to remove some of the barriers that face these students. Speaker 6: [00:05:30] Awesome. Can you talk to us a little bit more about the specific audience of underrepresented students of color that smash hopes to educate? How are their needs different? How are what they already have access to different? Speaker 7: One of the things that we find or that research demonstrates is that if you look at the science and engineering workforce, African American and Latinos make up only 7% of the entire science and engineering workforce, which is really concerning number considering that those populations [00:06:00] are rapidly growing and that the needs of our, our economy and our nation are trending towards stem occupations. And so, um, just that statistic alone speaks to the fact that, that we are leaving behind this significant person of our population and not preparing them for the skills that they'll need in the future. Speaker 4: And another interesting stat is that only being willing or harder to come to valley with copies of found almost every day that company founded by two individual colors, that's [00:06:30] the 1% and so the half and mostly who found, who found comfortable, who start companies in the bay or in the valley, people with typically with stem backgrounds. And so we have a, as Allison mentioned, a [inaudible] amount of potential in students who could be founders of their own company and really transform not only their lives but the lives of many in their community and beyond. Speaker 6: Is there something special about the bay area that would inspire programs like this to start here? Speaker 4: [00:07:00] I think that the diversity of the type of students we have in the barrier and the fact we have multiple cities represented. I mean there are students in our program say from the East Bay who we never set foot on Berkeley campus, even though it's a boat ride away. Or you have students who live in, I don't know, Penis Lou, who we never stepped foot on Stanford's campus. So that opportunity to have two world class universities in our backyard, so to speak, in our scholars, have an opportunity to experience those campuses in terms of the labs [00:07:30] and access to graduate students. And even faculty, I think makes the very unique place. Speaker 7: And in addition, there's the, obviously we have silicon valley in our backyard, so we have access to a lot of companies and employees of those companies who are very willing to come and speak to our scholars and provide [inaudible] Speaker 6: role models and back to the scholars. Um, do you participate in science and math events outside of both smash and, and the school year? Um, I actually just [00:08:00] got an internship for um, building like a teen website and my like hometown Palo Alto. I also do this thing at my school called college pathways. It's um, run by my guidance counselor and is specifically also for minorities and people of color. We go visit different campuses and uh, kind of similar to Speaker series, we have guest Speakers that we listened to. Um, a lot of them have been like engineers and entrepreneurs. Speaker 5: Um, so for me, other than smash casts, which introduced me to a lot of new programs, [00:08:30] I tend to just experiment. If I see something that I like, I'll research it and find out what's behind it and how can I learn. And that's, that's been my whole mindset since I guess my sophomore year of high school and it hasn't stopped. You have examples I have made to three mobile apps. They're very like simple. [00:09:00] I made them, so I felt like I feel really accomplished. I show like a bunch of my friends and they kind of just look at me like, this doesn't do anything. It just, you know, moves from like, you know, this is a lot of work. I've made these, I spend countless hours, you know, fixing it, make sure it doesn't have any errors. And it's, it's been good. I, my parents, they support me and even though I'm like the techie of the house, they don't really understand what I'm talking about, but [00:09:30] I explain it and they get it after a while and they're like, oh, this makes so much sense. Speaker 5: And then they start bragging to all their friends, but, but it's been good. Yeah. So you've mentioned smash cast a few times, but I don't think we've actually talked about what that is. So did you want to give a summary of smash? I think I can. Um, so smash cast is almost like the extension of our taking media class that we take over the summer and the cast stands for communications [00:10:00] and social technology. I want to say we also experiment and like get exposed to different programs. So right now we're diving into corona, which is a mobile app programming and we've learned some of the terminology and we've had a few mobile app companies come and visit us and they've talked about how they've created some of their games and we got to like test their games and uh, give them feedback. Speaker 2: [00:10:30] [inaudible] Speaker 8: you are listening to spectrum on k Alex Berkeley. We're talking with Jarvis, Alison Rubian, Hayley about smash the summer math and science honors academy. Speaker 2: [inaudible]Speaker 5: and what's it like [00:11:00] returning back to your regular high school after the end of the summer? He was kind of weird. How was so used to seeing the same faces? Six, six 30 but like seven ish in the morning until, you know, lights out at 11 o'clock. I guess it, I mean it's nice to go back to high school at the same time. I would always really miss smash. Smash is always what I'd look for too during the entire year. I guess it's kind of me going back to my classes also because I was the only like person of [00:11:30] color and a lot of my classes especially then like my science classes. Um, for me it was, it was kind of disappointing because my high school is, it's really small and I, I like the small atmosphere yet again. I like being surrounded by people who are driven to do better. Um, and my high school I attend, I have a small group of friends and at times they kind of have a lack of motivation to do better. Speaker 5: So I'm always there to push them. I'm like, come on you guys, [00:12:00] let's do this work, let's get it done. Um, but that smash, it was kind of vice versa. We pushed each other to a point where we did our best and we got the work done and we still had fun. And also the classes at my escort are kind of disappointing being that I have a computer science class yet there's only like five people and maybe two out of the five are really interested in the class. And then also for my math class it's [00:12:30] me and what other one other junior, because we take a higher level and we're kind of more advanced than the seniors, which is kind of disappointing being that they're kind of kind of our role models, but they're, they lack that motivation to apply for the colleges and they procrastinate a bunch and it's not good. But I think my junior class will be a really good senior class because I'm a part of it. So [00:13:00] there's LPF I help students after they go on to college. Speaker 4: Yes, we do. We have a strategic partner called beyond 12 and their primary focus is to provide support to first generation college students. I mean, effort to get to college because the city show that if a student can make it through their first two years of college, there is the chance of graduating from college significantly increases. Speaker 6: Hailey Hailey, how did you get started in stem? Speaker 5: It would have [00:13:30] to be my big cousin. He makes like custom computers for different people and I would always go over his house and just be interested in what he was building that day and he would make them look really interesting and show me all the parts. And from there I joined this weekend program that was held at a college and we just got to experience different forms of science and engineering and math and we got to take apart a computer and put it back together. [00:14:00] And I think from there I've always wanted to know how a computer works from the inside and see what I can make for other people to use. I like game design and game programming being that you play game and there may be some errors, but for the most part it's smooth and I want to be that person behind that game, writing that code so you can play. Speaker 6: How about Ruby? What got it going for you? Well, I had a really, [00:14:30] really good math teacher my eighth grade year, so middle school and I grew really close with her. It was just like a friendship that we had beyond like student teacher. I'd go to her when I have issues and we just talk like I just sit in a classroom and talk with her during lunch or something. I sweat. That initially kind of started thinking like, well she's so cool. She does too. Like I can do that. And then is that, so my math interest specifically like math has always been one of my favorite subjects. My mom actually forced me [00:15:00] to take a computer class my eighth grade year. Oh Web design class. I actually ended up enjoying it a lot. I was actually grateful for that. And so that kind of snowballed and and then my sister during my middle school years, she kinda accepted into smash and then she'd come back like every weekend telling me all these stories. And so I was like, oh well my sister basically my biggest role model and so I wanted to experience that too. Speaker 8: You are listening to spectrum on k a l x [00:15:30] Berkeley. We're talking with representatives from LPF by the liberal clean field institute. Speaker 9: Jarvis. I was, I was really intrigued with your mentioning of steam by adding the a for art into stem. And do you feel that that's maybe the next wave of creativity coming into stem now? It'll become steam? Speaker 4: I think so. I mean there's been local religion [00:16:00] around that and um, there's definitely a lot of value because of the, again, the creativity piece I think just look at, you know, iPhone, you know Steve Jobs that was inspired by the calligraphy classmate that he had at one point that led to a lot of what, you know, did some design, right? So you couldn't have that class. Who knows what may have with the rest. She may have taken it. So I think there's this one example of how it was the art that inspired and even some of the designs of other types of devices. It's not coming [00:16:30] naturally from engineers per se, but those who had this art sort of angle ass, another flavor and 11 other level of creativity. I finish. And use my creative. But I mean you look at the creativity, you mean even for engineer who's in a, you know, hardcore class they have in that part they can add another level of dimension to their own repertoire so to speak. I think design, no different types of devices and things of that nature. Speaker 9: How about Hayley? Do you think art is something you'd be interested in including in your [00:17:00] stem, getting some studio work somehow, you know, something design oriented? Speaker 5: Uh, definitely. I think if I have a piece of art included with my programming, I could create a lot of things. Like Games are some visual. Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. And if it's art that I like and that I've made, then I can say I've made a whole entire game about myself or at least with a whole team and [inaudible]. [00:17:30] Yeah, that'd be really, yeah, art is very important. Speaker 9: What sort of tools and discipline has smash provided for you as you know, as individuals kind of personal tools to help you succeed? Speaker 5: It definitely time management because of all of our classes we have homework and almost each class and we will always have to manage our time because we do have free time, but if you're not going to do your homework then you're procrastinating and then that's not good. But [00:18:00] then also teamwork because we work in groups and almost every class and you have to push your group members so we can all get the project done in a timely manner. So time management ties back into that too. Speaker 6: Any advice for people who are considering joining us? Yes. For any prospective applicants are scholars, definitely time management because those things come up really quick. Getting your teacher recs in on time, getting you essays done on time [00:18:30] I guess to the future scholars or they just keep an open mind. There's a lot of different people that come and go through the program and just to take all that you can from all these different people because you're not always going to get this chance if you got accepted, like there's a reason why you're there and so take as much as you can from it. Speaker 9: He is his level playing field on Facebook and Twitter. Speaker 4: Yes, I can go to a website. Um, that'd be the LPL [inaudible] [00:19:00] dot org and you received the links there too. They connected. Speaker 6: And Are you trying to recruit either new scholars or new volunteers or anything like that? Speaker 4: Yes, we're trying to recruit new donors, so anyone who, who like what they've heard today and want to impact more scholars Kotaku website and donate. Also looking for volunteers, those who want to get connected and volunteer their time, their resources Speaker 6: and we're obviously always looking for more talented scholars like Ruby and [00:19:30] Haley, everyone from LTF Jarvis and Ellison and Ruby and Hayley, thanks for joining us. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Speaker 2: [inaudible]Speaker 8: students wishing to apply to the Smash Academy can visit www dot [inaudible] dot org slash smash online registration closes Friday, February 15th at midnight. Online applications are due Friday, March 1st [00:20:00] I had been dating potential donors can also visit the LPI website to learn more. Speaker 2: [inaudible]Speaker 8: Brad Swift joins me for some science news headlines. Speaker 9: UC Berkeley News Center reports the publication of a study by University of Texas. At Austin and University of California Berkeley researchers, Shalani Sha and Claire Kremen in the Journal, p a n a s shows landscapes with large amounts of paved roads and impervious construction [00:20:30] have lower numbers of ground nesting bumblebees, which are important native pollinators. The study suggests that increasing the number of species rich flowering patches in suburban and urban gardens, farms and restored habitats could provide pathways for bees to forage and improve pollination services over large areas. The findings have major applications for global pollinator conservation on a rapidly urbanizing planet. Though it may seem obvious that pavement and ground nesting [00:21:00] don't mix. Joss said our understanding of the effects of pavement and urban growth on native bees has been largely anecdotal, bumblebees nest in the ground and each colony contains a queen and a force of workers. Unlike honeybees, which are not native, bumblebees, do not make harvestable honey. They do, however, provide important pollination services to plants to study the bumblebees. Joe Did not scour the landscape for a nest in the ground, which has proved in the past to be very difficult, especially over large [00:21:30] areas. Instead, she analyzed the genetic relatedness of bees foraging in the landscape GI use this information plus the B's location to estimate the number of bee colonies in an area and determine how far a field the individual bees were foraging. Speaker 8: The UC Berkeley News Center reports on findings presented on Monday, December 17th at the American Society for Cell Biology's annual meeting in San Francisco. Researchers from cal and Lawrence Berkeley showed [00:22:00] that mechanical forces can revert and stop out of control. Growth of cancer cells, professor of bioengineering, Dan Fletcher, said that Tissue Organization is sensitive to mechanical input from the environment at the beginning. Stages of growth and develop the team grew Milligan breast epithelial cells in a gelatin lake substance that had been injected into flexible silicone chambers. The flexible chambers allowed the researchers to apply a compressive force [00:22:30] in the first stages of cell development. Over time, the compress malignant cells grew into more organized healthy looking structures. The researchers used time lapse microscopy over several days to show that early compression also induced coherent rotation in the malignant cells. The characteristic feature of normal development. The new center added that it should be noted that the researchers are not proposing the development of compression bras as a treatment for breast cancer. Compression in and [00:23:00] of itself is not likely to be a therapy said flusher, but this does give us new clues to track down the molecules and structures that could eventually be targeted for therapies. Speaker 9: Here's another UC Berkeley News Center report I simple, precise and inexpensive method for cutting DNA to insert genes into human cells could transform genetic medicine making routine. What now are expensive, complicated and rare procedures for replacing defective genes [00:23:30] in order to fix genetic disease or battle diseases like aids. Discovered last year by Jennifer Doudna and Martin genic of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and University of California Berkeley and the manual Carpentier of the laboratory molecular infection medicine in Sweden and published in science. The new technique was proven to work cutting bacterial DNA. Two new papers published last week in the journal. Science Express demonstrated that the technique also works [00:24:00] in human cells. A third new paper by Doudna and her team reporting. Similarly successful results in human cells has been accepted for publication by the new open access journal Elife. The key to the new technique involves an enzyme called CAS. Nine Doudna discovered the cas nine enzyme while working on the immune system of bacteria with evolved enzymes that cut DNA to defend themselves against viruses. Speaker 9: These bacteria [00:24:30] cut up viral DNA and stick pieces of it into their own DNA from which they make RNA that binds and inactivates the virus. This is a poster child for the role of basic science in making fundamental discoveries that affect human health. Doudna said irregular feature of spectrum is a calendar of some of the science and technology related events happening in the bay area over the next two weeks. Here's Brad Swift [00:25:00] on selected Saturdays from 9:30 AM to 1:30 PM experienced the beauty and rich natural history of Audubon Canyon ranches. 535 Acre Bovary preserve. Participants are divided into small groups and paired with a trained bovie air volunteer to explore the mixed evergreen forest flower, carpeted oak, woodland and rugged chaparral guided natural walks range from two to five miles. Visitors of all ages are welcome. [00:25:30] There is no charge, but donations are appreciated. See the website for reservation information go to ygritte.org the next three hikes are on Saturday, January 12th March 9th and March 20 third@websiteagainygritte.org here's a presentation on over-confidence in the frailty of knowledge. Speaker 9: While self confidence is a prized human attribute, too much confidence can be obnoxious, pernicious, and even deadly. This audience participation [00:26:00] skeptic will present a simple 10 question quiz to measure an important aspect of individual self confidence. With analysis and discussion of these measurements, audience members will be better able to calibrate properly their personal levels of self confidence. The ultimate goal will be a healthier skepticism towards one's own depth of knowledge about the world. This event is a joint production of the bay area skeptics and wonder fest. The Bay area beacon of science. The Speakers are Dr [00:26:30] Maryland Cologne, California State University, East Bay lecturer in psychology and Tucker Hyatt, Stanford visiting scholar and wonder fest. Founding executive director. This will be held Wednesday, January 16th at 7:30 PM until approximately 9:30 PM the location is La Pena Lounge 31 oh five Shattuck avenue in Berkeley, Speaker 3: the American Association of University Whitman Presents. Do Girls Love Science. You Bet Ya. Come here. Stanford's Dr [00:27:00] Siegrid close. Explain why Dr [inaudible] close is the cohost of the 2011 series known universe which aired on the National Geographic Channel. She is an assistant professor at Stanford's Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics where she heads up the space environment and satellite systems lab. This event happens Thursday, January 17th at the Sunnyvale Heritage Park Museum five 70 Remington drive in Sunnyvale, California. The doors open at seven [00:27:30] announcements at seven 15 Speaker at seven 30 for more information on this free event, visit www.auw-sv-cupt.org. Speaker 9: The next science at cal lecture will be on January 19th the talk will be given by Dr Mark less girl art and is entitled the shape of our thoughts, visual perception of geometric shape. Most people think that seeing is something that happens [00:28:00] in the eyes, but many aspects of our perception of the world are determined by neural computations that occur in the brain. The visual Cortex, the part of the brain that processes vision takes up nearly a third of our cerebral real estate. Different regions of the visual cortex respond to different aspects or features of visual stimuli, less crow art. We'll discuss his work which shows how intermediate visual processing areas in the visual cortex respond to variation and object silhouettes [00:28:30] and 3D surface orientations. This lecture will happen at 11:00 AM on January 19th in the genetics and plant biology building room 100 on the UC Berkeley campus. Speaker 2: [inaudible]. The music you [00:29:00] heard during say show was [inaudible] and David from his album book and acoustic is released under a creative Commons license version 3.0 spectrum was recorded and edited by me, Rick Karnofsky and by Brad Swift. Thank you for listening to spectrum. You're happy to hear from listeners. If you have comments about the show, please send them to us via email, right. Email address is spectrum [00:29:30] dot klx@yahoo.com join us in two weeks at this same time. [inaudible] [inaudible]. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jarvis Sulcer, Allison Scott, Hailey Shavers, Ruby Alcazar, join us from the Level Playing Field Institute to discuss the year round STEM program in Bay Area High Schools for minority women. We discuss the program, how to apply, and get an idea of what it is like from Hailey and Ruby. lpfi.orgTranscriptSpeaker 1: Spectrum's next Speaker 2: [inaudible].Speaker 1: Welcome [00:00:30] to spectrum the science and technology show on k a l x Berkeley, a biweekly 30 minute program bringing you interviews featuring bay area scientists and technologists. Speaker 3: Good afternoon. I'm Rick Karnofsky. Brad swift and I are the hosts of today's show stay. We're talking about science education of underrepresented minorities with the level playing field institute who run the smash. Some are math and science honors Academy that happens here [00:01:00] at Cau and at Stanford, UCLA and USC. We have the executive director, Jarvis saucer, the director of research and evaluation, Alison Scott and scholars, Ruby Alcazar and Haley Shavers. Jarvis, why don't you tell me a little bit about LPI? Speaker 4: It's a level playing philosophy to them. Our mission is to remove barriers for students of color who are pursuing degrees in stem and stem being science, technology, engineering and math, and to untapped their potential for the advancement [00:01:30] of our nation and the organism. We're founded in 2001 by Freada Kapor Klein focused on issues in the workplace around diversity and we started off Smash Academy at Berkeley in 2004 and we've continued to run the program and they've expanded to UCLA, USC and Stanford for the last couple of years.Speaker 5: Can someone summarize what Smash Academy is? So Speaker 4: smash you. They three year five week residential program for low income students with color who have we interested in pursuing stem degrees [00:02:00] in college and so we support these students through our five week residential program starting in the summer after ninth grade year and they stay with it for three years. Then we brought in additional support in the first two years of college and one of our strategic partners. Speaker 5: And can you tell me how scholars get involved in the program? Speaker 4: Most scholars come from the nine payer counties and they are first nominated by their teachers think they have to get a math and science recommendation and they go through a rigorous application process similar to what a senior in high school [00:02:30] with experience going to college. And then there's a application, they complete math assessment group interviews with staff and even current scholars than a program. And then we make a selection of the students who are about a 30% acceptance rate of students who apply. Speaker 5: How did you do find out about the program? I was friends with Rachel seems nice and she told me about the program and she said, Haley, I know you math [00:03:00] and I know you really like this so you should apply. And I was kind of skeptical. I was like, that's my summer. I'm trying to go places. She's like, just do it. And I did. I got in and it's best. It's the best. I like it. I like it a lot. Yeah.Speaker 6: Well my sister was actually a scholar before I was and so I found it from her. She's four years older than I am. The way she found out was through her guidance counselor at a high school. What kind of activities do take place over that five weeks? Speaker 7: [00:03:30] I think scholarships speak to that because they live and breathe it, breathe it. Speaker 6: It's been different almost every summer. Our schedules. We have classes five days a week, sometimes even on Sundays. So those classes include the core class like math and science and our science writing class. But we also take like tech media, engineering electronics, and then we also have guest Speakers, we call them Speakerseries. We listen to different than people that come from like stem fields and what they're doing with their lives and their careers. And [00:04:00] we also go on a lot of field trips. What's your favorite activity? Speaker 5: I think my favorite activity would have to be a field trip we took to Pixar, we got to tour the place in Emeryville and we also got to sit in on a presentation by one of the programmers who worked on brave. It was, it was really fun to see the inside of Pixar and just to see how they've created all the great movies that I've watched since I was little. Speaker 2: Yeah. [inaudible] Speaker 8: [00:04:30] you are listening to spectrum on k a l LX Berkeley. We're talking to the level playing field institute about science education of underrepresented minorities.Speaker 7: So a lot of research shows that our students come to us from schools. [00:05:00] Those are typically under-resourced, which means that they lack oftentimes access to high quality teachers, advanced placement courses that would prepare them for success in college. Um, in addition to extracurricular activities such as the ones that the scholars described that they participate in smash though, including things like computer science or robotics, which they might not have it there, high schools. And so that's a really great way smash is found to remove some of the barriers that face these students. Speaker 6: [00:05:30] Awesome. Can you talk to us a little bit more about the specific audience of underrepresented students of color that smash hopes to educate? How are their needs different? How are what they already have access to different? Speaker 7: One of the things that we find or that research demonstrates is that if you look at the science and engineering workforce, African American and Latinos make up only 7% of the entire science and engineering workforce, which is really concerning number considering that those populations [00:06:00] are rapidly growing and that the needs of our, our economy and our nation are trending towards stem occupations. And so, um, just that statistic alone speaks to the fact that, that we are leaving behind this significant person of our population and not preparing them for the skills that they'll need in the future. Speaker 4: And another interesting stat is that only being willing or harder to come to valley with copies of found almost every day that company founded by two individual colors, that's [00:06:30] the 1% and so the half and mostly who found, who found comfortable, who start companies in the bay or in the valley, people with typically with stem backgrounds. And so we have a, as Allison mentioned, a [inaudible] amount of potential in students who could be founders of their own company and really transform not only their lives but the lives of many in their community and beyond. Speaker 6: Is there something special about the bay area that would inspire programs like this to start here? Speaker 4: [00:07:00] I think that the diversity of the type of students we have in the barrier and the fact we have multiple cities represented. I mean there are students in our program say from the East Bay who we never set foot on Berkeley campus, even though it's a boat ride away. Or you have students who live in, I don't know, Penis Lou, who we never stepped foot on Stanford's campus. So that opportunity to have two world class universities in our backyard, so to speak, in our scholars, have an opportunity to experience those campuses in terms of the labs [00:07:30] and access to graduate students. And even faculty, I think makes the very unique place. Speaker 7: And in addition, there's the, obviously we have silicon valley in our backyard, so we have access to a lot of companies and employees of those companies who are very willing to come and speak to our scholars and provide [inaudible] Speaker 6: role models and back to the scholars. Um, do you participate in science and math events outside of both smash and, and the school year? Um, I actually just [00:08:00] got an internship for um, building like a teen website and my like hometown Palo Alto. I also do this thing at my school called college pathways. It's um, run by my guidance counselor and is specifically also for minorities and people of color. We go visit different campuses and uh, kind of similar to Speaker series, we have guest Speakers that we listened to. Um, a lot of them have been like engineers and entrepreneurs. Speaker 5: Um, so for me, other than smash casts, which introduced me to a lot of new programs, [00:08:30] I tend to just experiment. If I see something that I like, I'll research it and find out what's behind it and how can I learn. And that's, that's been my whole mindset since I guess my sophomore year of high school and it hasn't stopped. You have examples I have made to three mobile apps. They're very like simple. [00:09:00] I made them, so I felt like I feel really accomplished. I show like a bunch of my friends and they kind of just look at me like, this doesn't do anything. It just, you know, moves from like, you know, this is a lot of work. I've made these, I spend countless hours, you know, fixing it, make sure it doesn't have any errors. And it's, it's been good. I, my parents, they support me and even though I'm like the techie of the house, they don't really understand what I'm talking about, but [00:09:30] I explain it and they get it after a while and they're like, oh, this makes so much sense. Speaker 5: And then they start bragging to all their friends, but, but it's been good. Yeah. So you've mentioned smash cast a few times, but I don't think we've actually talked about what that is. So did you want to give a summary of smash? I think I can. Um, so smash cast is almost like the extension of our taking media class that we take over the summer and the cast stands for communications [00:10:00] and social technology. I want to say we also experiment and like get exposed to different programs. So right now we're diving into corona, which is a mobile app programming and we've learned some of the terminology and we've had a few mobile app companies come and visit us and they've talked about how they've created some of their games and we got to like test their games and uh, give them feedback. Speaker 2: [00:10:30] [inaudible] Speaker 8: you are listening to spectrum on k Alex Berkeley. We're talking with Jarvis, Alison Rubian, Hayley about smash the summer math and science honors academy. Speaker 2: [inaudible]Speaker 5: and what's it like [00:11:00] returning back to your regular high school after the end of the summer? He was kind of weird. How was so used to seeing the same faces? Six, six 30 but like seven ish in the morning until, you know, lights out at 11 o'clock. I guess it, I mean it's nice to go back to high school at the same time. I would always really miss smash. Smash is always what I'd look for too during the entire year. I guess it's kind of me going back to my classes also because I was the only like person of [00:11:30] color and a lot of my classes especially then like my science classes. Um, for me it was, it was kind of disappointing because my high school is, it's really small and I, I like the small atmosphere yet again. I like being surrounded by people who are driven to do better. Um, and my high school I attend, I have a small group of friends and at times they kind of have a lack of motivation to do better. Speaker 5: So I'm always there to push them. I'm like, come on you guys, [00:12:00] let's do this work, let's get it done. Um, but that smash, it was kind of vice versa. We pushed each other to a point where we did our best and we got the work done and we still had fun. And also the classes at my escort are kind of disappointing being that I have a computer science class yet there's only like five people and maybe two out of the five are really interested in the class. And then also for my math class it's [00:12:30] me and what other one other junior, because we take a higher level and we're kind of more advanced than the seniors, which is kind of disappointing being that they're kind of kind of our role models, but they're, they lack that motivation to apply for the colleges and they procrastinate a bunch and it's not good. But I think my junior class will be a really good senior class because I'm a part of it. So [00:13:00] there's LPF I help students after they go on to college. Speaker 4: Yes, we do. We have a strategic partner called beyond 12 and their primary focus is to provide support to first generation college students. I mean, effort to get to college because the city show that if a student can make it through their first two years of college, there is the chance of graduating from college significantly increases. Speaker 6: Hailey Hailey, how did you get started in stem? Speaker 5: It would have [00:13:30] to be my big cousin. He makes like custom computers for different people and I would always go over his house and just be interested in what he was building that day and he would make them look really interesting and show me all the parts. And from there I joined this weekend program that was held at a college and we just got to experience different forms of science and engineering and math and we got to take apart a computer and put it back together. [00:14:00] And I think from there I've always wanted to know how a computer works from the inside and see what I can make for other people to use. I like game design and game programming being that you play game and there may be some errors, but for the most part it's smooth and I want to be that person behind that game, writing that code so you can play. Speaker 6: How about Ruby? What got it going for you? Well, I had a really, [00:14:30] really good math teacher my eighth grade year, so middle school and I grew really close with her. It was just like a friendship that we had beyond like student teacher. I'd go to her when I have issues and we just talk like I just sit in a classroom and talk with her during lunch or something. I sweat. That initially kind of started thinking like, well she's so cool. She does too. Like I can do that. And then is that, so my math interest specifically like math has always been one of my favorite subjects. My mom actually forced me [00:15:00] to take a computer class my eighth grade year. Oh Web design class. I actually ended up enjoying it a lot. I was actually grateful for that. And so that kind of snowballed and and then my sister during my middle school years, she kinda accepted into smash and then she'd come back like every weekend telling me all these stories. And so I was like, oh well my sister basically my biggest role model and so I wanted to experience that too. Speaker 8: You are listening to spectrum on k a l x [00:15:30] Berkeley. We're talking with representatives from LPF by the liberal clean field institute. Speaker 9: Jarvis. I was, I was really intrigued with your mentioning of steam by adding the a for art into stem. And do you feel that that's maybe the next wave of creativity coming into stem now? It'll become steam? Speaker 4: I think so. I mean there's been local religion [00:16:00] around that and um, there's definitely a lot of value because of the, again, the creativity piece I think just look at, you know, iPhone, you know Steve Jobs that was inspired by the calligraphy classmate that he had at one point that led to a lot of what, you know, did some design, right? So you couldn't have that class. Who knows what may have with the rest. She may have taken it. So I think there's this one example of how it was the art that inspired and even some of the designs of other types of devices. It's not coming [00:16:30] naturally from engineers per se, but those who had this art sort of angle ass, another flavor and 11 other level of creativity. I finish. And use my creative. But I mean you look at the creativity, you mean even for engineer who's in a, you know, hardcore class they have in that part they can add another level of dimension to their own repertoire so to speak. I think design, no different types of devices and things of that nature. Speaker 9: How about Hayley? Do you think art is something you'd be interested in including in your [00:17:00] stem, getting some studio work somehow, you know, something design oriented? Speaker 5: Uh, definitely. I think if I have a piece of art included with my programming, I could create a lot of things. Like Games are some visual. Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. And if it's art that I like and that I've made, then I can say I've made a whole entire game about myself or at least with a whole team and [inaudible]. [00:17:30] Yeah, that'd be really, yeah, art is very important. Speaker 9: What sort of tools and discipline has smash provided for you as you know, as individuals kind of personal tools to help you succeed? Speaker 5: It definitely time management because of all of our classes we have homework and almost each class and we will always have to manage our time because we do have free time, but if you're not going to do your homework then you're procrastinating and then that's not good. But [00:18:00] then also teamwork because we work in groups and almost every class and you have to push your group members so we can all get the project done in a timely manner. So time management ties back into that too. Speaker 6: Any advice for people who are considering joining us? Yes. For any prospective applicants are scholars, definitely time management because those things come up really quick. Getting your teacher recs in on time, getting you essays done on time [00:18:30] I guess to the future scholars or they just keep an open mind. There's a lot of different people that come and go through the program and just to take all that you can from all these different people because you're not always going to get this chance if you got accepted, like there's a reason why you're there and so take as much as you can from it. Speaker 9: He is his level playing field on Facebook and Twitter. Speaker 4: Yes, I can go to a website. Um, that'd be the LPL [inaudible] [00:19:00] dot org and you received the links there too. They connected. Speaker 6: And Are you trying to recruit either new scholars or new volunteers or anything like that? Speaker 4: Yes, we're trying to recruit new donors, so anyone who, who like what they've heard today and want to impact more scholars Kotaku website and donate. Also looking for volunteers, those who want to get connected and volunteer their time, their resources Speaker 6: and we're obviously always looking for more talented scholars like Ruby and [00:19:30] Haley, everyone from LTF Jarvis and Ellison and Ruby and Hayley, thanks for joining us. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Speaker 2: [inaudible]Speaker 8: students wishing to apply to the Smash Academy can visit www dot [inaudible] dot org slash smash online registration closes Friday, February 15th at midnight. Online applications are due Friday, March 1st [00:20:00] I had been dating potential donors can also visit the LPI website to learn more. Speaker 2: [inaudible]Speaker 8: Brad Swift joins me for some science news headlines. Speaker 9: UC Berkeley News Center reports the publication of a study by University of Texas. At Austin and University of California Berkeley researchers, Shalani Sha and Claire Kremen in the Journal, p a n a s shows landscapes with large amounts of paved roads and impervious construction [00:20:30] have lower numbers of ground nesting bumblebees, which are important native pollinators. The study suggests that increasing the number of species rich flowering patches in suburban and urban gardens, farms and restored habitats could provide pathways for bees to forage and improve pollination services over large areas. The findings have major applications for global pollinator conservation on a rapidly urbanizing planet. Though it may seem obvious that pavement and ground nesting [00:21:00] don't mix. Joss said our understanding of the effects of pavement and urban growth on native bees has been largely anecdotal, bumblebees nest in the ground and each colony contains a queen and a force of workers. Unlike honeybees, which are not native, bumblebees, do not make harvestable honey. They do, however, provide important pollination services to plants to study the bumblebees. Joe Did not scour the landscape for a nest in the ground, which has proved in the past to be very difficult, especially over large [00:21:30] areas. Instead, she analyzed the genetic relatedness of bees foraging in the landscape GI use this information plus the B's location to estimate the number of bee colonies in an area and determine how far a field the individual bees were foraging. Speaker 8: The UC Berkeley News Center reports on findings presented on Monday, December 17th at the American Society for Cell Biology's annual meeting in San Francisco. Researchers from cal and Lawrence Berkeley showed [00:22:00] that mechanical forces can revert and stop out of control. Growth of cancer cells, professor of bioengineering, Dan Fletcher, said that Tissue Organization is sensitive to mechanical input from the environment at the beginning. Stages of growth and develop the team grew Milligan breast epithelial cells in a gelatin lake substance that had been injected into flexible silicone chambers. The flexible chambers allowed the researchers to apply a compressive force [00:22:30] in the first stages of cell development. Over time, the compress malignant cells grew into more organized healthy looking structures. The researchers used time lapse microscopy over several days to show that early compression also induced coherent rotation in the malignant cells. The characteristic feature of normal development. The new center added that it should be noted that the researchers are not proposing the development of compression bras as a treatment for breast cancer. Compression in and [00:23:00] of itself is not likely to be a therapy said flusher, but this does give us new clues to track down the molecules and structures that could eventually be targeted for therapies. Speaker 9: Here's another UC Berkeley News Center report I simple, precise and inexpensive method for cutting DNA to insert genes into human cells could transform genetic medicine making routine. What now are expensive, complicated and rare procedures for replacing defective genes [00:23:30] in order to fix genetic disease or battle diseases like aids. Discovered last year by Jennifer Doudna and Martin genic of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and University of California Berkeley and the manual Carpentier of the laboratory molecular infection medicine in Sweden and published in science. The new technique was proven to work cutting bacterial DNA. Two new papers published last week in the journal. Science Express demonstrated that the technique also works [00:24:00] in human cells. A third new paper by Doudna and her team reporting. Similarly successful results in human cells has been accepted for publication by the new open access journal Elife. The key to the new technique involves an enzyme called CAS. Nine Doudna discovered the cas nine enzyme while working on the immune system of bacteria with evolved enzymes that cut DNA to defend themselves against viruses. Speaker 9: These bacteria [00:24:30] cut up viral DNA and stick pieces of it into their own DNA from which they make RNA that binds and inactivates the virus. This is a poster child for the role of basic science in making fundamental discoveries that affect human health. Doudna said irregular feature of spectrum is a calendar of some of the science and technology related events happening in the bay area over the next two weeks. Here's Brad Swift [00:25:00] on selected Saturdays from 9:30 AM to 1:30 PM experienced the beauty and rich natural history of Audubon Canyon ranches. 535 Acre Bovary preserve. Participants are divided into small groups and paired with a trained bovie air volunteer to explore the mixed evergreen forest flower, carpeted oak, woodland and rugged chaparral guided natural walks range from two to five miles. Visitors of all ages are welcome. [00:25:30] There is no charge, but donations are appreciated. See the website for reservation information go to ygritte.org the next three hikes are on Saturday, January 12th March 9th and March 20 third@websiteagainygritte.org here's a presentation on over-confidence in the frailty of knowledge. Speaker 9: While self confidence is a prized human attribute, too much confidence can be obnoxious, pernicious, and even deadly. This audience participation [00:26:00] skeptic will present a simple 10 question quiz to measure an important aspect of individual self confidence. With analysis and discussion of these measurements, audience members will be better able to calibrate properly their personal levels of self confidence. The ultimate goal will be a healthier skepticism towards one's own depth of knowledge about the world. This event is a joint production of the bay area skeptics and wonder fest. The Bay area beacon of science. The Speakers are Dr [00:26:30] Maryland Cologne, California State University, East Bay lecturer in psychology and Tucker Hyatt, Stanford visiting scholar and wonder fest. Founding executive director. This will be held Wednesday, January 16th at 7:30 PM until approximately 9:30 PM the location is La Pena Lounge 31 oh five Shattuck avenue in Berkeley, Speaker 3: the American Association of University Whitman Presents. Do Girls Love Science. You Bet Ya. Come here. Stanford's Dr [00:27:00] Siegrid close. Explain why Dr [inaudible] close is the cohost of the 2011 series known universe which aired on the National Geographic Channel. She is an assistant professor at Stanford's Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics where she heads up the space environment and satellite systems lab. This event happens Thursday, January 17th at the Sunnyvale Heritage Park Museum five 70 Remington drive in Sunnyvale, California. The doors open at seven [00:27:30] announcements at seven 15 Speaker at seven 30 for more information on this free event, visit www.auw-sv-cupt.org. Speaker 9: The next science at cal lecture will be on January 19th the talk will be given by Dr Mark less girl art and is entitled the shape of our thoughts, visual perception of geometric shape. Most people think that seeing is something that happens [00:28:00] in the eyes, but many aspects of our perception of the world are determined by neural computations that occur in the brain. The visual Cortex, the part of the brain that processes vision takes up nearly a third of our cerebral real estate. Different regions of the visual cortex respond to different aspects or features of visual stimuli, less crow art. We'll discuss his work which shows how intermediate visual processing areas in the visual cortex respond to variation and object silhouettes [00:28:30] and 3D surface orientations. This lecture will happen at 11:00 AM on January 19th in the genetics and plant biology building room 100 on the UC Berkeley campus. Speaker 2: [inaudible]. The music you [00:29:00] heard during say show was [inaudible] and David from his album book and acoustic is released under a creative Commons license version 3.0 spectrum was recorded and edited by me, Rick Karnofsky and by Brad Swift. Thank you for listening to spectrum. You're happy to hear from listeners. If you have comments about the show, please send them to us via email, right. Email address is spectrum [00:29:30] dot klx@yahoo.com join us in two weeks at this same time. [inaudible] [inaudible]. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.