I am writing this post to amplify the voice of Emily Kramer , who articulately lays out how the board and CEO of Carta demonstrated exactly how to execute the exact opposite of what should be done with respect diversity equity and inclusion.
You can see her post on Medium, and I want to draw your attention to the trifecta of transgressions. I am doing it for my part in ensuring she is heard AND to show you that we need to take risks as allies. This board is powerful – I don’t care. Doing the right this is ALWAYS the right thing. If any members of the board issue a mea culpa and make it right, then I will update the post – We all make mistakes; the question is whether the action is intentional or unconscious.
To the SaaSy alumni community – I will remind you of two our values:
- Equity/Fairness
- Belonging
Anti-diversity:
“As my lawsuit details, during my tenure, nearly 20 people cycled through the executive team, yet no additional women, nor any people of color were added to the team. Despite raising a $300M Series E led by Andreessen Horowitz in May 2019, we still did not add a woman to the board (but we did add Marc Andreessen). To my knowledge, they still have not added a woman to the board.”
Anti-inclusion:
“You aren’t even close” to getting promoted. He also commented on my “style” and told me that while I was “among the five smartest people at the company and had built a strong team, I didn’t get along with the other members of the executive team like they got along with each other.” This comment felt particularly questionable as I was the only woman on the executive team and also the only openly queer person.”
Anti-equity:
“As for my compensation, the audit not only found that I was underpaid by $50,000 annually, but that my original equity grant was one-third of the equity paid to comparable employees (all of whom were men). Given this massive discrepancy, I expected these shares to be retroactive to reflect my start date. However, the vesting of these shares was not backdated or accelerated to account for the previous six months of my tenure. My request for backdating or accelerating these options was denied. “
Here is the full article:
