On January 22nd, VFA’s CEO, Amy Nelson, and members of our identity-based resource groups, VFA Rise, discussed VFA’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, from how that’s manifested in the Fellowship, to how the identities of the Fellows themselves have informed their Fellowship experience.

To kick off the conversation, Amy reaffirmed why Venture for America has doubled down on our efforts

“As an organization over the last couple of years, we have zeroed in on elevating diversity as a priority. And we’re doing this for reasons of social justice, because different groups particularly women and POC, as well as LGBTQ individuals tend to be underrepresented in technology and entrepreneurship. We think we are in a unique position to actually affect that in the future, because we find candidates when they are very early on in their career, when they are just starting to step into a set of new opportunities. 

By taking a proactive stance and saying that we think that entrepreneurship is going to be better and our world is going to be better if diverse voices are creating and building businesses, we think that we are solving the next generation of problems. 

It’s important that as an organization we meet the needs of the market, and so while there is a significant social justice component to why we care about diversity, equity, and inclusion, we also think frankly that it’s good business. Our country is becoming more diverse, and hopefully that continues to be the case, our business challenges are more diverse, our consumers are more diverse. If we don’t have people of a variety of different backgrounds in leadership, we are not going to be successful as a nation, and we’re going to lose the economic force, talent, and market share…we are doing the future a solid by developing leaders that come from all backgrounds.”

To hear more from Amy and watch the Q&A with our VFA Rise groups, watch the full webinar below.
 

January 14, 2018
By Amy Nelson, CEO & Laila Selim, Director of Talent
When Venture for America began our Fellowship program in 2012, we had a fairly narrow set of criteria for who could become a VFA Fellow. One had to be a recent college graduate (no more than 2 years removed from school) with a GPA above 3.0, have no felony convictions, be a US Citizen or permanent resident. We modeled these guidelines off of our peer institutions who had years of experience building fellowship programs.
Today, we have eased or modified essentially all of these restrictions. We have found that Fellows with some experience add significant texture to our cohort. Although the positions we place Fellows into remain entry-level, we are exploring pathways for more senior recruits. It turns out that one’s college GPA is at best a remote proxy for their ability to succeed as an entrepreneur – and that the excellent syllabus followers may not be best suited to operate in highly ambiguous startup situations. The “ban the box” movement made clear to us that those convicted of minor drug crimes – or those working hard to turn their life around after incarceration – face structural prejudices in hiring that functionally eliminate their chances of pursuing careers in many professions. So we nixed that restriction too.
But perhaps the most insidious of these requirements was that Fellows must be US citizens or green card holders. Our logic was straightforward: we work with startups who don’t have the bandwidth or wherewithal to sponsor work visas. The H1-B process is complicated and dominated by large, sophisticated firms who snatch up a shrinking number of available slots. Amy has seen it firsthand, as her husband is on a work-sponsored visa. Laila grew up in Cairo, the daughter of an Egyptian and an American. Surrounded by children from dozens of countries, the true value of an American passport only became clear when she came to college in the US. Our small organization and our partners were ill-equipped to navigate this field on our own; so we closed the door to this set of potential applicants.
But then, a few things happened. A resourceful young woman with a Turkish passport willed her way into getting a visa, taking on the legal costs herself. As a small nonprofit, the costs associated with visas are an enduring barrier. We gladly accepted her into our program. More exceptions sprung up, and we eventually realized that we had been missing out on an entire category of highly ambitious and incredibly talented young people: the Dreamers, or students with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, status.

It’s possible, we promise!

Networking with aplomb is one of the most useful skills you can develop—a tool that can help you at every stage of your career, and in your life in general. It can also be weirdly hard! Even naturally outgoing people sometimes clam up in networking situations—they can make you feel awkward, shy, or even borderline manipulative. Introverts tend to have an especially hard time. But learning to network is worth it, so we’ve prepared a few pointers to help you breeze through that cocktail hour without breaking a sweat.

Don’t show up cold—prep before the event to feel cool, calm, and (relatively) collected.

One way to minimize those jittery pre-event nerves? Prepare. Here are just a few ways to make sure you’re walking in ready to make the most of your evening.

Practice your personal elevator pitch.

Consider the questions people might ask you at a networking event. Where do you work? What do you do? What are you interested in? Practice your answers ahead of time—more than once. Are you currently unemployed? Think about how you can share that without feeling awkward or clamming up. Currently working at a company you truly hate? Find a way to express your interest in new opportunities without coming off as super negative. Looking for a job or an internship? Be able to articulate what you want. Do you have anything you could offer the people you meet? In general, think about why you’re at this particular event and why other attendees might care. Practice on a friend.

Think of event-specific talking points ahead of time.

What are three topics you can discuss? This could be anything from a relevant project you’re working on, to a new skill you’ve been trying to pick up, to an interesting article you recently read that’s relevant to event attendees.

If there are specific people you’re hoping to meet at this event, research them ahead of time. Look at their LinkedIn and Twitter profiles, read any recent interviews with them, and prepare a few questions to ask. (Stick to questions that make you seem respectful, well-informed, and professional, not stalkery—avoid things about their personal lives, even if their new puppy is a frequent social media guest star.)

Go in with purpose.

If possible, identify who is likely to be at the event. Decide who you want to speak to, figure out what they look like and how you can offer them something of value. Make your goal for the night to meet five or so specific people. Once that’s done, take the pressure off yourself, and feel free to mix and mingle more freely for the rest of the evening.

Bring business cards!

It’ll make you look professional and polished…and most importantly, people will remember how to get in touch with you. Don’t have business cards through work? You can design nice, simple, inexpensive cards on websites like moo.com.

What to focus on during the event.

You’re prepared, calm, and ready to go. Here’s how to make the most of your night.

Arrive early.

This will give you many advantages, like the opportunity to meet and engage with the planning parties. You’ll also be able to scope out and befriend anyone else who may have come in early.

When you arrive, seek out the person who planned the event to thank them. This is your first chance for a warm-up conversation, your best chance at meeting people one-on-one, and a great opportunity to find a friendly face you can circle back to over the course of the night, and who can introduce you to other people

Avoid eating during the event.

Eat beforehand. Keep in mind that some events won’t have food but will have an open bar, so eating ahead of time will prevent a glass of wine from hitting you like a shot of fireball. Also, eating detracts from the purpose of the event, which is to meet people! It’s hard to shake hands and have meaningful conversations when you’re worried about parsley in your teeth.

Use this trick to remember names.

Use a person’s name three times in conversation after being introduced, so that you cement their name in your mind more easily. “Hi, Charlie — great to meet you.” “I love your tie, Charlie, it’s so colorful!” “Oh, Charlie, I was wondering…”

Keep a hand free.

Hold your glass of wine/water in your left hand. That way, your right hand — i.e., the hand you use to shake the hands of other people — will not be worryingly moist and cold.

Look for the golden broken triangle.

That is, look for two (or three people) in conversation whose bodies are turned outward, as if they’re looking around at the crowd. Sidle on in there — that body language means there’s nothing of particular interest going on, and you could be the icebreaker they were looking for. It’s a lot more intimidating to approach a closed-off group.

Don’t neglect your body language.

You won’t have a lot of time to make a great impression, so pay attention to things like eye contact, standing up straight, and leaving your arms uncrossed. Your body language should convey confidence (no slouching, hands in pockets, or staring at the wall) while also being welcoming, sending the message that others should be comfortable approaching you to chat.

Act like a human.

Meaning: be a professional version of yourself, not a business robot. You can still joke and discuss your honest opinions—just don’t say anything you wouldn’t say to a work acquaintance. And if someone is sharing something personal, be an empathetic listener! Lean forward slightly, don’t look at your phone, nod your head in acknowledgment, ask questions, and make eye contact.

Think about how you can help.

Even if you feel new to an industry, there are still ways to help the people you meet. Make an introduction, share something useful you’ve learned, offer to be a mentor to someone with less experience—if you start off your professional relationship by helping someone out, they’ll be inclined to help you when you need it. Something as simple as sending them a recommendation for a book or a useful platform only takes a few minutes but can go a long way.

Networking doesn’t end when the event is over!

Send out LinkedIn requests that evening or the following day.

If you met someone who you want to keep in touch with, send them a request on LinkedIn immediately. You can send a very short note with the request simply saying how great it was to meet them, or mentioning something you enjoyed about the conversation. It’s better to add someone right away than to wait until you need something from them—that seems more awkward and opportunistic, and you run the risk that they won’t actually remember who you are.

DO NOT add new acquaintances on Facebook, Instagram, etc., unless you explicitly discussed it at the networking event.

Keep your follow-ups personal!

If you talked about something the required a follow up, send that message through email instead of LinkedIn. It’s more personal, and more likely to net a response.

Congratulations on networking like a pro!

Remember: come in with a plan, act like a human, and follow up—at the end of the day, it’s not that complicated. You’ll have a growing network in no time.