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Though Himalaya Rao currently works as the Managing Director of the Black Founders Matter fund, in her view, her work could also be defined as social work. In her effort to find and uplift aspiring BIPOC entrepreneurs with her fund, Rao is working towards systemic change in the world of business and finance. As her fund’s letter to Black Entrepreneurs reads, “we know what you’re facing.” Rao has spotted others’ untapped potential in countless moments throughout her life and career. It has all led up to now, where she has a huge amount of freedom to help black creators realize the potential that others may not have seen in them.
Episode Notes
1:30 – About Himalaya Rao and Black Founders Matter
4:00 – Working for 7 different funds in just a few years
9:30 – Growing up being told “Don’t fail”
12:00 – Finding the tenets of entrepreneurship in the South Bronx
15:00 – Why “change,” rather than “systemic change,” isn’t enough
20:30 – “No systemic problem has one answer”
23:00 – “If any founder should be allowed access to funding, why not a BIPOC founder?”
30:00 – Not guiding greatness, but facilitating it
33:30 – “Don’t wait on your idea”
39:30 – Rao’s closing pieces of advice
LINKS
Himalaya Rao on LinkedIn
Black Founders Matter Investment Fund
Contact Himalaya @ himalaya@blackfoundersmatter.org
CREDITS
Produced by Kai Hellberg
Music by Isaac Chambers – ‘Change’