Not all heroes wear capes, some champion the causes worth fighting for.
In this powerful segment, Tracy Gray, Founder & Managing Partner of The 22 Fund, shines a light on the diverse ecosystem of women-led venture capital funds actively transforming the future of Black and Brown entrepreneurship.
Tracy introduces us to some of the leading voices shaping inclusive investment—from immigrant-powered strategies and supply chain reinvention to clean job creation in underserved communities. She also shares her vision of co-investing with fellow women of color, fostering a new era of venture capital driven by collaboration, purpose, and equity.
Tracy Gray is a former systems engineer on the Space Shuttle program, senior advisor to the Mayor of Los Angeles, and Founder of We Are Enough, a nonprofit that empowers women to invest in women-led businesses. Her work speaks for itself—but her mission goes far deeper: build an equitable financial system that works for everyone.
➼ Watch to discover the future of inclusive investing, and meet the names reshaping venture capital for good.
Host: Are there any VCs you want to highlight—those who care, or even just folks you particularly want to work with?
Tracy Gray:
Absolutely. I have an incredible cohort of women of color whom I love and deeply admire:
• Gala Janino Burns at Rockstar
• Carmen Halifax at 2045 Ventures
• Normae Cadena at Supply Change
• Bahia Robinson and Yasmine Robinson, who started VC Include—a platform supporting Black, Brown, women, and impact investors.
I already collaborate with them, and we’re all in the process of raising funds. Our goal is to co-invest together.
It’s not that I don’t want to work with white men—I’ve done that my whole life—but I also want diversity in my professional world. These women are all driving unique and powerful strategies:
• Carmen focuses on the strength of immigrant communities.
• Normae, an MIT grad, is tackling inefficiencies in the supply chain through investment in people—particularly people of color.
• At The 22 Fund, we’re focused on manufacturing and exports, with a mission to create clean, quality jobs of the future for Black and Brown people and women.
• Bahia is working on building the entire capital system to support us all.
We also have allies like Taj Eldridge, Senior Director for Investments at the LA Cleantech Incubator. He’s concentrating on bringing Brown and Black communities into the green economy. Taj is now partnering with Bahia on a fund.
There are so many others doing amazing work—I can’t name them all here—but the goal is to build an ecosystem where we can co-invest and collaborate.
I also serve on the investment committee and advise at Fearless Fund, which primarily focuses on consumer products and CPG. That’s not my core area, but I’m learning. In return, I’m bringing them into the tech sector to expand the scope of what women of color, especially Black women, are able to invest in.
