Melinda French Gates $1Bn for Women with Erin Harkless Moore, Pivotal Ventures
With nearly 20 years of investment experience, building customized portfolios for endowed institutions and family offices, we chat with Erin Harkless Moore, Senior Director of Investments at Pivotal Ventures about everything from challenging the status quo to her investment strategy.
Named one of Forbes’ Most Powerful Women, Melinda French Gates needs no introduction. Over the last twenty years through her work at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, one thing has become clear to her: If you want to lift a society up, you must invest in women.
In comes our next guest, Erin Harkless Moore, Senior Director of Investment for Pivotal Ventures, a Melinda French Gates company created to do exactly that. To accelerate social progress in the U.S by investing in women’s power and influence.
As a member of Pivotal’s Executive Leadership Team, Erin leads the organization’s fund, and direct investment decisions, overseeing a diverse portfolio of investments that drive breakthrough innovations and drive impact for people in the US.
You don’t want to miss this!
Learn more about Erin Harkless Moore
TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 - Intro
02:04 - Erin's career, passion, profit, purpose
05:53 - The premium of 'track record'
07:58 - Investment in diversity initiatives under attack
10:53 - Where does the resistance come from?
12:30 - The role of consultants
16:01 - Melinda French Gates' point of impact
18:20 - Investing in women is not charity
24:24 - Getting to a 'yes' as an LP
30:22 - Cracking the patterns of history
5 Key Takeaways
“Investing in women; you can make money doing it.”
Here are 5 takeaways from this episode:
1/ “You can't move much faster than your client or your principal.”
The truth is you can't move faster than the people around you sometimes. Instead of getting lost in a hard-charging spirit, building consensus with the people you work with allows for good governance and decision-making.
2/ “Meet people where they are and understand their perspectives, even if there's a difference in opinion.”
Diversity initiatives are under attack; what can we do? When we go to the root of the problem, the solution is always about building that consensus and listening. Building trust, having difficult dialogues, and bringing others along are the ultimate ways to move forward in societal equity.
3/ “At the end of the day, the performance will speak for itself.”
In the face of injustice or distrust, let the data speak for itself. Meanwhile, respect other voices and understand where they come from, then establish common ground—something objective and tangible, like numbers and figures, could be a good place to begin.
4/ Challenge and change the status quo.
“It's easy to stick with the status quo, right?” While background, pedigree, and experience are prioritized in investment decisions, it’s our shared mission to amplify the success and stories of those who may not possess those advantages yet have thrived.
5/ “We have more women in power; we might be seeing some different results.”
By creating conditions for women to control more resources, we could drive social progress, expand equity, and create more opportunities for everyone, specifically for women.
ABOUT PIVOTAL VENTURES
Pivotal ventures engage in strategic investments in funds and early-stage companies, aiming to accelerate social progress by putting more capital in the hands of women and people of color, unlocking new market-based solutions to social problems, and demonstrating that historically under-resourced founders and investors deliver market returns.
Pivotal Ventures | A Melinda French Gates Company
Melinda Gates: Here's Why I'm Committing $1 Billion to Promote Gender Equality
𝐁𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐃𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐌𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐬 is THE show for the audacious next-gen leaders.
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Tune in to learn from world's foremost funders and founders, and their unicorn journey in the dynamic world of venture and business.
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Erin Harkless Moore
Senior Director of Investments, Pivotal Ventures
Erin Harkless Moore is the Senior Director of Investment for Pivotal Ventures, a Melinda French Gates company created to accelerate social progress in the U.S. Erin leads the organization’s fund, and direct investment decisions, overseeing a diverse portfolio of investments that drive breakthrough innovations and impact for people in this country.
“We want women to have more power and influence and we want to improve the well being of people in the United States. To do that, we’re putting money in the hands of women and directing capital toward diverse founders and funders.”
With nearly 20 years of investment experience, building and managing customized portfolios for endowed institutions and family offices, Erin’s commitment to discovering and cultivating relationships with leaders, entrepreneurs, investors and founders has been a driving force in her success.
Prior to joining Pivotal, Erin served as Managing Director at Cambridge Associates, where she sourced and conducted diligence on investment managers across asset classes, with a particular focus and expertise in the private markets and early-stage venture capital. She currently serves on the Board and Investment Committee for Builders Initiative and is currently an at-large member of the Alumni Board of Governors for her alma mater, Washington University.