
San Francisco
Freada Kapor Klein and Mitch Kapor: Closing the Equity Gap
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Despite economic headwinds and job cuts, companies backed by venture capital—including many in the Bay Area—drive the U.S. economy, accounting for hundreds of billions of dollars in sales and profits. However, most of this wealth winds up enriching entrenched investors and favored private interests, further widening economic inequality. Two well-known technology investors and entrepreneurs, Mitch Kapor and Freada Kapor Klein, have committed their lives to doing things differently and finding ways to close these equity gaps.
As they explain in their new book, Closing the Equity Gap: Creating Wealth and Fostering Justice in Startup Investing, Kapor and Kapor Klein build on their work at the Oakland-based Kapor Center and Kapor Capital, two institutions that invest in seed-stage tech startups focused on closing gaps of access, opportunity and outcome for low-income communities and communities of color.
They share their core beliefs that all companies must make a positive impact. They share stories behind some of the most remarkable companies ever launched, and they argue that the standard investment model doesn’t work, explain how it can be fixed, and say what the future could look like if more investors joined them. Come hear about their new roadmap for investing in tech companies that defy assumptions from Silicon Valley to Wall Street, and their belief that entrepreneurs who overcome obstacles in life are a far better predictor of long-term success than the schools they attend or investment dollars raised from friends and family.
Together, the Kapors have launched close to 200 companies, invested in impactful and profitable companies whose services or products close opportunity gaps for communities of color and low-income communities, and shown that their approach can also provide strong investment returns and growth.
Join us as Mitch Kapor and Freada Kapor Klein share how they’ve "done well by doing good" and how you can, too.
This program has 2 types of tickets available: In-person and online-only. Please pre-register to receive a link to the live-stream event.
Safety Protocols for in-person attendance:
- We follow best practices laid out by the CDC and state and local guidelines.
- We strongly recommend vaccination for guests, staff, and volunteers.
- Masks are strongly encouraged while indoors (if you do not have one and would like one, inquire at our front desk for a complimentary mask).
- We reserve the right to require different rules for specific events as necessary.
Our LEED Gold-certified building is designed to cool with outside air, using digitally controlled moveable windows and large ceiling fans. We are deploying additional HEPA filters inside to scrub the air. This is all in addition to increased cleaning of surfaces throughout the building.
We welcome donations made during registration to support the production of our programs.
Kapors photo by Robert Silver Photography.
All ticket sales are final and nonrefundable.
The Commonwealth Club of California
110 The Embarcadero
Taube Family Auditorium
San Francisco, CA 94105
United States

Mitch Kapor
Co-Chair, Kapor Center; Founder, Lotus Development Corporation; Co-Founder, Electronic Frontier Foundation; Co-author, Closing the Equity Gap: Creating Wealth and Fostering Justice in Startup Investing.

Freada Kapor Klein
Co-Chair, Kapor Center; Entreprenuer; Activist; Founding Partner, Kapor Capital; Co-author, Closing the Equity Gap: Creating Wealth and Fostering Justice in Startup Investing

In Conversation with Aarti Shahani
Host and Creator, "Art of Power" Podcast
5:30 p.m. doors open & check-in
6–7 p.m. program
7 p.m. book signing
(all times PST)
COST
In-person:
$15 members
$25 nonmembers
$47 members with a book
$57 nonmembers with a book
Online:
Free for members
$10 nonmembers
$32 members with a book
$42 nonmembers with a book