Access and Opportunity
85 episodes - English - Latest episode: 3 months ago - ★★★★★ - 195 ratingsInspiring change through informed and inclusive innovation. On Access & Opportunity, host Carla Harris, Senior Client Advisor at Morgan Stanley, explores the lived experiences of the people who face systemic inequities and sits down with founders, investors, developers, activists, and educators who are building a more equitable future today.
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Episodes
Empowering Latina Innovators in Fashion & Retail
February 07, 2024 18:47 - 25 minutes - 23.5 MBLatino Americans’ purchasing power hit $3.4 trillion in 2021, according to a report from the Latino Donor Collaborative, and is expected to account for over one-third of growth in apparel spending in the next five years, according to the 2021 Claritas Hispanic Market Report. With Nielsen noting that women are largely in control of household spending in this demographic, designers and retailers are working to make their sectors more inclusive to Latinas as consumers. But it’s a tough...
Broadening Access to Mental Health Care for Ethnically Diverse Students
January 12, 2024 15:34 - 25 minutes - 23.5 MBRates of depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation among college students are at an all-time high. And while students of all backgrounds face similar levels of mental health challenges, ethnically diverse students are far less likely to seek treatment. That gap is due to factors including lack of access to a diverse selection of counselors; cultural stigmas surrounding mental health; and the cost of care. The need for more robust mental healthcare continues once students transition ...
Creating Equity in the Music Industry
November 09, 2023 19:30 - 25 minutes - 23.1 MBWith advances in technology, the music industry is changing faster than ever. Streaming services add more than 100,000 new songs every day. In this environment, artists’ ability to market and distribute their own work brings a lot of opportunity. But the influx of new music also means more competition for creatives hoping to break through. Meanwhile, record companies and publishers often control ownership of music rights, meaning that they can profit disproportionately. In this epi...
Diversifying the Pilot Pipeline
August 04, 2023 21:36 - 26 minutes - 23.8 MBA 2022 analysis issued by consulting firm Oliver Wyman found a shortfall of 8,000 pilots in North America, or 11% of the total workforce. That gap is estimated to grow to nearly 30,000 by the end of the decade. In their pursuits to staff up and meet new hiring goals, there is an opportunity for commercial airlines in the United States to diversify an industry that has a legacy of being overtly white and male by breaking down the barriers to entry. On this episode, we’re exploring ...
Who Gets to Make Video Games?
May 31, 2023 18:40 - 26 minutes - 24.5 MBOn this episode, we discuss the lack of representation in the video game industry, from the stories that get told in games to the people who get to make them. While gamers of color are more active than their white counterparts, they still only make up about 13% of the gaming development industry, according to a study by Pew Research. First, we hear from Neil Jones, a Black video game developer who went independent after struggling for years to break into the industry. He shares what...
Black Women Entrepreneurs: Creating an Ecosystem
April 20, 2023 18:31 - 23 minutes - 21.3 MBAmerican entrepreneurship had been on a 40-year decline. But 2020 is the year that turned around; entrepreneurship is on the rise once again. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, aspiring entrepreneurs filed paperwork to start 5.4 million new businesses in 2021. This recent surge in entrepreneurship has been disproportionally attributed to women and people of color, so for this special two-part series we’re honing in on an intersection of those two identities: Black women. In the ...
Black Women Entrepreneurs: Putting Community First
April 20, 2023 18:30 - 25 minutes - 22.9 MBAccording to a 2021 report in the Harvard Business Review, 17% of Black women are in the process of starting or running new businesses, compared to 10% of white women and 15% of white men. For this special two-part “Black Women Entrepreneurship” series, Access and Opportunity is on the road in Washington D.C. – recently named the best city for Black entrepreneurs to start a business – to hear from the women driving this Black business boom by putting community at the center. On th...
Leading to Execute: Mielle Organics’ Monique Rodriguez
February 08, 2023 22:28 - 29 minutes - 26.9 MBAn extreme funding gap exists for Black female entrepreneurs who, in 2021, received merely 0.34% of the total venture capital spent in the U.S. in the first half of the year, according to Crunchbase. And while more concerted efforts to diversify capital allocation have come out of these jarring figures, the community of adequately funded Black female founders remains incredibly small. On this episode, we speak with one of the select few Black female founders who got her funding. In...
Narrowing the Disability Employment Gap
January 10, 2023 14:36 - 28 minutes - 25.9 MBThe barriers to entering and staying in the workforce are complex for disabled people, and magnified for disabled people with additional marginalized identities. This results in long term impacts to their household wealth: in the United States, the median net worth among households with adult members with a disability is $33,318 less than the national median, according to a report from Prosperity Now. On this episode, we learn how unemployment drives the disability wealth gap and ...
Building Credit for Immigrants
December 08, 2022 20:21 - 18 minutes - 16.6 MBA recent survey commissioned by Nova Credit found that nearly half of immigrants said a U.S. credit card is hard to obtain. Without a credit card or any type of credit history to their name, immigrants are likely to find themselves identified as “credit invisible” and unable to establish their financial identities. On this episode, we learn from those with firsthand experience navigating the American credit system as immigrants and how they’re channeling lessons-learned into solutio...
Displaced Entrepreneurs: Supporting New Beginnings Away from Home
November 23, 2022 19:09 - 27 minutes - 25.6 MBAround the world, over 80 million individuals are displaced according to the UN Refugee Agency, with many forced to flee their homes for prolonged periods of time due to protracted internal crises. While emergency aid may provide for their immediate basic needs, it in no way supports their quality of life nor does it create a pathway to building a future in a foreign country. On this episode, we discuss the unique challenges that exist for founders uprooted from their home countries...
Closing the Women’s Sports Pay Gap
November 12, 2022 00:39 - 26 minutes - 23.9 MBIn May of 2022, the U.S. Soccer Federation agreed to a landmark deal awarding equal pay for the women and men of the US National Soccer teams. On this episode, we look at what this move means for other women’s leagues charting the same course towards equity in pay and beyond. First, we hear from Los Angeles Sparks player Nneka Ogwumike about her path to becoming a decorated player in the WNBA and how she’s using her platform to engage the league in conversations about equity. Nnek...
Real Estate Investing for All
October 24, 2022 17:21 - 27 minutes - 24.8 MBIn America, real estate investment has been the primary way for people to build wealth that they can sustain and pass down to their children. But the vast majority of those who get a piece of the real estate pie are white men. Real estate investment has a long history of systemic inequity due in part to racist lending practices and exclusionary urban planning Despite the challenges, there are BIPOC entrepreneurs working to change the exclusivity of this industry. On this episode, we...
Empowering Tribes in the Fight Against Climate Change
September 26, 2022 20:44 - 23 minutes - 21.8 MBIndigenous voices have been left out of the conversation around climate change, even though they are among the first to face the direct consequences of global warming due to their interconnectedness with the environment and its resources. On this episode, we hear from Indigenous leaders working to uplift Native voices and bring generations of environmental wisdom into the fight against climate change. First we hear from Nikki Cooley of the Navajo Nation. As the co-manager of the Cli...
Bringing Fresh, Healthy Food to Food Deserts
August 12, 2022 18:49 - 29 minutes - 26.6 MBToo many people in the U.S., particularly those from communities of color, live in geographic areas that have little to no access to an affordable and adequate supply of healthy and fresh whole foods. Unequal access to quality food has ripple effects across health, performance in school, and ultimately, the ability to generate wealth. On this episode, we learn about how food industry professionals are working to eliminate food deserts across the country. First we hear from entrepren...
Breaking Down Gatekeeping in the World of Publishing
July 06, 2022 21:49 - 26 minutes - 24.7 MBBetween the authors landing 6 figure deals to the editors sourcing new talent: the publishing industry in America is much whiter than the general population. While some progress has been made since the #PublishingPaidMe movement of June 2020, there is still a long way to go to make the publishing industry equitable. On this episode, we learn about how industry insiders are breaking down barriers for aspiring authors of color. First, we hear from published author Khalisa Rae about ho...
Creating a Circular Economy
June 10, 2022 17:50 - 21 minutes - 19.4 MBOn this episode, we’re exploring the potential of the circular economy. First, we hear from Kenyan entrepreneur Nzambi Matee about how she’s tackling the plastic waste problem in Nairobi through Gjenge Makers, her company that creates alternative building products out of the typically disposed of material. Nzambi speaks to the potential for innovative solutions such as affordable housing that come from reframing how we view the waste that we create. Then, host Carla Harris sits down...
Host to Host: A Conversation with Sonari Glinton
May 11, 2022 22:46 - 21 minutes - 19.9 MBOn this special episode, Carla Harris sits down with journalist and fellow Morgan Stanley podcast host Sonari Glinton to discuss their careers, the roles they play in fostering opportunity and their experiences around equity in the economic landscape. https://www.morganstanley.com/what-we-do/inclusive-innovation-and-opportunity Disclaimer text The guest speakers are neither employees nor affiliated with Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC. (“Morgan Stanley”). The views and opinions expr...
Amplifying Asian American Voices
April 14, 2022 22:20 - 28 minutes - 25.7 MBOn this episode, we’re talking about the push for more representation of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in entertainment. First, we hear from musician Charlene Kaye, also known as KAYE, about how the lack of Asian American artists she had to look up to growing up forced her to shy away from her identity. Charlene shares how she is now furthering the conversation through music, and her podcast, Golden Hour. Then, host Carla Harris sits down with Bing Chen, the founder of non-p...
Reducing Recidivism
March 18, 2022 21:21 - 30 minutes - 28.3 MBOn this episode, we’re talking about America’s high rate of recidivism – with nearly 80% of those incarcerated returning to prison after five years – and what can be done to reduce this figure. First, we hear from Marcus Bullock, the founder and CEO of tech company Flikshop, about the obstacles he faced when transitioning back into society after serving an eight-year prison sentence. Marcus applied for 41 jobs before finally finding employment as a paint mixer, opening the door for ...
Buying Black: Reinvesting in Community
March 03, 2022 18:56 - 31 minutes - 28.5 MBMoney circulates nearly an unlimited number of times in white neighborhoods, but only once in African-American communities, according to the Selig Center for Economic Growth. On this episode, we ask: how can we keep the Black dollar circulating in Black communities for longer? First, we hear from Bernard Bronner, President and CEO of Bronner Bros., the Black, family-owned beauty company behind the annual Bronner Bros. Hair Show. After losing their best-selling hair care product ...
Bridging the Digital Divide
February 03, 2022 12:00 - 25 minutes - 23.7 MBAccording to the U.S. Census, roughly one in ten homes in America lack a broadband internet connection, and the city of Brownsville, Texas tops the list of least connected cities in the country. On this episode, we’ll learn from two people on the frontlines in the battle against this digital divide. We hear from Brownsville high school teacher Mayra Delgado. After seeing her students struggle with connectivity, she co-founded a group called What the Fiber to address the problem. ...
William Heard: Diversifying Asset Management
December 31, 2021 18:36 - 14 minutes - 13.5 MBMore than half of asset managers still believe that hiring diverse teams comes at the cost of higher returns, despite data showing otherwise. On this episode, host Carla Harris speaks to Heard Capital founder and CEO William Heard as he shares his journey to become a successful Black hedge fund manager and how he’s paving the way for money managers like himself, with less traditional pedigrees, to achieve their goals in the financial industry. https://www.morganstanley.com/what...
Closing the Adventure Gap
December 20, 2021 21:52 - 20 minutes - 18.7 MBOn this episode, we learn about how one woman is working to foster economic equity in the outdoors and how supporting founders of color will improve the outdoor industry for everyone. We hear from founder Patricia Cameron about her nonprofit, Blackpackers, which aims to address the gap in representation in the outdoors by providing gear, outdoor excursions and outdoor education for free or at a subsidized cost. Then, host Carla Harris sits down with Dan Kihanya, REI’s Director of Co...
The Snowball Effect of Student Debt
November 04, 2021 01:44 - 25 minutes - 23.6 MBAs of 2021, $1.7 million in student loan debt is collectively owed by 45 million borrowers. On this episode, we hear from entrepreneur Farrukh Siddiqui about his company, Defynance, which works with former students to pay off their loans and replace them with income share agreements. Then, host Carla Harris sits down with Betsy Mayotte, the president and founder of The Institute of Student Loan Advisors. Betsy shares her insights on the student debt crisis and discusses how access t...
Building Equity Along the Blockchain
September 30, 2021 20:28 - 29 minutes - 26.6 MBOn this episode, we delve into the world of NFTs, cryptocurrency, and blockchain technology. We hear from artist Lauren Washington, a senior at Northwestern University, who is using non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, to help connect with a new and thriving community of collectors and artists of color. Then, host Carla Harris sits down with Erikan Obotetukudo, founder of the Audacity Fund and founding member of Crypto for Black Economic Empowerment. Erikan shares her insights on the inequ...
Fractional Ownership: From Sneakers to Jets
August 27, 2021 18:58 - 26 minutes - 24.3 MBOn this episode, we learn about alternatives to traditional investments that provides access to new groups of investors. We hear from Gerome Sapp, a former NFL player who conceived of Rares, a platform that makes investment more accessible by allowing his fellow sneakerheads to buy and sell shares in particularly notable and rare sneakers. Host Carla Harris then sits down with Glenn Gonzales, a former Air Force pilot who turned his love for aviation into a business opportunity by fo...
Building Black Generational Wealth
August 06, 2021 23:36 - 27 minutes - 25.4 MBOn this episode, we’re continuing the conversation about the wealth gap through the lens of the Black financial experience. We hear from Eddie Slaughter, a legacy farmer based in Buena Vista, Georgia, who spent thirty plus years fighting the USDA to keep ownership of property that had been in his family for generations. Then, host Carla Harris sits down with Shelley Stewart III, a McKinsey partner who leads the firm’s research on Black economic mobility. We discuss the racial inequi...
Reaching Back to Help the Next Generation
July 16, 2021 20:44 - 27 minutes - 25.2 MBOn this episode, we’re talking about the importance of reaching back to help others on their business journey and how alternative sources of investment can help women of color take their companies to the next level. We hear from Maya Penn, founder and CEO of Maya’s Ideas, a slow fashion brand she started at just eight years old. She shares what she's learned about raising funds as a young, black, female entrepreneur, and the help she’s received along the way. Then, host Carla Harris...
Community First: Building Latinx Wealth
June 11, 2021 13:00 - 30 minutes - 27.7 MBRita Soledad Fernandez Paulino and Beatriz Acevedo on how they work to inspire others in the Latinx community to improve their financial literacy. On this episode, we’re tackling the wealth gap from the perspective of two Latina founders who are flipping the script around finance in their communities. We hear from Rita Soledad Fernandez Paulino, the financial literacy influencer behind Wealth Para Todos, an online community that was born of Soledad’s own journey to become debt free....
Dhani Jones: The Road of Intention
April 09, 2021 18:28 - 32 minutes - 30 MBDhani Jones is currently the Chairman and Co-Founder of Qey Capital Partners, a strategic consultancy firm that helps companies find investments. After an eleven year career in the NFL and starting several ventures of his own, Dhani helped launch the Hillman Accelerator, which focuses on investing in tech companies with women and people of color in leadership roles. In this episode, he explains how his career as an NFL linebacker taught him to be intentional about his entrepreneuria...
Edith Dorsen & Reggie Van Lee: Redefine Your Comfort Zone
March 19, 2021 21:00 - 32 minutes - 29.4 MBEdith Dorsen is the founder and Managing Director of the Womens VC Fund, which focuses on investing in companies with diverse leadership. Joining her is Reggie Van Lee, an early believer and advisor to the Fund, as well as the Chief Transformation Officer of the Carlyle Group. Together they work towards fostering equity in the venture capital industry. In this episode, they discuss the inspiration behind the Fund, the challenges they faced early on to persuade skeptics of the value ...
Andre Iguodala: Pivoting Your Playbook
February 20, 2021 00:47 - 33 minutes - 31.1 MBCarla speaks with investor and three-time NBA champion Andre Iguodala about becoming a venture partner at the Catalyst Fund, which focuses on investing in companies founded by African American, Hispanic and women entrepreneurs. Andre Iguodala, best known as a three-time NBA champion, is now a venture partner at the Catalyst Fund. Iguodala has leveraged his success in the league to build a prominent career investing in the technology sector, and his work with the Catalyst Fund focus...
Chris Lyons: Where Tech Meets Culture
February 05, 2021 16:56 - 34 minutes - 31.2 MBCarla speaks with investor Chris Lyons, head of the Cultural Leadership Fund at Andreesen Horowitz, a fund that connects Black cultural leaders as Limited Partners to new technology companies, and benefiting organizations working for a greater African Americans presence in tech. Chris Lyons is the head of the Cultural Leadership Fund at Andreessen Horowitz, a D.C.-based fund created to connect Black cultural leaders with tech companies while elevating African American creators in ...
Shawn Springs: From Idea to Impact
January 25, 2021 13:00 - 28 minutes - 26.3 MBCarla speaks with entrepreneur and former NFL cornerback Shawn Springs, founder and CEO of Windpact, a company focusing on impact protection across industries, including sports, automotive, and the military applications. Shawn Springs is the founder and CEO of technology company Windpact, a startup focused on something near and dear to him: impact protection. Their technology has applications in industries ranging from sports, to automotive, to the military. In this episode, Shawn ...
Ana Flores: Power Through Community
January 08, 2021 11:00 - 34 minutes - 31.8 MBCarla speaks with media entrepreneur Ana Flores, founder and CEO of #WeAllGrow Latina Network, a community that has elevated the voices and stories of Latinas for the past 10 years. Ana Flores is the creator of the first and largest community of Latina digital influencers, and is among the only 1% of Latina owned companies to ever hit the $1 million revenue mark. In this episode, Ana walks us through her upbringing between El Salvador and Houston, her early career in television, an...
Morgan DeBaun: For Us, By Us
December 17, 2020 16:21 - 35 minutes - 32.2 MBCarla speaks with media entrepreneur Morgan DeBaun, Founder and CEO of Blavity, a voice for Black millennials in the media and marketing landscape, about staying true to your vision as you grow and evolve. Morgan DeBaun is one of the first African-American women to raise over $1 million in venture funding. Now she has raised more than $9 million for her company, Blavity, and its brands reach over 80 million monthly users. In this episode, Morgan takes us through her roots in St. Lo...
Sanjay Sharma: Remixing the Mainstream From the Margins
December 02, 2020 23:58 - 34 minutes - 31.4 MBFrom immigrant kid, with a love of movies, to media entrepreneur, with a deep connection to the hip-hop community, Sanjay Sharma's professional journey has taken him across the American legal, tech and media landscapes. Carla welcomes him, on this first episode of a new season of Access & Opportunity focused on innovators working for equity in the media and entertainment industries. Now the Founder and CEO of Marginal Mediaworks, a media brand that’s all about genre storytelling f...
Remixing the Mainstream From the Margins
December 02, 2020 23:58 - 34 minutes - 31.4 MBFrom immigrant kid, with a love of movies, to media entrepreneur, with a deep connection to the hip-hop community, Sanjay Sharma's professional journey has taken him across the American legal, tech and media landscapes. Carla welcomes him, on this first episode of a new season of Access & Opportunity focused on innovators working for equity in the media and entertainment industries. Now the Founder and CEO of Marginal Mediaworks, a media brand that’s all about genre storytelling f...
Making It In The Margins
December 02, 2020 23:58 - 34 minutes - 31.4 MBFrom immigrant kid, with a love of movies, to media entrepreneur, with a deep connection to the hip-hop community, Sanjay Sharma's professional journey has taken him across the American legal, tech and media landscapes. Carla welcomes him, on this first episode of a new season of Access & Opportunity focused on innovators working for equity in the media and entertainment industries. Now the Founder and CEO of Marginal Mediaworks, a media brand that’s all about genre storytelling f...
Season 7 - Coming soon!
November 19, 2020 17:04 - 1 minute - 1.21 MBWelcome back for Season 7 of Access & Opportunity! We're staying focused on the challenges faced by women and multicultural-led businesses in accessing capital, and the overlooked opportunities they represent for investors. This season we’re speaking to influencers in the sports, media and entertainment fields who've committed to reframing the narrative for women and people of color. Stay tuned for Episode 1, launching December 2nd!
Finding a Voice in Venture
November 07, 2020 02:12 - 43 minutes - 39.8 MBOn this episode of Access & Opportunity, we welcome investor Soraya Darabi. A former serial entrepreneur, Soraya is a founder and General Partner at Trail Mix Ventures, an early-stage investment firm focused on the future of living well. We are also joined by Sarah Sheehan, the co-founder and COO of Bravely, a startup that remotely connects employees with certified coaches. In 2017, Soraya and Trail Mix Ventures invested in Bravely’s seed round and the two organizations have been ...
Articulating Our 'Why'
October 10, 2020 11:00 - 34 minutes - 31.4 MBGuest host Ian Folau turns the tables on Carla and her co-head in the Multicultural Innovation Lab, Alice Vilma, asking why they do the work they do to level the funding landscape for women and multicultural entrepreneurs. Ian brings his perspective as a founder, a graduate of the Multicultural Innovation Lab, and now as a VC, to bear on the work of the lab and the paths that brought Carla and Alice to the work they now do in support of emerging tech-enabled companies.
Deciding on Diversity—and the Bottom Line
September 24, 2020 01:05 - 32 minutes - 29.9 MBCarla speaks with VC Miriam Rivera, founder of Ulu Ventures, and Ritu Narayan, co-founder of Zūm, a new kind of ride service for kids aimed at families and schools. They discuss their journeys and how a consistent model of decision-making can lead to better choices, help level the playing field, and increase entrepreneurial and business diversity.
Building a Fund that Feeds the Soul
September 03, 2020 21:53 - 37 minutes - 34.7 MBOn this episode of Access and Opportunity, we welcome investor Mallun Yen, partner and founder of Operator Collective. Operator Collective is a disruptive new approach to venture capital which brings senior operating leaders from diverse backgrounds together with founders of startup companies. We also hear from one of the leaders of those startup companies, Kieran Snyder, the co-founder and CEO of Textio, an augmenting writing platform that analyzes text to find the patterns that ca...
Opening the Door for a New Set of Angels
August 12, 2020 17:35 - 36 minutes - 33.2 MBOn this episode of Access and Opportunity we welcome investor Natalia Oberti Noguera, founder and CEO of Pipeline Angels. Pipeline is changing the face of angel investing by lowering the barriers to entry and bringing more non-traditional investors into the angel ecosystem, providing capital for more women, non-binary and femme entrepreneurs. Also joining us is the co-founder and CEO of the maternal health startup Mahmee, Melissa Hanna. As the daughter of an obstetrics nurse, Meliss...
Shared Values Help VCs, Founders Stay Agile
July 30, 2020 22:02 - 34 minutes - 32 MBOn this episode of Access and Opportunity, we welcome investor Jesse Draper, founding partner of Halogen Ventures. With Halogen Ventures, Jesse has committed to investing in early stage consumer technology startups that have a woman as a member of the founding team. We also hear from one of those founders, Esther Crawford, the co-founder and CEO of Squad, an online platform that helps connect people all over the world through screen-sharing. Jesse and Esther take us on a journey fro...
Keeping It Black: 'Cultural Competence' Is Key
July 21, 2020 19:05 - 32 minutes - 29.6 MBWelcome to Access and Opportunity, Season 6. This season, we are looking at the relationships behind the deal. We'll be talking to women venture capitalists who are working to change the funding landscape and a founder of one of their portfolio companies. In this episode, we welcome venture capitalist Kesha Cash, who has spent nearly a decade focused on impact investing. Currently, Kesha serves as the Founder and General Partner of Impact America Fund, the largest black-women-led im...
Season 6 Trailer
July 10, 2020 21:15 - 1 minute - 1.52 MBWelcome back for Season 6 of Access & Opportunity! We're staying focused on the challenges faced by women and multicultural-led businesses in accessing capital, and the overlooked opportunities they represent for investors. But this season Carla is looking at the issue through the lens of six successful relationships. In each episode we'll talk, together, with a woman investor who is working to change the funding landscape and the leader of one of her portfolio companies. These r...
Bridging the Gaps: Racial, Social & Economic Justice
June 13, 2020 10:30 - 27 minutes - 25 MBToday communities of color are in pain as they are forced to navigate the confluence of the Covid-19 pandemic and the continued murder of and violence against black lives. Join us for a special episode of Access & Opportunity, as we continue to try to bridge the gap between the social and economic injustices that oppress communities of color. In this new episode we revisit conversations with black entrepreneurs and investors who have shared their playbook points for how to overcom...