Benjamin Vann and Matthew Randazzo: Co-creators of Equitable Entrepreneurship
Several uncomfortable truths persist in the American investment industry: Social networks are segregated by race and gender. Prestigious education is limited to those with access. Unconscious bias affects investor decisions. And tech, venture capitalism, and entrepreneurship are not duly represented by women and people of color. Two Dallas philanthropists are on a mission to move the needle with a simple concept: equitable entrepreneurship. The Dallas Foundation Pegasus Prize, a $50,000 grant awarded to Impact Ventures in December, will advance Impact Ventures’ efforts to provide tangible, risk capital for entrepreneurs.
Plano Conservancy for Historic Preservation: Preserving Plano’s Rich History
As the Plano Conservancy for Historic Preservation celebrates it 20th anniversary in 2021, Jeff Campbell’s job is keeping a rich history alive. Plano’s historic downtown was once a bustling crossroads for the cotton industry and about a dozen pioneer cemeteries, dating back to the 19th century, dot the city in small plots tucked inside neighborhoods and behind apartment buildings. The Interurban Railway Museum was originally a station for the Texas Electric Railway, which carried passengers from Denison, Plano, Dallas, Waco and points in between from 1908 until 1948. The museum has been closed much of the past year, due to the pandemic, but pre-COVID, the Conservancy hosted annual events like the Tombstone Mysteries, a community workday to clean and restore tombstones in historic cemeteries.