Good morning, Broadsheet readers! More women than ever are running for Congress, what happens when a reopening war room is entirely male, and a startup CEO explains how she raised a Series A from home. Have a wonderful weekend.
– Fundraising from home. Working from home is difficult enough, but fundraising from home is another level–especially with six kids.
Maria Colacurcio would know.
The Seattle-based CEO of pay equity software platform Syndio had been courting Silicon Valley investors when the coronavirus crisis brought her travel to a halt. She persisted from her table at home, as her husband took the reins on homeschool and childcare for their kids, ages 2 to 13.
Today, Emma has the scoop on the $7.5 million Series A round Colacurcio secured from that unique setting; it’s led by Voyager Capital and the Emerson Collective, the organization that does a mix of nonprofit and for-profit work on behalf of Laurene Powell Jobs.
Colacurcio says she relished sharing “the win of that moment” with her family after they’d also witnessed first-hand the stress of the fundraising process.
Syndio’s platform—used by the likes of Adobe, Match Group, Nordstrom, Slack and Target— allows companies to perform real-time analyses of employee compensation, catching discrepancies and creating what-if scenarios that model how those gaps change with every hire, promotion, or layoff. In the current era, its use has extended beyond a tool to evaluate pay for current employees, as Emma explains.
Colacurcio says two factors helped her cut through the coronavirus chaos to secure the round: First, employers’ fear of facing litigation (an evergreen motivator, if ever there was one!). And second, “More progressive thinkers want to look back and be able to say they kept fairness in mind. Progressive leaders are focused on legacy: ‘How will I be judged post-COVID? Did I allow fairness to take a backseat?'”
That final question should be a constant for any leader—pandemic or not.
Read Emma’s story on Syndio’s round here.
Claire Zillman
[email protected]
@clairezillman
Today’s Broadsheet was produced by Emma Hinchliffe.
ALSO IN THE HEADLINES
- GO(P) for it. We reached a milestone last week: more women than ever filed to run for Congress in 2020. Yep, even more than record-setting 2018. One reason? Republican women are starting to catch up to their Democratic counterparts by seeking elected office in greater numbers. The Lily
- Story of Stacey. Exactly how did Stacey Abrams become such a major player in national politics so quickly? This piece examines her rise: Washington Post
- Women missing from the war room. Women leaders in Northern Ireland and Scotland have objected to U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson's re-opening plan—and to the fact that the plan was developed without input from women. Downing Street's "war cabinet quad" is all-male, with members "hand-picked for [their] loyalty to the PM." Telegraph
MOVERS AND SHAKERS: Bed, Bath & Beyond hired L Brands chief digital marketing officer Cindy Davis as chief brand officer and president of Decorist. The Railway Association of Canada elected Fiona Murray, vice president of public and government affairs at CN, as its first female board chair.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
- Reviewing the review. In March, 26-year-old emergency medical technician Breonna Taylor was killed by police in her own home in Louisville. She was not a target of the drug raid. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear called on prosectors to review the police investigation into the shooting. New York Times
- Senate scrutiny. Richard Burr and Kelly Loeffler were the first two senators to come under scrutiny for stock trades made after coronavirus briefings. Now the FBI has obtained a search warrant and seized Burr's cell phone as it investigates his conduct; a spokesperson for Loeffler says she has not been contacted by federal law enforcement. Sen. Diane Feinstein has also been questioned over her husband's financial transactions in the same time period. Washington Post
- Period power! New York City schools have been required since 2016 to provide menstrual products to students. With schools shut down, students who relied on school for pads and tampons no longer have access. Two Queens high-school juniors, Nicole Soret and Mya Abdelwahab, identified the problem and convinced the city to hand out period products at the meal hubs that are already distributing food to students. The City
ON MY RADAR
After days of no new coronavirus cases, New Zealand reopens most businesses NPR
Are all these female-founder takedowns fair? The Helm
Can the women and girls of a small Texas town take back the purity movement? Vogue
PARTING WORDS
"We want gender balance to be the norm now rather than a revolution to fight later."
-European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde on mandating that half of new and open positions at the bank be filled by women
