Back to BlogRecently, Jerry Nemorin achieved a unique milestone. He was an honored guest of President Barack Obama at the White House.
Nemorin is the founder and CEO of LendStreet, one of nine companies in Financial Solutions Lab’s first class of innovators. On August 4th, he was one of more than 90 entrepreneurs invited to the White House’s first-ever Demo Day, designed to spur more inclusive entrepreneurship by showcasing startup founders from diverse backgrounds.
Speaking of his own experience as a minority business founder, Nemorin said, “While the road may be tougher for minority entrepreneurs, it is imperative that we are part of the ecosystem. We have to leverage our unique insights to solve problems that may not be apparent to others; that’s truly the only way to ensure that technology and the solutions being developed are inclusive.”
Only 1% of venture capital-backed startups are led by African Americans, and about 3% are led by women, Obama said. To remedy the problem, Obama announced new public and private-sector commitments promising to support women and minority entrepreneurship.
Nemorin believes that with increased diversity in fintech, consumers will ultimately have access to more products that solve real problems for those who need it most.
Obama’s public commitment to diversity in entrepreneurship appears to be having initial success. Many technology companies and venture capital firms announced a range of commitments to improve diversity in the industry.
More about these initiatives can be found on a fact sheet released by the White House.
“Being invited to the White House and seeing many other entrepreneurs of color was encouraging and inspiring,” Nemorin said. “For an immigrant from Haiti, spending the day at the White House and being an honored entrepreneur at President Obama’s first-ever Demo Day was a personal achievement and an experience I will remember forever.”
Keep up with the latest!
Stay engaged with the fintech community. Join the Financial Solutions Lab email list and get regular access to the latest insights in innovation and be among the first to learn about the next challenge!
Subscribe here