It seems like a straight-forward question: “As an entrepreneur, if I experience harassment or discrimination, where do I report it and how will I be protected?” Emotional safety is something we value highly at Bee Partners. How can Founders, who risk so much already, possibly function without it? Yet so many cannot be certain they won’t be harassed and excluded. These include women, people of color, the differently-abled, immigrants, and many other groups who are structurally and culturally vulnerable for reasons beyond their control.

How can we help answer this question and increase safety? These concerns have been on our minds for years and, over time, we have refined and augmented our policies to increase safety and comfort for all Founders. We don’t just do this because we think it’s morally right. We’ve also learned that workplaces with articulated and enforced D&I policies from their earliest stages have stable professional environments and grow into healthier, often more profitable companies.

We were already providing D&I language during our regular onboarding sessions with our Founders and to our co-investors, and modifying our term sheet with a D&I section to endorse unbiased hiring practices when we learned about the #MovingForward initiative through Haas connections. #MovingForward has given us the opportunity to publicly declare our values and policies and join with other venture firms with whom we share them.

We encourage you to share the #MovingForward directory and refer to it whether you seek funding or manage investment. It demonstrates the commitment of some of the most renowned names in venture capital to deal fairly with the most important people in our ecosystem: Founders.