b'FINANCE & INVESTMENT Step OneThe LGBTQ+ community faces discrimination in the halls of high financebut change is coming Christiane WherryBy Andrew BrooksT he representation of the LGBTQ+corporations and the LGBTQ+ communityNaoufel Testaounicommunity in business leadershipas these people have left or been fired has made great strides in recentbecause of who they are, Testaouni says. years. According to a recent studySo when you look at the venture capital by Deloitte LLP in collaboration withand finance industries, theyre veryspecializes in gathering diversity-related Canadas Gay and Lesbian Chamber ofmacho dominated, and I think a lot ofdata. The report included data on the Commerce (CGLCC) there could be asqueer people have just not looked at theirrepresentation of LGBTQ+ partners in the many as 100,355 LGBTQ+ owned, options in that world. Canadian venture capital industry. Among operated and controlledthose who were surveyed, 10.3 per companies in Canada. cent identified as LGBTQ+, which But the same study, Businessis a 20 per cent higher degree Survey Summary & Analysis,of LGBTQ+ representation than published in May 2021, alsothe 8.5 per cent of the Canadian found that the single greatestfinancial sector overall. challenge among LGBTQ+-ownedInterestinglyalbeit notbusinesses is getting accesstoo surprisinglya furtherto financing. Fully one-fifth10 per cent chose not to disclose of LGBTQ+ business ownerstheir sexual orientation. As identified access to financing asthe report noted, this suggests their biggest hurdle. While itsa persistently strong level of risky to endorse stereotypes, itdiscomfort about being out in seems from anecdotal evidencethe Canadian venture capital that the persistence of the toxicworkplace. On the plus side, it masculinity that has become all tooalso suggests that the real level of familiar in fictionalized portrayalsLGBTQ+ representation in that of the venture capital industryworkplace is substantially higher continues to play a real-world roleSource: CVCA/Diversio, State of Diversity & Inclusion, Nov. 2021 than the 10.3 per cent who were in shutting LGBTQ+ business owners outWhile the Deloitte/CGLCC studycomfortable disclosing theirwhen they seek investment. produced hard evidence that anti-LGBTQ+sexual orientation. We are historically a communitydiscrimination is a real problem when itFor Christiane Wherry, CVCAs vice that has faced discrimination, sayscomes to securing venture financing, datapresident, research and product and head Naoufel Testaouni, co-founder and CEOcollection on the challenge and its possibleof D&I, that battle for representation of QueerTech, a group dedicating toremedies is still in the early stages. As thisis step one. With more [LGBTQ+] queering the tech ecosystem. Testaouniwent to press, QueerTech was about toinvestors in the system, they feel believes that many members of therelease its own study on the tech industry,comfortable, they feel safe, they can be LGBTQ+ community have in effect beentrue to themselves, she says. The next compelled to strike out on their own asincluding gaps and challenges in thestep would be trickling down investment entrepreneurs because discriminationfinancing funnel.decisions to also emphasize the has closed off more conventional careerMeanwhile, at the end of last yeardiversity of the groups that are receiving options at existing organizations. the Canadian Venture Capital & Privateinvestment. But its a gradual change, and Thats not the only downside.Equity Association (CVCA) released itsit starts from having more representation Theres also a lack of trust betweenState of Diversity & Inclusion 2021 report,and having more investors able to be true venture capital, industry associations,co-published with Diversio, a firm thatto who they are.Issue 1 2022 | QBiz CANADA |15'