When the hashtag #metoo re-trended in 2017, it exposed and expelled numerous powerful business titans, media moguls, and politicians for harmful behavior. Hearing these reports gave us hope for meaningful change.
Two years later, though, we’ve entered a new phase: the contrition tour. Harassers and cheaters are resurfacing in an attempt to continue where they left off. Friends begin talking about John Lasseter’s positive contributions, how Matt Lauer is one of the “good guys,” and, just last month, why Al Franken shouldn’t have resigned.
We know from 13 years of the #metoo movement that harassment and discrimination are related parts of the systemic, long-time problems of multiple biases and power imbalances. But it’s obvious to anyone, especially in tech, that we haven’t done the work to fix the problems. How do we know?
Because the public still doesn’t feel supported or empowered enough to tell their stories—even now, in the era of a visible, vocal #metoo community; we haven’t heard the worst stories about the tight-knit, powerful boys’ club, so we don’t know the full extent of harm.
Ellen Pao (@ekp) is an Ideas contributor at WIRED. She is founding CEO of Project Include and author of Reset: My Fight for Inclusion and Lasting Change. Previously Pao was CEO of Reddit.
Because we are still spending time trying to redeem the harm-doers instead of figuring out and fixing the problems.
Because the numbers on harassment in tech are damning: 78 percent of female founders funded by First Round Capital in 2017 and 60 percent of all founders in 2018 said they or someone they know has personally experienced sexual harassment in the workplace. In a survey of women Y Combinator founders, 22 percent said they had been sexually harassed during their startup career. In a Project Include survey of nearly 2,000 startup employees, a third said they had seen or experienced inappropriate office behavior–and less than 3 percent were comfortable reporting it.
Because the numbers on VC’s demographics are just as disappointing. As a former partner at a Silicon Valley venture capital firm, I know this all too well. According to research by Richard Kerby in 2018, 82 percent of venture capitalists are male and 70 percent are white. That same year, AllRaise reported that about 71 percent of US VC firms have no women partners, and women have only 9.5 percent of VC leadership roles.
Because VC’s efforts to reform—after investors were outed for abusing their power over founders—are foot-dragging, bare-minimum motions. In March 2018, a group of women started the #MovingForward nonprofit to protect founders through explicit external “codes of conduct” instead of relying on VCs’ personal integrity. They pushed for formal VC policies that set boundaries around founder-investor interactions to prevent harassment and discrimination. Many firms scrambled to create and promote policies. Sequoia Capital only shared a physical copy with #MovingForward, which had to be read in their offices with no note-taking. This is the same firm where a partner resigned in 2016 after a woman sued him for sexual and physical abuse. (The suit and a countersuit are ongoing and do not describe workplace conduct.) Accel and Benchmark Capital would not share theirs but got credit from #MovingForward for having them. I doubt anyone harassed by a Sequoia partner is going to their office to read a copy. And what use are Accel’s and Benchmark’s policies that no one can see? VC firms need to think about how these policies do nothing to protect founders from harm.
It’s so tempting to focus on forgiving the harasser, accepting tepid excuses and apologies, highlighting positive contributions, and just call it a day. But it’s obvious we have to reframe our perspective: Let’s focus on the community harmed, the nature of the harm, and what’s best for everyone, not just for the powerful, protected few—even if that involves a lot more work.
This reframing shows us the work we need to do:
Work to make space for people to come forward by making it easier and safer to report harm. That means better reporting processes, increased protections against retaliation, external transparency, and CEO accountability. And just ban NDAs already.
Work to hold people accountable by making it easier to litigate harassment, discrimination, and retaliation: End forced arbitration; it too often favors companies and hides problems. Extend the time to sue beyond the standard 180 days allowed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission; for comparison, most civil actions allow two to three years to sue. And account for the cumulative impact of intersectional bias.
Work to push companies and VC firms to prevent harm proactively instead of reacting only after bad press, litigation, or public shaming on social media. They should hold themselves to codes of conduct and establish reporting contacts to prevent harassment and discrimination. Thanks to #MovingForward, over 135 firms in 20 countries have shared theirs; the hope is that all firms will formulate ones they are comfortable enough with to share publicly. Clearly state that harassing or discriminating against founders or employees is not allowed and will be punished. Reported or discovered violations—and remedies—should be aggregated and shared publicly at least once a year. They should report standard, real metrics on employee and founder demographics. Then people considering employment, an investment, or partnership with a specific firm would know what they are in for and can make informed decisions.
As individuals, we can stop amplifying and centering on abusers. When they come on social media and show up in the news via their crisis PR teams, all of us (including journalists) should turn our focus on their communities to remind ourselves of the harm they’ve caused and the work still needed to fix it. Companies and CEOs should fund events that bring people together instead of using alcohol and ski trips as crutches for inclusive culture. Investors and tech leaders should invest time and money in diversity and inclusion efforts and companies that provide safety and prevent harm instead of in the new startups and firms that bad actors are founding.
