Plenary Session: Managing Company Culture Through a Pandemic

This session will provide venture capitalists, corporate leaders, and advisors with the tools to establish and maintain strong culture and values at their own firms and at the portfolio companies they are helping to build. Topics will include:

• Building and maintaining a strong culture within a distributed workforce;
• Boosting employee morale during a time of layoffs and uncertainty;
• Combating racism and fostering diversity and inclusion;
• Managing talent at portfolio companies; and
• Workforce strategies for preserving employee health and safety.

Reading Materials

• Catalyze culture change in the workplace for sustained results. Deloitte.
• Corporate Culture: Evidence from the Field. By J. Graham, J. Grennan, C. Harvey, and S. Rajgopal. June 26, 2019.
• Culture & Business Performance: What’s the Relationship? By Method Frameworks Staff. Boardspan.
• Enhance Your Corporate Culture with Employee Benefits. By Jeffrey Slay. Woodruff-Sawyer. October 7, 2019.
• Founders Forum Workplace Survey.
• How to Grow a Positive Company Culture with a Remote Team. By Miles Burke. 6Q Blog.
• Institutional Investors Must Help Close the Race and Gender Gaps in Venture Capital. By Ilene H. Lang and Reggie Van Lee. Harvard Business Review. August 27, 2020.
• National Venture Capital Association Sample H.R. Policies for Attracting and Retaining Diverse Talent.
• Ready, Set, Activate! Catalyze your culture for sustained results. Deloitte.
• The inclusion imperative for boards. Mike Fucci and Terry Cooper. Deloitte.
• The Time’s Up Guide to Equity and Inclusion During Crisis. Time’s Up Foundation. July 2020.
• What’s Working: Scaling a Mission-Aligned Team at Handshake. True Ventures. June 26, 2018.