COLORADO • MARCH 9, 2021
The 10-tops were draped with dark blue tablecloths. White candles were aglow as centerpieces. Wine glasses clinked and applause filled the air in the ballroom at the Hotel Boulderado as Arron Clark strode across the stage.
Wearing a pink sweater and dark-rimmed glasses and sporting a neatly trimmed beard that faded into an Afro, Clark listened as Boulder’s business elite took a break from their steak dinners to applaud as he accepted the Boulder Chamber’s Startup of the Year award. Equity Solutions, Clark’s nine-month-old company, which offered diversity, equity, and inclusion trainings, had just won one of Colorado’s most prestigious business awards.
But Clark didn’t smile. Instead, the honoree began reading from a sober speech he’d prepared. “The year 2020 will be marked by history as one of the most pivotal times in this generation,” Clark said. “[From] the murders of Breonna Taylor, Rayshard Brooks, George Floyd, and too many others…I truly believe our world will never be the same.”
The room was rapt. Clark took his eyes off his prepared remarks. “I stand here today not for myself,” he said, his voice rising. “I’m merely a figurehead for this time.”
Clark was now speaking extemporaneously, giving the audience a taste of what Brad Feld, the man who’d introduced the award, referred to as Clark’s passion. Feld, one of Colorado’s most powerful and influential businessmen, is a nationally renowned venture capitalist and a co-founder of Techstars, the startup accelerator that birthed such billion-dollar companies as SendGrid, Zipline, and Digital Ocean. “I met Aaron last summer [in 2020],” Feld had said in a video address before Clark took the stage. “Simply put: Aaron is awesome, and his contributions will have a long-lasting, positive impact on our community.”
As Clark neared the end of his speech, he expressed gratitude for fellow Black business owners in Boulder who he said deserved more visibility. “To my wonderful team at Equity Solutions,” Clark said, “I say thank you.”
Applause filled the ballroom once again as Clark exited the stage. But his grace and conviction belied the fact that not all was well at the startup Feld and so many others had lauded. In fact, Equity Solutions would cease to exist within a year. And the team members Clark thanked? Many of them scoffed at the idea that Clark deserved any positive recognition at all.
COLORADO • MAY 2020
Brenda Herrera Moreno had tried to find a way into Colorado’s mostly white tech scene for years, but no matter what she said, she could not get tech companies interested in diversity trainings or equity efforts. After a while, the Denver-based DEI consultant became used to being rebuffed or ignored. Then the Black Lives Matter protests began.
Over 16 consecutive days, thousands of protesters filled downtown Denver and Civic Center Park as part of a nationwide reckoning over racial justice. One group of demonstrators shut down I-25. Others staged a “die-in” beneath the golden dome of the state Capitol. Everyone, it seemed, believed it was time, as a society, to acknowledge systemic racism, and that included addressing diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace.
Almost overnight, companies ranging from small startups to major corporations were posting open letters about their commitments to fighting racism. The messaging came with an unprecedented investment by corporate America in diversity efforts. For individuals such as Herrera Moreno, it was well past time. The then 27-year-old realized the zeitgeist would present a chance to re-approach the tech companies, including those in Boulder, who’d previously waved her off. She wasn’t the only person who recognized 2020 as a generational moment.
That summer, Herrera Moreno began hearing about a Colorado newcomer named Aaron Clark who was popping up all over the local tech ecosystem, including leading equity initiatives for Boulder Startup Week and for entrepreneurship organizations such as Energize Colorado and the Rocky Mountain MicroFinance Institute. Herrera Moreno was surprised that someone outside of Colorado’s small, established circle of DEI consultants was making inroads where others had failed. But when she met Clark, she was impressed. It wasn’t just that Clark paired his apparent convictions with enviable confidence; he
