Ayana Parsons, co-founder of Atlanta’s Fearless Fund, steps down as COO

One of the co-founders of an Atlanta-based venture capital firm that supports Black women founders has stepped down from the organization amid litigation from a conservative group alleging racial discrimination.

Ayana Parsons, who co-founded Fearless Fund in 2019 with Arian Simone and Keisha Knight Pulliam, served as the fund’s chief operating officer. In an exclusive interview, Parsons told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Monday she stepped down from the position in April.

Parsons said the federal lawsuit against Fearless was not part of her reasoning in leaving the firm, but she did not give details on why she left. Fearless Fund is one of a number of organizations, from huge corporations to law firms, that have had corporate diversity programs challenged by conservative groups since the U.S. Supreme Court shot down affirmative action in college admissions.

Parsons said that she would continue in pushing back against efforts to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in corporate America.

“I have stepped back from the operations of the fund, so I’m not in the day-to-day, I’m not running it,” she said. “But what I can tell you as it relates to me, is I’m a problem solver. I’m a changemaker. And so, I am pulling together people to talk about innovative and creative ways that we can continue to drive change and do it in multiple areas.”

Credit: Special

Credit: Special

Parsons was a general partner for the firm’s first fund, which invested about $26 million into dozens of companies. While she is no longer part of the operations of the firm, she is still a co-founder and investor. Fearless Fund did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Parsons’ departure.

Last August, the conservative American Alliance for Equal Rights sued the Fearless Fund and its nonprofit Fearless Foundation over a grant program the foundation administered for Black small businesswomen. The Alliance alleged the group’s $20,000 grants were racially discriminatory because the funds were only for Black women.

But Fearless said the grants are charitable donations and that type of giving is protected under the First Amendment.

Both sides have traded legal losses and victories. Most recently, in June, a three-judge Eleventh Circuit Court appeals panel ruled against Fearless and issued a preliminary injunction against the grant program, saying the program causes irreparable harm.

On Monday, during a business summit in Atlanta held by ForbesBLK, Parsons encouraged the audience to stay the course in the wake of the court ruling.

“For all of you, when you see what has happened to the Fearless Fund and many other organizations, my message is do not be discouraged, lean in,” she told the audience Monday,

Parsons also said she initially wanted to stay in the background of Fearless Fund’s work, but the lawsuit changed that.

Credit: Ben Gray

Credit: Ben Gray

Alongside Fearless, Parsons also co-founded a management consulting firm with her husband in 2012, Yardstick Management, that they sold in January 2023. She plans to take the lessons she’s learned over 30 years in corporate America to help the next generation of Black executives.

“If I can use this next chapter in my journey to pour into more people, to coach, develop, mentor — whether it’s entrepreneurs, investors, corporate executives — that’s what I want to do,” she said.

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