HopSkipDrive VP of Strategic Development Qiana Patterson to chair PledgeLA
Written by Aylin Cook
We’re excited to announce that HopSkipDrive VP of Strategic Development Qiana Patterson will chair PledgeLA, a collective of LA-based tech companies and venture capital firms working to build a tech sector that reflects the racial and gender diversity of Los Angeles. Qiana will oversee PledgeLA various initiatives.
Composed of hundreds of venture capital and tech leaders, PledgeLA works to increase equity, community engagement, and accountability around corporate diversity efforts, PledgeLA’s efforts include a Fund for South LA Founders, which awards Black and Latinx-led businesses non-equity grants, mentorship and training. The organization also releases an annual report measuring the progress of Los Angeles’s tech companies towards increasing diversity, equity and community engagement. The organization was founded in conjunction with Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s office, as well as the Annenberg Foundation.
PledgeLA’s Advisory Committee “were impressed by Ms. Patterson’s experience in both the tech startup and investor realms, along with the depth of her community involvement.”
Patterson’s experience in the field of diversity and inclusion run deep: she serves as a mentor for Techstars Los Angeles, a member of The Fund VC, and was an advisor in the process that helped found PledgeLA itself two years ago.
In addition, she was a ProBono consultant for the Taproot Foundation, Volunteer for the Girl’s Club of Los Angeles, and is currently a Los Angeles Ambassador Board Member for Friends of the Children and Vice Chairman of the Board at the Los Feliz Charter School for the Arts.
Patterson started her career in education, working in vulnerable communities and with students with special needs. She received her B.A. from University of Washington, her teaching credential from University of California, Los Angeles and an MBA from University of Southern California.
We are incredibly proud to have Qiana Patterson on the HopSkipDrive team and see her diversity and inclusion work in the community.
