On June 18th 2022, Insight Partners hosted a digital event to commemorate Juneteenth. At Insight, we recognize our broad reach across the software ecosystem and responsibility to have a voice and make an impact in building equitable teams.
This year’s event highlighted three phenomenal professionals across the venture capital, entrepreneur, and operator space. Moderated by Bradford Jones, Investor at Insight Partners – Mckeever Conwell, Daniel Taylor and Rachel Bonds share their journeys, the work they’re doing to build a more inclusive ecosystem and the impact they hope to have in their careers.
Speaker Bios:
Daniel Taylor
Co-Founder and CEO of AMP
Daniel Taylor is the Co-Founder and CEO of AMP, the growth financing marketplace helping diverse owned small businesses find capital. The platform leverages data to increase loan origination and approval rates for underrepresented entrepreneurs, unlocking trillions in economic potential. Prior to AMP, Daniel co-founded AskTipster, a social data startup that was acquired by Flowcode in 2019, and Only4stars, a global sports marketing and events agency. Daniel is a Stanford StartX alumni, former professional soccer player, and Brown University graduate. Daniel sits on the board of the Technology and Innovation Council of the Guggenheim Museum and is the co-founder of the Alumni Careers Committee, which helps diverse college students from low income backgrounds find internships.
McKeever Conwell
Managing Partner at RareBreed Ventures
McKeever “Mac” Conwell II is a software engineer by trade and was a former DOD contractor with a top-secret clearance. He was a two-time founder with an exit and a failure. Next Mac moved on to the venture capital world via the Maryland Technology Development Corporation as part of their Seed Investment Team. During his four years there, Mac amassed experience leading an initiative to create the Minority Business Pre-seed Fund, the first and only, at the time, state-backed pre-seed fund for women and minorities in the country. The program institutionalized the friends and family round for black-, women-, and minority-led startups and was subsequently funded long-term by the state of Maryland. In September 2020, Mac founded RareBreed VC, a pre-seed fund that invests in exceptional founders outside of large tech ecosystems.
Rachel Bonds
VP of DE&I Partnerships and Programming, Talent Center of Excellence at Insight Parnters
Prior to Insight, Rachel spent more than five and a half years at Google, where she recruited for sales and strategy roles, and led diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives for the global recruiting division. Her most recent work included launching a global program management office (PMO) that reimagined hiring through the lens of racial equity; building diversity, equity and inclusion metrics into performance assessments for a 3,000+ member org; and leading an immersive professional development program for computer science faculty who serve historically underrepresented students in the tech industry. She also brings experience in strategy, talent and operations across the nonprofit and public affairs sectors, including her role as Chief of Staff for Teach For America in Washington, DC.
Bradford Jones – Moderator
Investment Associate, Insight Partners
Bradford joined Insight as a summer intern in 2018. He focuses on vertical and horizontal application software and is responsible for sourcing, evaluating, executing transactions, and assisting in portfolio management post-close. He graduated from the University of Michigan, where he competed in 2 NCAA varsity sports (Football and Swimming), received the Academic All-Big Ten Award and Big Ten Distinguished Scholar Award, and was the Interdisciplinary Studies College of Literature, Science, & Arts Commencement Speaker.
