×

Stay up to Date

Thoughts and leadership game changers from Merge Lane
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
Mergelane Blog

Broadening the On-ramp for Women-run Companies

A Lesson in Leveraging My VC Network for Good | COVID-19 in Vail, Colorado

As a VC, I have the opportunity to build relationships with people who have tremendous financial resources and connections. I often hesitate to ask my network to support philanthropic causes, because I want to respect our business relationship. After seeing the devastating impact of COVID-19 on our community in Vail, Colorado, however, I decided it was time to ask.

I invited four Vail nonprofits to present to my network. I’m sharing the recording of the event in hopes that it will inspire others to leverage their connections for good. I organized this event prior to George Floyd’s death, but I think this idea can easily be translated to support efforts to achieve racial equality. I am thinking about how I might implement that myself and welcome any of your ideas or opportunities for collaboration.

The presenting organizations are below.

Eagle Valley Community Foundation (link to donate)
Eagle Valley Behavioral Health (link to donate)
The Vail Valley Foundation COVID-19 Community Response Fund (link to donate)
Walking Mountains (link to donate)

I learned far more than I expected from this presentation. Here are just five of my takeaways:

  1. Vail Valley unemployment has surged from 2% in January to over 30%.
  2. Unemployment checks will be reduced by $600 on June 26.
  3. Eagle County has seen more suicides in the past seven weeks than COVID-19 deaths.
  4. Feeding America has estimated that 8,000 of our 50,000 local residents were food insecure prior to COVID-19 and the explosion in unemployment. Based on experience at the food bank, the Eagle Valley Community Foundation believes the number of food insecure is now over 15,000 of our 50,000 neighbors.  
  5. The Eagle Valley Community Foundation food banks and pantries served over 4,000 people last week. This is almost a 300% increase over demand for food before the pandemic, and the number seeking assistance is increasing each week. The food served is also now often the primary source of family meals, rather than a supplemental source of meals. 

Despite these dire statistics, I also heard many signs of hope in the presentation. You can hear more in the podcast episode. 

Thanks for listening.



Related Posts

Fighting the Urge to Ask for and Give Advice

The “Magic Genie Fallacy” phenomenon, in which people start to believe that they need someone else’s magic advice to propel themselves forward, can be counterproductive to both the lamp seeker and the lamp possessor.

Read more ➞

Kindly Candid Feedback | Success with a Simple Text

I would like to publicly thank my mom for sending a cool and collected text message after her recent accident. That simple message gave me hope that offering kindly candid feedback can, in fact, improve relationships, including the one I have with my mom.

Read more ➞

Committing to Discomfort to Achieve Growth

Some of my biggest accomplishments and happiest moments have stemmed from a feeling of discomfort. I am going to publicly commit to staying out of my comfort zone for at least six weeks.

Read more ➞

Welcoming “Ridiculous” Goals | Executive Coaching While Powder Skiing

I allowed myself to include all of my “ridiculous” wants and aspirations on my list of 2023 goals, one of which was “finding a coach and co-collaborator who would agree to hold meetings from the chairlift.” Believe it or not, I was actually able to manifest that.

Read more ➞

Stay up to date!

Sign up to receive updates on everything we are up to, including future events and the latest news.

Thank you! Your submission has been received!

Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form