Freada Kapor Klein
Partner

Freada Kapor Klein is an entrepreneur, activist, and pioneer in the field of organizational culture who is on a mission to make the tech industry more diverse and inclusive.

As co-founder of Kapor Capital and the Kapor Center, Freada invests in seed-stage tech startups that work to close gaps of access, opportunity, or outcomes for low-income communities and communities of color. Marrying economic value and positive social impact, her investment approach centers pragmatic solutions and often bolsters founders who draw their mission from lived experience. She is the founder of SMASH, now entering its second decade of existence, which provides rigorous STEM education and access to social capital for low-income high school students of color on university campuses across the country.

As personal computing began to emerge as an industry, Freada served as the first head of Employee Relations, Organizational Development, and Management Training at Lotus Development Corporation, the company recognized for developing the spreadsheet application that made the personal computer ubiquitous in the business world in the 1980s. In 1976, she co-founded the Alliance Against Sexual Coercion, the first organization in the U.S. to address sexual harassment. She holds a Ph.D. in Social Policy and Research from the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University and has conducted numerous large survey projects on perceptions and experiences of bias, harassment, and disrespectful treatment in workplaces.

Freada is a member of the Obama Foundation Tech Policy Council, the U.C. Berkeley Board of Visitors, and the council that formed the Hollywood Commission chaired by Anita Hill. She serves on the advisory boards of Twilio.org, Generation Investment Management, and Trident American Dreams Fund. In 2019, she joined 10 foundations to establish the nation’s first philanthropic fund to support women of color who are leading the fight against sexual harassment and violence. Freada is also the author of Giving Notice, which details the human and financial cost of hidden bias in the workplace.