Being in Tech is a tough field to navigate through, especially if you’re female and a person of color. Lolita Taub is here to change that, and in the awakening year of 2020, tech is not being left behind in a push for the progression that’s been desired for decades. 

The COVID-19 pandemic took a toll on the economy, and it’s no surprise the globe continues to grapple with the deadly virus by keeping people from work for their safety. 

According to data from market data provider, Pitchbook, the third quarter of the year drew in $434 million of investments from firms with female founders. 

This may at first seem low and as a direct impact of coronavirus, however, when looking at the same reports from other years, venture capital investments are similar.

One of those founders reaping the benefits is Lolita Taub, the co-founder and general partner of The Community Fund, who explained that the investments reflected are just a small improvement showing ethnic representation and women are being backed. 

However, when looking at the small percentage of improvement, Taub said, “single-digit representation is not real progress.” 

“To me, it smells like tokenism,” she said. 

Aside from pushing through barriers in tech, Taub is also an advocate for underrepresented investors and founders’ rights in the same space. 

To be involved in a venture capital space is also no easy task. 

Though her beginning in the field was humble, she’s turned her career into a successful one. 

Taub began working in corporate tech sales, and was later inspired as part of “The F Show” where she interviewed more than 100 female millennial entrepreneurs. 

“[It] really opened my eyes to the lack of dollars going into women and other underrepresented founders and the amount of money [that] was being left on the table on the investor end by not investing. So, I consciously decided I’d biome a VC myself,” Taub wrote in an email to Forbes. 

Taub met her co-founder Jesse Middleton on Twitter, and after contracting a investment team with diverse backgrounds such as education, expertise, ethnicity, gender, among others, they were able to build a large community that is often ignored. 

The Community Fund intends to invest in 100 small female companies over the next three years that are community-driven. 

“We believe companies with the community at the core will become unicorns and produce outsized returns," she said.

Where there is risk, there is also reward. Though not everything is certain, and success is not always prevalent, the benefits are immeasurable. 

“I’m not saying that underrepresented founders and investors won’t fail but I’m optimistic about our ability to produce superior results with our strategy," Taub added. 

As for investing, Taub says founders appreciate investors who not only “can write checks, but are also relatable.” With people in the Latinx community who have visions to amplify voices, the rise we want to see is just around the corner.