GROW
THRIVE
WHO WE ARE.
Uncommon Impact Studio is a strategy & investment firm purpose-built to dismantle structural barriers to economic freedom. Founded on the truth that we are all given to grow, we leverage our deep expertise, lived experiences and extensive networks to offer a wide range of services and investment opportunities that meet underrepresented visionaries and bold ideas where they are with what they most need. Collectively, we transform ideas into lasting value that scales and give rise to a society where all can thrive.
Booker T. Washington
“Excellence is doing a common thing in an uncommon way”
Our Vision
Create wealth equity with uncommon excellence
Our Mission
Unlock the $35 trillion lost to economic exclusion by addressing the root causes of wealth and wage gaps with solutions that integrate responsible technology, culture, and community
WHAT WE DO.
At Uncommon Impact, we work in service of underrepresented entrepreneurs and bold ideas—in any size organization—aligned with our matrixed theory of change.
TO CHANGE TOMORROW, WE HAVE TO FIX YESTERDAY
That’s why Uncommon Impact Studio is dedicated to dismantling four structural barriers to wealth equity. To do so, we work with clients and portfolio companies in five core areas.
WE KNOW MONEY ISN’T ENOUGH
No business, no matter how great its team or how innovative its product, has ever survived on funds alone, so we founded Uncommon Impact on the idea that there exist five forms of capital, each of which are essential—and the monetary kind is only one.
We’re built to deliver on all five.
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The relational capital that connects you with the people and institutions on which your business will depend
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The experiential capital it takes to anticipate the unexpected and overcome it intelligently
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The intellectual capital necessary to build a sophisticated organization and solve complex problems
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The social capital required to establish positive, constructive relationships with communities—both locally and globally
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The financial capital infusion uncommon entrepreneurs deserve, but are so often denied. But the truth is, no business, no matter how great its team or how innovative its product, has ever survived on funds alone. Success depends on all five.
WE CALL THIS CAPITAL 5.0, AND IT IGNORES THE RULES
We’ve taken apart the traditional models and reassembled Uncommon Impact from the ground up to provide what is useful and substantial, ensuring we are able to jointly craft the right solution to bring a vision to life, not what a conventional consultant or investor thinks you need.
WE’VE BEEN THERE.
SO WE BUILT WHAT WE KNOW YOU NEED.
Each of us have experienced the obstacles that so often stand in the way for our clients & portfolio companies. Whether due to our skin, our gender, our cultural background, or the language we speak—and, in some cases, all of the above—we bring a visceral understanding of these challenges to the table.
We know what success takes, and where traditional models fail, so across all five forms of capital, we’ve developed a range of offerings designed with care to address the common barriers underrepresented visionaries face.
HOW WE DO IT.
STRUCTURAL PROBLEMS
CAN’T BE FIXED
ON THE SURFACE
TO CREATE WEALTH EQUITY
WE MUST FIRST UNEARTH
THE ROOTS
UNCOMMON IMPACT STARTS WITH
UNCOMMON CURIOSITY
While our lived experiences and combined successes are extensive, we approach each project with uncommon curiosity. In other words, we don’t rely on playbooks and frameworks just because they may have worked in the past, but rather interrogate the status quo, seek out root causes, and craft new ideas before our collective work begins.
WE’RE BUILT
DIFFERENTLY.
Highly Networked.
WE’VE BEEN AROUND THE BLOCK.
OUR NETWORKS SHOW IT.
To deliver on this idea, we are both deliberately small and highly networked, tapping into deep pools of motivated talent reflecting the full range of diversity, a wide range of subject matter expertise, and authentic, contextual input from which we create catalytic ecosytems built from the voices that matter.
AND THIS ALLOWS US
TO BLUR THE LINES
We easily flex between strategic advisor, execution team, incubator and an investment firm, with extensive resources, support, and an ongoing relationship with every client and company.
FLEXIBLE AND EXTENSIBLE
DESIGNED AND BUILT FOR YOU
OUR FOUR STEP PROCESS—WHETHER SEQUENTIAL OR A LA CARTE—UNCOVERS ROOT CAUSES & CREATES NOVEL SOLUTIONS
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Ideate
novel ideas for both tactical and strategic opportunities and challenges
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Situate
solutions in the societal landscape with Restorative AI innovations
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Create
catalytic coalitions to enable and enact transformative execution
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Elevate
stories that showcase the impact of values-driven solutions and accelerate change for all
In other words, we don’t sit on the sidelines, offer tired advice, or keep to a transactional relationship, but rather work in radical partnership to collectively nurture a vision into reality.
RADICAL PARTNERSHIP
OUR MODEL IS DESIGNED TO SUPPORT YOU IN EVERY SENSE
We tirelessly take on present, tactical, and strategic business problems for which we unlock new approaches, craft solutions & programs, and build execution plans with trust, authenticity, and inclusion by design.
Whether we’re co-creating with you or helping you to maximize an opportunity, we’re collectively bringing transformative solutions to life.
COLLECTIVELY NURTURES
WE DON’T JUST STRATEGIZE FOR YOU, WE CREATE
THE CONDITIONS FOR TRANSFORMATION WITH YOU
The unique combination of our deliberately small, highly networked structure, our lived experiences and myriad areas of expertise, and the range of offerings we’ve developed allow us to meet you where you are with what you most need. Adding the most important ingredient—YOU—is how we collectively kindle uncommon impact.
VISIONS INTO REALITY
LIQUIDITY EVENTS & FLASHY PR ALONE DON’T IMPRESS US
WE’RE IN IT FOR THE UNCOMMON IMPACT
We live by our values, choosing clients & investments with shared goals, and with as much deliberate care as you choose us. And because we work exclusively with visionaries we’re confident have what it takes, we’re with you for the long haul, building companies and creating programs that yield lasting, equitable, and—yes—profitable value. For all.
WHY WE DO IT.
THE UNCOMMON FUTURE IS NOW
WE’RE PASSIONATE ABOUT ENSURING IT WORKS FOR ALL OF US
We know there’s no pipeline problem—every community has its share of geniuses, builders, and problem solvers. Visionaries in every sense of the term, ignored and underestimated for far too long.
SO WE’RE BUILDING A FUNNEL
WITH THE WIDEST POSSIBLE OPENING
The best companies expand industries, and sometimes create entirely new ones.
They inspire generations of students to learn emerging skills, with the sudden explosion of fields like data science & machine learning in recent years especially inspiring examples. And any successful business has its own ripple effects: stronger community living standards, new ecosystems of partners and vendors, new supply chains, and so on.
But today’s models of enabling & investing in ideas that could reach these heights are notoriously homogeneous and transactional.
A community still dominated by white, male decisionmakers–kept so through the popular rationalization referred to as the “pipeline problem”–far too often rely on a shotgun approach in which the one-in-a-thousand unicorn subsidizes 999 misfires. This isn’t simply regressive, it's tragically inefficient.
THE RESULT?
Entire populations have been barred at the gate, with ripple effects that reach from generations of historically excluded founders and groundbreaking ideas, to the communities of workers, consumers, and contributors they represent–from neighborhoods to nations.
Numbers like these are simply too big to truly comprehend, but they paint a clear picture nonetheless: whether you care about justice, the stability of the future, or simply harnessing the next historic opportunity, we have everything to gain by putting trust, equity, inclusion, and belonging first.
NOW
Because here’s the truth:
inclusion wins
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Likelier to have above average profitability
when executive teams have strong gender diversity
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Higher innovation revenues
when leadership teams reflect the full range of diversity.
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CAGR outperformance
When at least 50% of senior leaders are women.
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Realized exit multiples
when founders are racially diverse—30% higher than all white founding teams
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More profitable exits
when at least 10% of partners at Venture Capital firms are women
We all want true economic
freedom and dignity.
We all want to live in a society where all can
thrive.
This is within our power to create.
CREATE IT WITH US
Whether you are seeking Responsible AI assessments, strategic advisors, an execution team, an incubator, entrepreneurship studio, investment firm, or all of the above within our matrixed theory of change, together we can create the future we all deserve.
