Rhianon Anderson

Senior Programs Director

San Francisco, CA

Rhianon Anderson is the Senior Programs Director for Venture Forward. She focuses on efforts that break down barriers to access and participation in the VC ecosystem, expand diversity, equity and inclusion, and provide members of the VC community support and resources to help them succeed.

Before joining Venture Forward, Rhianon spent several years with Girls Who Code, where she oversaw efforts to scale programs that served tens of thousands of students, and to ensure high-quality nationwide program delivery. Previously, she served as the Director of the Congressional App Challenge, a bipartisan congressional initiative aimed at expanding STEM education opportunities across the country. As the program’s founding Director, she launched and oversaw the execution of more than 240 challenges in congressional districts across 33 states.

Rhianon received her Master’s in Public Policy from UCLA. She specialized in tech policy and spent a year researching economic development mechanisms to support the growth of LA’s startup community. During her time at UCLA, she also worked for the Luskin Center for Innovation, researching conditions faced by women and underrepresented demographic groups within the tech community.

Why is advancing the next era of venture capital important?

Venture capital is an American national treasure. It has fueled the advancement of innovation, economies, and people. It has created value, jobs, wealth, and life-changing products and services. Though venture capital as an industry may be young and as an asset class may be small, high-growth startups and their long-term investors have truly changed the world.

To continue the success of the industry’s past 50 years to the next 50 years and beyond, we must expand opportunities for people of all backgrounds to access the venture ecosystem and thrive. We must educate future leaders on best practices and help them learn from the industry’s rich history. We must help firms build strong, healthy cultures and values. We must keep the public and ecosystem informed through qualitative and quantitative insights.

By investing in tomorrow’s leaders today, we shape the next era of venture capital.

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10,000+

high-growth startups—across all 50 states and DC—raised venture funding in 2019 to build and grow their businesses.

42%

of all U.S. IPOs from 1974 to 2015 were venture-backed companies, representing 63% of the market capitalization and 85% of R&D.

2.9 million

is the average net jobs created annually between 1980 and 2010 by high-growth startups, which account for ~50% of gross jobs created in the U.S.

1,300+

U.S. venture firms are active today, managing an aggregate of $444 billion in assets.