Who is Andrea Hoffman and why is she pulling in a ton of money to help Silicon Valley with its “diversity” problem?

Yes, the term “diversity” in Silicon Valley does include anyone who is not a white male, but why is Hoffman making money “fixing” the tech inclusion problem when her main focus is not on the inclusion of women but of African-Americans.

Hoffman describes herself as a “nice Jewish girl from Queens,” Fast Company reported. She is the founder and CEO of Culture Shift Labs, a diversity consulting firm whose staff and board of advisors includes white and Black executives. Even before launching Culture Shift Labs in 2006, Hoffman made a business out of connecting businesses with Black executives. She created target marketing, multicultural marketing and related business development strategies for companies including Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and AllianceBernstein, Rolling Out reported.

With Culture Shift Labs, she advises companies on growth and innovation through diversity and inclusion.

While some call her a culture vulture, she has attracted admirers such as popular news commentator Van Jones, who calls her  “the diversity whisperer.”

A culture vulture is “an inauthentic individual who attempts to identify with aspects of another culture and claim it as their own,” according to the Urban Dictionary.

Hoffman said her company’s mission is to move the needle for clients in measurable ways as it relates to diversity and inclusion. “We help companies in some very unique ways including diversity and inclusion in mergers and acquisition, corporate and business development, corporate social responsibility and corporate venture. Our main goal is to improve business and society,” Hoffman said in an interview with Rolling Out.

Culture Shift Labs works with Fortune 500, tech companies, investors (private equity, venture capital and impact investors) and nonprofits.

Hoffman’s first work as a diversity consultant was back in 1999 when she worked on the ad agency side for the Mercedes-Benz account. At the time, the luxury auto brand wanted to reach a younger, more diverse audience.

“It would be up to the agency to deploy a series of diversity initiatives, but for Hoffman, who was involved in day-to-day strategy and implementation, it was a pivotal moment that she says was both ‘provocative and transformative’ … she developed an auditing process that could help companies identify missed opportunities,” Fast Company reported.

Hoffman began doing diversity assessments for other brands, then started her own research and consultancy firm, Diversity Affluence. The first thing she did was contact Ivan Burwell, an African-American executive who was the Coors Brewing Company’s first director of ethnic marketing. She wanted him to be a senior adviser at her new company.

“He is an incredibly conservative business person,” Hoffman told Fast Company. “He said, ‘No, I’d like to give you money’.” 

Two months in, Diversity Affluence landed one of its biggest accounts. It was a partnership for a massive research report with African-American businessman Len Burnett, co-CEO and group publisher of Uptown Media.

Hoffman and Burnett teamed up again later to write the book, “Black is the New Green.” The book, she said was part of her mission.

“I was driven by a single mission,” she said, “to show a more accurate picture of the size and scope of the social and economic clout of African-Americans.” It’s a market that Hoffman estimates to be worth $840 billion.

Diversity Affluence landed clients ranging from Microsoft and Moët Hennessy to Cadillac and Carnegie Hall.

In November 2006, Hoffman launched Culture Shift Labs to help businesses connect with off-the-radar influencers, Black innovators and innovators of color.

“Instead of scrambling to meet diversity hiring quotas, Hoffman contends Culture Shift Labs is a way for businesses to bring outside experts in as innovators-in-residence, or for seats on their boards,” Fast Company reported.

                                Listen to GHOGH with Jamarlin Martin                                  Episode 72: Jamarlin Martin Part 2. J. Edgar Hoover, the first director of the FBI, may not be around but his energy is present in new Black politics.FBI agents and informants were used to weaken Marcus Garvey, the Nation of Islam and the Black Panthers — in many cases for money and career advancement. How could this energy metastasize into the “New Blacks” politics in 2020? Jamarlin goes solo to discuss who is doing the trading and what is being traded to weaken the aggregate Black political position.

Hoffman not only makes money from Culture Shift Labs diversity clients, she also hosts an invite-only weekend event called Culture Shifting Weekend, now in its 11th year. During the event, companies and investors get to meet, vet, and invest in the fast-growing ecosystem of venture funds run by Black and Latinx founders, according to a press release. It offers institutional investors, social impact investors, corporate venture capitalists and the broader investment community direct engagement with general partners.

“To date, the event has enabled over $100 million in new investor money directed to (general partners) who have attended. Beyond this committed capital, VCs who attended (the 2018) event are currently being vetted for additional $50 million of investment,” the release stated.

The event also generates funding for Culture Shift Labs. Sponsorship of the event starts at $25,000 and goes up to $75,000. In 2019, the event had more than 30 sponsors , according to the website.

Hoffman is surely getting her slice of the $840 billion pie.