Arian Simone says ‘not to act out of fear’ as Fearless Fund appears in court over DEI lawsuit

– Before the court. Yesterday, Arian Simone went to court in Miami. The cofounder of venture capital firm Fearless Fund was there to defend her firm’s grant program for Black women entrepreneurs against a lawsuit brought by anti-affirmative action activist Edward Blum’s organization. The American Alliance for Equal Rights sued the Fearless Fund in August in one of the first such lawsuits filed after the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action.

Fearless Fund is asking a federal appeals court to lift an injunction on its program, which is currently halted for the length of the case. Its lawyers are arguing that grants are considered charitable giving and protected by the First Amendment. The case has become a rallying cause for civil rights activists and believers in diversity and inclusion in venture capital and corporate America. Programs that support underrepresented racial groups are under attack from seemingly every corner, from lawsuits like this one to an Oklahoma law barring DEI programs at publicly-funded universities.

According to the Associated Press, Fearless Fund faced tough questioning yesterday from a mostly conservative panel of judges—suggesting a long road ahead on the firm’s efforts to appeal. The initial lawsuit argued that Fearless Fund’s grant program discriminated against white and Asian women.

Rebecca Blackwell—AP Images

I spoke with Simone the day before she appeared in court. As she prepared to defend the legality of her work to support Black women entrepreneurs, she reflected on similar lawsuits that have been filed since the suit against Fearless. “Seeing others get sued—not that you desire to see it, but it means you’re aware that this is definitely bigger than you,” she told me.

Simone says she’s seen “people act out of fear that aren’t even being sued at all.” Yet, she acknowledges, the impact of these lawsuits can be significant. “Eight figures of investments…fell through this past fall,” she said at a news conference yesterday.

Still, Simone hopes that others will continue to back Fearless Fund and other work to support underrepresented communities across industries. “Don’t act from the spirit of fear,” she says. “If you had strong convictions in the post-George Floyd era—you need to keep your conviction.”

Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com
@_emmahinchliffe

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