Dreamit Chief Investment Officer Karen Griffith Gryga Receives Leadership Legacy Award from Vistage

Women are underrepresented in venture capital and in the technology industry as a whole. In fact, the statistics are distressing.

A 2016 report from the National Center for Women & Information Technology released the following statistics about the state of women in tech:

• Only 25% of professional computing jobs in the United States were held by women in 2015.
• Only 17% of Fortune 500 Chief Information Officer roles were held by women in 2015.
• Only 17% of college graduates earning computer science degrees in 2014 were women.

Women who work in venture capital or aspire to work in it face even more discrimination and lack of opportunity. The CrunchBase Women in Venture report found that:

• Only 7% of the venture partners at the top 100 venture capital firms are women.
• Only 12% of the venture partners at corporate venture arms and tech accelerators are women.
• Only 17% of the seed rounds and 15% of the seed funds raised between 2010 and 2015 went to startups with at least one woman founder.
• Only 12% of the venture rounds and 10% of the venture dollars raised between 2010 and 2015 went to startups with at least one woman founder.

The representation of women in tech and venture capital needs to increase. With more gender diversity in tech and venture capital, these industries will be more open and have even greater success. One way to increase the number of women in tech and venture capital is by giving the successful women in these industries the recognition that they deserve.

Dreamit's very own Chief Investment Officer, Karen Griffith Gryga, recently received the Leadership Legacy Award from Vistage. Every year, Vistage presents the Leadership Legacy Award to small business executives who work at companies with revenues from $5 to $100 million. The recipient of the Leadership Legacy Award is someone who truly embodies Vistage's core values of trust, caring, challenge, and growth.

Past recipients of the Vistage Leadership Legacy Award include Lucie Voves (president and CEO of Church Hill Classics) and Kathryn Minshew (Co-founder and CEO of The Muse). Karen joins great company as the third-ever person to receive this prestigious award. A few of the many accomplishments that Karen has achieved over the course of her career include:

• Being the Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer for Dreamit Ventures.
• Being the Executive Director of the Mid-Alantic Angel Group.
• Co-founding and leading FashInvest as CEO.

You can go here to wish Karen congratulations about receiving the Vistage Leadership Legacy Award.