Oakland, CA, June 6, 2024 – ICA Fund, a leading nonprofit venture capital firm dedicated to building an economy that works for all, proudly announces the addition of two new members to its Board of Directors: James Head and Clayton Bryan. With these new appointments, ICA Fund is growing its capacity to advance financial innovation and increase its national influence to close the gender and racial wealth gaps in our financial system.

"I am thrilled to welcome James Head and Clayton Bryan to our Board," said ICA Fund CEO Allison Kelly. “Their addition to our leadership will enable us to continue to grow our mission to provide coaching, connections, and capital to grow Bay Area businesses to close the gender and racial wealth gaps.”

These appointments bring the organization's Board leadership to 13 members who will continue to support and sustain the organization’s upward trajectory. Over the past five years, ICA Fund has achieved significant milestones: quadrupling its net assets and supporting 120+ Bay Area businesses that have sustained over 1,000 jobs. Since 2012 the organization has invested over $12 million, with 84 cents of every dollar going to women or people of color. ICA Fund has recently grown to over 20 team members, who are working together towards a 5-year $25 million raise and deployment to advance gender and racial equity in entrepreneurship. 

"The ICA Fund team and Board are working together to create a movement to evolve entrepreneurship in the Bay Area to include significantly more women and people of color," said ICA Fund Board Chair Jack Russi. "On behalf of the ICA Fund Board I welcome these new members and look forward to their leadership and contributions in advancing our mission."

James Head

James Head is a seasoned & entrepreneurial leader with executive-level managerial and legal experience in the fields of philanthropy and grantmaking; nonprofit management and technical assistance; community and economic development; public/private/philanthropic partnerships; and social justice and public interest law.

James served as President & Chief Executive Officer of the East Bay Community Foundation for nearly 8 years, an Oakland California based Community Foundation that partners with donors, social movements, and the community at large to eliminate structural barriers, advance racial equality, and transform political, social, and economic outcomes for all who call the East Bay home. Prior to that, he served for 10 years as Vice President of Programs for the San Francisco Foundation, where he spearheaded regional initiatives on race, equity, poverty, housing, economic development, and youth development.

Under James’ 8 years of leadership at East Bay, while doubling the assets of the Foundation, EBCF was one of the first Community Foundations in the country to establish a donor grants policy that prohibited donor grants to organizations identified as engaging in hate and/or discriminatory activities. Also, EBCF was one of the first Community Foundations to design a leadership and financial sustainability program for Black-Led Organizations (ASCEND-BLO) in the Bay Area. Lastly, in 2019 EBCF was named “The Boldest Community Foundation in the United States” by Inside Philanthropy for its grantmaking focus on movement building and organizing.

As a social justice advocate and lawyer, James has devoted his life to supporting the power and voice of people of color, and in particular the building of relationships among and between people and Communities of color. In 2021 EBCF, in collaboration with the New Breath Foundation, was among the first foundations in the Bay Area to publicly call out the rising incidents of hate and violence towards AAPI Communities in a joint letter that was signed on by numerous other Bay Area foundations. We then worked together to immediately identify strategies and resources to support both the AAPI victims of violence, as well as funding for AAPI advocacy and policy organizations. Key to the collaborative message in the letter was the need for deeper dialogue and commitment between the African-American and AAPI Communities to work together to address hate and violence, and to support each other.

James is a nationally known speaker and resource in philanthropy and law, with special expertise in economic development, racial diversity/inclusion, and racial/gender equity, and lives in Oakland, California with his wife, Bernida Reagan.

Clayton Bryan

Clayton Bryan is an early stage venture investor and operator.  Clayton has spent time at some of the most innovative companies in Silicon Valley. He has built expansive online communities, scaled marketplace businesses, and facilitated million dollar deals. At Yahoo he worked on award winning products. Later, at Payvment, he helped a team pioneer a new set of tools that started the social commerce movement.

With diversity as a guiding principle, Clayton has spent the entirety of his career within venture capital focused on supporting underrepresented founders. In 2016, Clayton and four others launched a non-profit organization, Transparent Collective, tasked with coaching and connecting underrepresented founders with investors. Companies that have gone through Transparent Collective's program have raised tens of millions of dollars in early stage financings.

Clayton has invested in over 40 companies, including Butlr, EMTECH, Public Goods, EcoCart, Printify, Silk+Sonder, JusticeText, Pariti, and Fintor. He Received a Bachelors of Arts in Political Economy from The University of California, Berkeley and his Masters of Business Administration from The Stern School of Business at New York University.

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About ICA Fund:

ICA Fund is an impact-focused nonprofit venture capital firm in the Bay Area. We help diverse founders grow their businesses and create wealth for themselves, their employees, and their communities. 

ICA Fund accelerates small businesses and quality job creation by supporting women founders and founders of color with coaching, capital, and connections—maximizing the transformative potential of the small business boom to create good jobs and wealth. Our team, investors, advisors, and portfolio companies reflect the diverse, talented expertise in our community. 

For media inquiries, please contact: Erica Dixon, ICA Fund Director of Marketing & Communications, 970-379-395, erica@ica.fund

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