Ayana Parsons steps down as Fearless Fund’s COO, organization continues to fight as DEI efforts face legal challenges

Ayana Parsons has stepped down as the COO of Fearless Fund. Parsons, who announced she stepped down in April, helped to start the Fearless Fund in 2019 along with Arian Simone and Kiesha Knight-Pulliam.& The fund was created to assist Black women-owned businesses which receive less than 1 percent of overall investment funding annually.& The Fearless Fund is an Atlanta-based venture capital firm that uses its resources to invests& in and fund Black women in business. The fund has invested $26 million into over 40 companies that include Slutty Vegan, The Lip Bar, Partake Foods, and Live Tinted. The Fearless Fund also hosts training and financial literacy programs. Parsons, who will remain as an investor in Fearless Fund, did not confirm why she stepped down. However, it comes at a time when the organization is facing a legal challenge that could destroy DEI efforts.& The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit recently upheld an injunction against the Fearless Foundation that has prevented the nonprofit organization from issuing grants to women of color-owned businesses since last August. The judges sided with Edward Blum, president of AAER, who filed the lawsuit.& A three-judge panel, two judges appointed by Donald...