Prof Prof Banu Ozkazanc-Pan

Banu Ozkazanc-Pan is Professor of Practice in Engineering and the Founder and Director of the Venture Capital Inclusion Lab at Brown University. The Lab focuses on understanding and solving funding inequities in the venture capital industry through data-driven research, education and advocacy. Banu’s research interests are mainly in the areas of diversity and inclusion in organizations and in entrepreneurial ecosystems. Her work has been covered in CBS Boston, NPR All Things Considered, NBC News, and Boston Magazine among other media outlets. She has testified at the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship hearing to re-authorize the SBIC program to speak about the importance of women and minorities as investors and as entrepreneurs for the economy. Her piece in The Conversation, focusing on the intersections of gender, inclusion and tech, offers ideas and steps that are necessary for the tech sector to become inclusive and she currently leads DEI conversations through the Investment and Inclusion Series. She has contributed her expertise on gender to the Danish Institute for Human Rights report on business and feminist approaches as well as to the consultation group on gender for the UNGPs 10+.