Thank you for the thoughtful reply. I've listened to hours of YC-related videos on YouTube and it is not clear that this is the case. It is good to hear, and I

Thank you for the thoughtful reply. I've listened to hours of YC-related videos on YouTube and it is not clear that this is the case. It is good to hear, and I am happy to spread the word as I know many women and entrepreneurs of color feel discouraged because they are not "from central casting" or don't "pattern match." I've watched trends change and believe disrupted patterns, like the glitch in the movie, "Wreck it Ralph," are full of potential. The strategy of speaking at Historically Black Colleges (HSBUs) is encouraging. I'm happy to reach out with other ideas and have blogged about suggestions: http://timesnewromanempire.blogspot.com/2014/07/debugging-diversity-in-tech.html http://timesnewromanempire.blogspot.com/2014/07/debugging-di... http://timesnewromanempire.blogspot.com/2014/08/smoke-and-mirrors-reflections-on.html http://timesnewromanempire.blogspot.com/2014/08/smoke-and-mi... In the latter, I reference attending events for: MESA http://mesa.ucop.edu/ http://mesa.ucop.edu/ NSBE http://www.nsbe.org/home.aspx http://www.nsbe.org/home.aspx & Grace Hopper http://gracehopper.org/ http://gracehopper.org/ May I suggest that in pioneering in diversity, the term "race" be retired as there is only one human race. Most thought leaders in ethnic & cultural studies concur. The terms "ethnic" and "culture" are more accurate and less divisive. I happen to be mixed. When situations call for classification of sorts, I prefer "multi-ethnic," "multi-cultural," "Black" "Black-American" or "of African descent" (my daughter - whose father is African, is "African-American"). Terms like "bi-racial" and "mulatto" make me cringe. I know "race" is commonly used, so my suggestion is not to place blame, but to work towards a better framework for discussing diversity and reducing racial rhetoric. You will, indeed, find me among the pool of applicants. Thank you, again, for addressing the question, and positing solutions. I am also interested to hear more about solo founders. Hard things don't intimidate me at all.