Costanoa Ventures Code of Conduct: Anti-Discrimination & Anti-Harassment Policies

Costanoa Ventures is committed to maintaining a work environment characterized by mutual respect. Along with many others in our industry, we are working to eliminate discrimination and harassment in the startup funding environment, especially since our industry is not covered by standard employment law when it comes to sexual harassment. We encourage others in our industry to ask for defined policies as a standard practice for doing business to help raise the bar at large for our industry.

You can email us for the detailed version of Costanoa’s anti-harassment policy written by our lawyers, our anti-discrimination policies, or code of ethics, but for the mere mortals who want to understand the basics of our intent, here it is.

We require all Costanoa employees to…

1. Demonstrate the highest degree of integrity and professionalism in anything they do on behalf of the firm. Treating people with respect is one of the values we hold most dear.
2. Act in a nondiscriminatory and professionally respectful manner ensuring a safe and healthy working environment for everyone.
3. Not engage in any harassing conduct at any time, not limited to but especially including any form of sexual harassment.
4. Promptly report any complaints or concerns regarding harassment to our Talent Partner, Michelle McHargue — if that’s a more comfortable path for any reason — with an assurance of open ears, open minds, and non-retaliation of any kind.

We have zero-tolerance for any Costanoa employee overtly sexually harassing or systematically discriminating against founders or their teams. The collective commitment to access in entrepreneurship, venture capital, and the tech economy of the Costanoa ecosystem will be measured by how we all behave as part of it. We welcome your feedback and wish for all of us to continually improve.