5 minute read
Meera Clark '11
Forbes 30 Under 30
Meera Clark ’11, a principal at Obvious Ventures in San Francisco, where she focuses on companies in healthcare, fintech and employment, was recently named a Forbes 30 Under 30 for Venture Capital. Forbes wrote, “Of 30 investments from its $272 million third fund, she worked on 12, sourced four and serves as a board observer for three. Clark leads her firm’s diversity initiatives, participating in HBCUvc’s Bay Area programming and setting sourcing and hiring strategies.”
Forbes also recognized Meera for her work as a Steering Committee member for the All Raise Annual Summit, her board membership on the Stanford Professionals in Finance, and her writings on the topic of enhancing economic empowerment for women.
“While being named as a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree certainly came as a surprise, the most exhilarating discovery of them all was finding myself surrounded by so many humans I admire and respect,” says Meera. “I’ve come to realize that so much of success is defined by having the talent and network to actualize scale. Accordingly, Forbes’ ability to identify, and more importantly, amplify the voices of emerging leaders excites because it empowers us to collectively accelerate the change we wish to see.”
Meera credits her mother, who immigrated to North Carolina from India at age 26, for instilling in her the idea to never allow convention to dictate her path. “I was fortunate to grow up with a working mother who taught me what could be,” she says. “While I had my mom pushing me, supporting me, and advising me during each step of my professional journey, many do not.”
That’s why, while working at Morgan Stanley, Meera scaled the firm’s early-stage technology accelerator, the Multicultural Innovation Lab, focused on female and multicultural entrepreneurs. And All Raise, the venture capital industry’s response to #MeToo, has afforded Meera the opportunity to “use my voice, ideas, and connections to support the next generation of underrepresented founders and investors in their quest to upend the status quo. It is my hope that the momentum these organizations build today will ripple through to the professional landscape that today’s Buccaneers inherit tomorrow.”
Meera says that her people-first, pay it forward mentality was nurtured at Country Day. “Country Day is unique in its ability to partner with students at all stages of their development and facilitate the growth of relationships that stand the test of time.
While my time at Stanford taught me technical skills like coding and my career has shaped my approach to personal branding, it is my Country Day core that has served as a grounding truth throughout my journey— and for that I am grateful.”
The power of those relationships was tested for Meera midway through Upper School. As a result of the 2008 financial crisis, her family was forced to make challenging decisions. Her mother moved to Denver for work and Meera headed to Virginia for boarding school as a new junior.
“To frame it in its most flattering light,” says Meera, “it was a shock to the system. Gone was the diversity of perspectives I had come to view as core to the classroom, absent were the advisors who understood my ambition and aspirations, and lacking was this new home when it came to a sense of love.”
Fortunately, her concerns were heard and for senior year, Meera found herself in the “warmth of the CCDS community welcoming me back to the world in which I felt I belonged. I feel lucky to have learned so much about what matters most to me during this year of transition, for it is frequently during these periods that feel like mayhem that we exhibit the most gratifying growth.”
In addition to the classroom, Meera credits her time on the Country Day lacrosse field as “seminal to my development as an employee, teammate, and leader.”
She explains: “Making the team as a freshman was both an honor and terrifying. I felt in over my head surrounded by seniors older than I, stronger than I, and more practiced at the sport than I. Yet, despite the imposter syndrome, I was inspired every day to fall forward into my potential. Whether strength training with Coach (Darnell) Clark, upping my technical skills with Coach (Kristy) Boyles, learning leadership in the classroom with Coach (Brad) Touma, or celebrating on the sidelines with my teammates, I felt myself progressively growing into the human I am today.
“By senior year, nothing felt sweeter than winning my first State Championship. It marked the taste of true excellence— a standard I have since consistently strived toward, be it on the trading floor at Morgan Stanley or in pursuit of the next generation-defining companies as an investor today.”
