A co-founder of the embattled venture capital firm Fearless Fund has stepped down as operating chief

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One of the co-founders of an Atlanta-based venture capital firm that supports women of color has stepped down as chief operating officer

NEW YORK — One of the co-founders of an Atlanta-based venture capital firm that supports women of color has stepped down as chief operating officer as the company battles a lawsuit that has become emblematic of a conservative backlash against corporate diversity programs.

Ayana Parsons confirmed in a statement that she has stepped down as general partner and chief operating officer of the Fearless Fund, which she co-founded in 2019 with Arian Simone to address the wide racial disparity in funding for businesses owned by women of color.

Parsons said her decision was unrelated to a conservative group's lawsuit targeting a grant program for Black women entrepreneurs run by the Fearless Fund's foundation arm. As co-founder, Parsons remains an investor in the Fearless Fund.

“I remain steadfast in my support of the Fearless Fund and committed to the advancement of women and people of color,” Parsons said in a statement posted to her LinkedIn page on Monday. “The best way I can do that is to boldly focus on new strategies and tactics. Because if the courts are going to sideline our best practices, we need to design and implement alternatives. We must innovate.”

The announcement came about three weeks after a federal appeals court panel ordered the suspension of the grant program for the duration of the lawsuit, which was filed last year by the American Alliance for Equal Rights, a group led by Edward Blum, the conservative activist behind the Supreme Court case that ended affirmative action in college admissions. In a 2-1 ruling, the three-judge panel ruled that the lawsuit, which claims