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Meera Clark '11 headshot

Meera graduated from Country Day in 2011 and went on to earn a BS in Management Science and Engineering with a focus on Entrepreneurship from Stanford University. She joined Obvious Ventures in 2019, where she focuses on companies in healthcare, fintech, and employment opportunities. Meera leads her firm’s diversity initiatives, participating in HBCUvc’s Bay Area programming and setting sourcing and hiring strategies. 

Beyond her investing efforts at Obvious Ventures, Meera is an active member of All Raise and serves as a member of the Steering Committee for the organization’s Annual Summit. In 2021, Meera was recognized in Forbes’ 30 Under 30 List for Venture Capital, and Business Insider’s 55 Rising-Star VCs of 2021.


What has been the most rewarding or exciting professional experience for you thus far?

As an investor in the venture capital industry, my most rewarding experience to date has been investing in and advising some of my best friends. From my sorority “little” to my post grad roommate, I’ve had the privilege of partnering with some of the most inspiring women I know on their entrepreneurship journeys. From strategizing on how to navigate competitive round dynamics (a high-quality problem to have!) to thinking through company naming and hiring strategies, being in the sidecar of someone you deeply admire and respect is about as rewarding as it gets – not only because you’ve been able to explicitly express your belief in them but also because they’ve indicated similar conviction in you. It is this pure expression of trust and mission-aligned partnership that, to me, represents one of the greatest joys of early stage investing. While many of these companies are still years away from making headlines for their billion dollar exits, I have little doubt that the day will come – and until then I will be doing everything that I can as a supporter to set them up for success during every step of their journey. 
 

Why are initiatives like All Raise and the Multicultural Innovation Lab important to you?

I was fortunate to grow up with a working mother who taught me what could be. Having immigrated to North Carolina from India at the age of 26, my mother has never known (or at least shown) fear. By not allowing convention to dictate her path, she paved the way for me to pursue my career in finance – first at an investment bank and now in the world of venture capital.

As I reflect upon my own aspirational impact, I too hope to propel forward the change that I wish to see in the world around me. While I had my mom pushing me, supporting me, and advising me during each step of my professional journey, many do not. Thus, my work investing in and advising women and multicultural founders within Morgan Stanley’s early stage accelerator, the Multicultural Innovation Lab, and serving as a Steering Committee member for All Raise, the venture capital industry’s response to #MeToo, has allowed me 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. I hope that the momentum these organizations build today will ripple through to the professional landscape that today’s Buccaneers inherit tomorrow.
 

How did Country Day help you shape and pursue your goals?

Country Day deeply instilled in me both people-first and pay it forward mentalities, which have been core to the human I’ve grown into. 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 trips back to the East Coast these days for Country Day weddings have regrettably reintroduced redeyes into my routine, I wouldn’t have it any other way. The friendships I made on Carmel Road continue to mean the world to me. At Country Day, students are taught to value one another over isolated achievements, that the most meaningful outcomes require dedication and deliberate action, and that the opportunity to ignite change is theirs to capture. 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. 
 

Read more about Meera’s journey in the spring issue of Perspectives. You can connect with Meera Clark '11 via her LinkedIn page at https://www.linkedin.com/in/meera-clark-95b38077.