Mastersfund™ is thrilled to announce an investment in Tribute, a Seattle, WA peer-to-peer mentorship company that promotes employee connection, collaboration and growth.  Tribute disrupts traditional mentoring programs across increasingly virtual and hybrid onsite/offsite workforces, enabling companies to to build corporate cultures that encourage continuous learning, develop leaders at every stage, and democratize access to knowledge, wisdom, and opportunity.

The announcement comes on the heels of a report released by McKinsey and Co, Women in the Workplace 2021, which highlights the massive impact of the problem Tribute is solving. Specifically, the report references critical points of concern, including lack of allyship, particularly between women of color and more privileged groups, senior management’s failure to recognize people-focused leadership efforts borne largely by women, and rising burnout and accompanying high turnover. Early customers include Microsoft, Zillow, Remitly, Sonos, Reckitt, Compass Group and the University of Washington. 

Founder and CEO of Tribute, Co. Sarah Haggard, who had the foresight to see this problem prior to the pandemic said, “I’m founding Tribute because I’m passionate about the power of human connection and using storytelling to find those connections. When we feel connected, we feel empowered, supported, and most importantly, capable of achieving our most aspirational goals.”

The deal was led by Vani Rao, venture partner with Mastersfund.  Rao noted, “As a women-led venture capital fund investing in sustainable growth for gender-diverse leadership teams, our key investment tenet is ‘Do well by doing good.’ The privilege is ours to support Haggard and the Tribute team in doing just that.”