Today marks the beginning of Black History Month. I’d like to draw your attention to a Sacramento Black woman who is MAKING history! Many of you know Mariah Lichtenstern, the managing partner of DiverseCity Ventures and a thought leader in our Sacramento region startup community. She recently had an article published in Fortune, Investors still engage in racist redlining. Why haven’t we done something about it? It’s about how income inequality and the wealth gap are tied to SEC regulations that we have the power to change. Please read it and if you agree with her position, there is a link at the end of the article to sign a petition to the SEC to democratize accreditation (or you can just go straight to the petition here).

There are a couple of events featuring Black entrepreneurs happening this month — be sure to get them on your calendar. On Thursday, February 18, AMA with Entrepreneurs #MadeAtSacState features Roshaun Davis, cofounder of Unseen Hero. On Tuesday, February 23, Startup Happy Hour features Jontae James, the founder of NatureTrak, an enterprise risk management platform for financial institutions that bank the cannabis industry. If you know of other entrepreneur-focused events that are celebrating Black History Month, please let me know about them so I can add them to next week’s digest.

Best Bets

1 Million Cups Sacramento, Wed Feb 3 at 8:45 AM – Join this weekly coffee-fueled event where 2 founders present their startups to their peers for advice and feedback. Presenters: Modern Mammoth Technology and SOLcademy.

Startup Grind Sacramento presents Avoiding Startup Legal Mistakes, Tue Feb 9 at 5 PM – DLA Piper’s David Richardson will review the top 10 legal mistakes startups routinely make and how to navigate around them to set your business on the path to success.

There’s a lot more going on in Sacramento’s startup community this week – check out the details in this week’s Startup Digest. And for more information and resources about the Sacramento startup community, browse the StartupSac website.

Looking to connect with other founders? Find your peers when you join the StartupSac Community Facebook Group. Startup founders and those who support the growth of our startup community connect and exchange ideas in this private moderated group.