Packers, Bucks, Brewers and Microsoft Launch the Equity League for Social Change

Three professional sports teams from Wisconsin—the Green Bay Packers, Milwaukee Bucks and Milwaukee Brewers—have teamed with Microsoft to form the Equity League, an investment arm of TitletownTech aimed at creating "positive social change" in the state.

Packers president Mark Murphy, who developed the idea, released a statement as part of Tuesday's announcement.

"The shared values between the Packers, Bucks, Brewers, Microsoft and TitletownTech is what made this possible," Murphy said. "It's time for us to step up, and I'm proud we are taking a bigger role to focus on driving meaningful change and bridging a significant gap for social impact companies and minority founders."

The group hired Israel Squires to serve as director of the Equity League, which will "target inequities that exist in the tech startup industry by prioritizing Black and LatinX founders and hiring minority venture fellows while also investing in sectors including, but not limited to, education, fintech, digital inclusion, health equality, urban innovation and criminal justice reform."

Squires explained the approach they're planning to take:

"We're attacking a multifaceted, generational problem with a multifaceted, generational solution. Our goal is to invest in companies and founders that have strong potential to produce both significant financial returns and large-scale social impact. Our strategy to achieve this is one that challenges the status quo, and we're excited to show how the venture capital and startup space can be used to facilitate long-term, positive change."

The overarching goal is making a positive impact on local communities in Wisconsin while providing chances to those people who otherwise wouldn't receive them.

"A founding principle of the Equity League is that while genius is equally distributed regardless of race, gender or zip code, opportunity is not," the announcement stated.

Brewers president Rick Schlesinger added: "The Equity League will create more opportunities for social impact companies and minority founders, which we believe will generate meaningful outcomes for all stakeholders."

It's part of TitletownTech, a partnership formed between the Packers and Microsoft in 2017 to invest in businesses that can "address industry challenges" in several major industries.