How a start-up hub made good on diversity goals

[Commentary] The American Underground, a campus for entrepreneurs here, established a bold goal at the start of 2015: To build the most diverse start-up hub in the country inside of two years. This statement raised some eyebrows but, after nearly a year of experimentation and hard work, Durham (NC) is building not only a thriving start-up scene but a richly diverse one. Nationally, only about 1 percent of start-up founders are black and 8 percent are female, according to CB Insights. But as a result of carefully considered decisions made at the American Underground, 15 percent of companies here are led by African Americans and 29 percent by women.

These figures are up from the beginning of 2014 when we reported 5 percent of American Underground companies were led by African-Americans and 7 percent by women. While we're far from finished, our success so far suggests four important pathways to developing a more diverse startup community: prioritization, leadership, partnerships and exposure.

[Talib Graves-Manns is entrepreneur in residence at the American Underground in partnership with CODE2040. Adam Klein is the chief strategist of the American Underground]