Training Example: Spark Capital – Review the Data, Give Your Score & Compare to the Real AI Evaluation

[H1] what's with the dog?
In 2008, Spark led Twitter’s Series B and made a very dear friend in the process, Twitter’s Co-Founder, Biz Stone. ‍Over the years, we remained very close. And in 2017, after selling Jelly to Pinterest, Biz decided to think about his next move while working out of Spark’s San Francisco office. ‍At the same time, Spark was also thinking about its next move, but as a brand. Biz, having worked with us for over a decade, saw an answer for Spark and made us this deck. We loved it. His wit and unbound creativity makes us smile to this day. But as branding goes in venture (hint: it doesn’t go), the deck got tucked away.In 2020, we decided to take a fresh look at Spark’s identity. This meant going through our archives and delivering the full digital pile—including Biz’s deck—to our design partner, Pentagram.‍As we explored Spark’s values, beliefs, and how we show up for our founders, Biz’s work finally clicked (not to mention, he has a track record with animal-based logos). ‍Pentagram decided to revisit that deck and rework those sketches. And, well, Biz—you were right. A dog is spot-on.

EarlyMikowai AshwillAlex FinkelsteinNabeel HyattFraser KeltonSanto PolitiArpan ShahKevin ThauNatalie VaisCoen ArmstrongClay FisherJames KuklinskiJeremy PhilipsYasmin RazaviWill ReedDiana BerishaHannah ChowdhuryJeff DoranSarah KimballAlexa LyonsBijan SabetPaul ConwayTodd Dagres

All
[H3] Twitter
Twitter is what’s happening in the world and what people are talking about right now.NYSE: TWTR in 2013Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Twitter]
[H3] Slack
Slack is the enterprise software platform that brings people, information, and tools together to get work done.NYSE: WORK in 2019Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Slack]
[H3] Anthropic
AI research and products that put safety at the frontier. Including their first state of the art assistant, Claude.Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Anthropic]
[H3] Discord
Discord is the easiest way to communicate over voice, video, and text with your friends and communities.Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Discord]
[H3] Oculus
Oculus develops virtual reality platforms and products that let people experience anything, with anyone.Acquired by Facebook in 2014Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Oculus]
[H3] Cruise
Cruise is building the world’s most advanced self-driving vehicles to safely connect people with the places, things, and experiences they care about. Acquired by General Motors in 2016Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Cruise]
[H3] Coinbase
Coinbase is a secure platform that makes it easy to buy, sell, and store cryptocurrency like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and moreNASDAQ: COIN in 2021Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Coinbase]
[H3] Kalshi
Kalshi, Inc. is a U.S.-based, federally regulated prediction market exchange where individuals and institutions can trade event contracts — financial instruments tied to the outcomes of real-world eventsRead the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Kalshi]
[H3] Scale AI
ScaleAI is the data platform for AI that provides access to human-powered data for hundreds of use cases.Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Scale AI]
[H3] Tumblr
Tumblr is a beautiful and simple way to creatively express yourself online and connect with others. Acquired by Yahoo in 2013Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Tumblr]
[H3] Sesame
Sesame.ai builds highly natural, emotionally aware voice AI designed for real, flowing conversations.Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Sesame]
[H3] CTRL-labs
CTRL-labs is a company on a mission to expand human bandwidth with non-invasive neural interfaces. (Acquired by Facebook in 2019)Acquired by Facebook in 2019Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: CTRL-labs]
[H3] Ramp
Ramp is the world’s first finance automation platform, providing businesses with a single solution to handle all non-payroll corporate expenses, including cards and payments with built-in expense and accounting automation software. Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Ramp]
[H3] Niantic
Niantic is the world’s leading augmented reality company with an initial focus on augmented reality games.Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Niantic]
[H3] MatX
MatX is a computer chip manufacturer building high-performance, cost-efficient platforms optimized for large-scale AI workloads and designed to accelerate the development and accessibility of Artificial General Intelligence.Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: MatX]
[H3] Antithesis
Antithesis is a fundamentally new way to validate that software and agents work correctly before they are released.Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Antithesis]
[H3] Lightmatter
Lightmatter combines electronics, photonics, and new algorithms to create a next-generation computing platform purpose-built for artificial intelligence.Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Lightmatter]
[H3] Deel
Deel is the first payroll platform for remote teams that connects localized compliance and payments in one system of record and automates everything.Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Deel]
[H3] Baseten
Machine learning infrastructure.Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Baseten]
[H3] Parallel
Parallel builds web data APIs for AI agents, turning web search and intelligent knowledge tasks into programmable, enterprise-ready infrastructure.Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Parallel]
[H3] Standard Intelligence
Standard Intelligence is building intelligent models that learn to use a computer through pre-training on raw video. Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Standard Intelligence]
[H3] Snap
Snap is one of the world's largest social networks and lets people easily talk with friends, view Live Stories from around the world, and explore news in Discover.NYSE: SNAP in 2017Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Snap]
[H3] Plaid
Plaid helps all companies build fintech solutions by making it easy, safe, and reliable for people to connect their financial data to apps and services.Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Plaid]
[H3] Chainguard
Chainguard enables developers to ship secure software by default.Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Chainguard]
[H3] Zeromatter
Zeromatter Technologies, Inc. is a software startup building a high-performance simulation platform that enables companies to build, test, and train autonomous systems and complex engineered products in virtual environments.Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Zeromatter]
[H3] Affirm
Affirm is reinventing credit, giving consumers the flexibility to buy now and pay later without hidden fees and compounding interest.NASDAQ: AFRM in 2021Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Affirm]
[H3] Mercury
Mercury is a banking platform built for startups and scaling companies, offering zero-fee business checking and savings, instant credit cards, automated expense management, and treasury services to help ambitious entrepreneurs manage their finances.Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Mercury]
[H3] Abridge
Abridge is generative AI for clinical conversations.Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Abridge]
[H3] Optimism
Optimism is a leading L2 project aiming to scale Ethereum. Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Optimism]
[H3] Stoke Space
Resuable rockets for the Space Economy.Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Stoke Space]
[H3] The Bot Company
The Bot Company is a robotics engineer company building robots that do chores and save you time.Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: The Bot Company]
[H3] Flock Safety
Flock Safety is an all-in-one technology solution that aims to eliminate crime and shape safer communities, together.Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Flock Safety]
[H3] Crusoe
Crusoe provides vertically integrated, sustainable AI infrastructure and cloud services designed to power modern artificial intelligence workloads. Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Crusoe]
[H3] Edison Scientific
Edison Scientific is an AI platform that automates scientific R&D from hypothesis to validated results, turning months of research into hours with autonomous agents that synthesize literature, analyze data, and generate publication-ready discoveries.Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Edison Scientific]
[H3] Benchling
Benchling is the modern software platform powering the biotechnology revolution.Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Benchling]
[H3] WildType
Wild Type creates the cleanest, most sustainable fish and meat on the planet.Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: WildType]
[H3] Lumafield
AI Powered industrial X-ray CT scanners for R&D and ManufacturingRead the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Lumafield]
[H3] Enfabrica
Enfabrica is a cutting-edge silicon and software company building disruptive networking solutions for parallel, heterogeneous, and accelerated computing infrastructure.Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Enfabrica]
[H3] Base Power
Base Power is an energy technology company based in Austin, Texas, focused on modernizing the electrical grid through distributed battery storage and home energy services.Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Base Power]
[H3] Generalist
Generalist builds embodied foundation models that give robots human-like intelligence for real-world tasks.Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Generalist]
[H3] Handshake
Handshake is a career network and recruiting platform for college students and alumni.Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Handshake]
[H3] Adept
We’re building a machine-learning model that can interact with everything on your computer.Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Adept]
[H3] Profluent
Profluent is advancing the frontier of AI research in biology and making biology programmable.Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Profluent]
[H3] Formation Bio
TrialSpark is a technology company that helps bring treatments to patients faster by reimagining how clinical trials are run.Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Formation Bio]
[H3] Inversion
Low-cost return from space.Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Inversion]
[H3] Airspace Intelligence
Airspace Intelligence is a software-first aerospace company to help the world’s most complex air operations succeed.Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Airspace Intelligence]
[H3] Mirror
Mirror is the nearly invisible interactive home gym. Acquired by lululemon in 2020Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Mirror]
[H3] Latent
Latent is the leading AI platform for medication access.Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Latent]
[H3] Twitter
Twitter is what’s happening in the world and what people are talking about right now.NYSE: TWTR in 2013Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Twitter]
[H3] Anthropic
AI research and products that put safety at the frontier. Including their first state of the art assistant, Claude.Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Anthropic]
[H3] Discord
Discord is the easiest way to communicate over voice, video, and text with your friends and communities.Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Discord]
[H3] Coinbase
Coinbase is a secure platform that makes it easy to buy, sell, and store cryptocurrency like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and moreNASDAQ: COIN in 2021Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Coinbase]
[H3] Tumblr
Tumblr is a beautiful and simple way to creatively express yourself online and connect with others. Acquired by Yahoo in 2013Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Tumblr]
[H3] Niantic
Niantic is the world’s leading augmented reality company with an initial focus on augmented reality games.Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Niantic]
[H3] Snap
Snap is one of the world's largest social networks and lets people easily talk with friends, view Live Stories from around the world, and explore news in Discover.NYSE: SNAP in 2017Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Snap]
[H3] Affirm
Affirm is reinventing credit, giving consumers the flexibility to buy now and pay later without hidden fees and compounding interest.NASDAQ: AFRM in 2021Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Affirm]
[H3] WildType
Wild Type creates the cleanest, most sustainable fish and meat on the planet.Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: WildType]
[H3] Mirror
Mirror is the nearly invisible interactive home gym. Acquired by lululemon in 2020Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Mirror]
[H3] Slack
Slack is the enterprise software platform that brings people, information, and tools together to get work done.NYSE: WORK in 2019Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Slack]
[H3] Anthropic
AI research and products that put safety at the frontier. Including their first state of the art assistant, Claude.Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Anthropic]
[H3] Scale AI
ScaleAI is the data platform for AI that provides access to human-powered data for hundreds of use cases.Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Scale AI]
[H3] Ramp
Ramp is the world’s first finance automation platform, providing businesses with a single solution to handle all non-payroll corporate expenses, including cards and payments with built-in expense and accounting automation software. Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Ramp]
[H3] Antithesis
Antithesis is a fundamentally new way to validate that software and agents work correctly before they are released.Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Antithesis]
[H3] Deel
Deel is the first payroll platform for remote teams that connects localized compliance and payments in one system of record and automates everything.Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Deel]
[H3] Baseten
Machine learning infrastructure.Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Baseten]
[H3] Plaid
Plaid helps all companies build fintech solutions by making it easy, safe, and reliable for people to connect their financial data to apps and services.Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Plaid]
[H3] Chainguard
Chainguard enables developers to ship secure software by default.Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Chainguard]
[H3] Zeromatter
Zeromatter Technologies, Inc. is a software startup building a high-performance simulation platform that enables companies to build, test, and train autonomous systems and complex engineered products in virtual environments.Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Zeromatter]
[H3] Abridge
Abridge is generative AI for clinical conversations.Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Abridge]
[H3] Flock Safety
Flock Safety is an all-in-one technology solution that aims to eliminate crime and shape safer communities, together.Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Flock Safety]
[H3] Crusoe
Crusoe provides vertically integrated, sustainable AI infrastructure and cloud services designed to power modern artificial intelligence workloads. Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Crusoe]
[H3] Benchling
Benchling is the modern software platform powering the biotechnology revolution.Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Benchling]
[H3] Base Power
Base Power is an energy technology company based in Austin, Texas, focused on modernizing the electrical grid through distributed battery storage and home energy services.Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Base Power]
[H3] Handshake
Handshake is a career network and recruiting platform for college students and alumni.Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Handshake]
[H3] Adept
We’re building a machine-learning model that can interact with everything on your computer.Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Adept]
[H3] Formation Bio
TrialSpark is a technology company that helps bring treatments to patients faster by reimagining how clinical trials are run.Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Formation Bio]
[H3] Airspace Intelligence
Airspace Intelligence is a software-first aerospace company to help the world’s most complex air operations succeed.Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Airspace Intelligence]
[H3] Anthropic
AI research and products that put safety at the frontier. Including their first state of the art assistant, Claude.Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Anthropic]
[H3] Cruise
Cruise is building the world’s most advanced self-driving vehicles to safely connect people with the places, things, and experiences they care about. Acquired by General Motors in 2016Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Cruise]
[H3] Scale AI
ScaleAI is the data platform for AI that provides access to human-powered data for hundreds of use cases.Read the StoryVisit the Website
[IMG: Scale AI]
[H3] Sesame
Sesame.ai builds highly natural, emotionally aware voice AI designed

[H2] Terms & Policies
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[H3] CORE VALUES
At Spark, we value all of our constituencies – employees, entrepreneurs, and investors. We respect and support the entrepreneurs we back, and we are committed to interacting with all entrepreneurs professionally and to empowering entrepreneurs from traditionally underrepresented groups, including women and people of color. Although we offer our portfolio companies very direct advice and will push hard for our point of view, we won’t tell them how to run their business and we won’t talk down to them.Our approach is unlike that of most other venture capital firms: We provide hands-on guidance to help client companies grow during the early, most critical stages of development. We offer a venture support system of experienced professionals who understand the unique challenges of start-ups.We have little interest in “quick flip” projects or financial engineering exercises. We’re excited to have a chance to work with great management teams and generate exceptional capital gains that enable our Limited Partners to do great work.We essentially have two clients, portfolio companies and limited partners. The portfolio companies are primarily start-up firms that require funds and guidance to fuel growth. The Limited Partners are investors who supply funds to up portfolio company growth. We need a diverse set of ideas, backgrounds, and approaches from everyone to continue our success.
[H3] EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY
Spark is an Equal Opportunity Employer. It is Spark’s policy to administer all actions and policies without regard to race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, national origin, ancestry, age (forty and above), mental or physical disability, genetic information, veteran status, any military service or application for military service, participation in discrimination complaint-related activities or membership in any other category protected under local, state or federal law. All employment decisions and personnel actions, including without limitation, hiring, promotion, compensation, benefits, and termination, are and will continue to be administered in accordance with, and to further the principal of, Equal Employment Opportunity. Performance of supervisors and employees alike will be evaluated on the basis of work-related criteria.
[H3] HARASSMENT
Spark is committed to promoting a workplace that is free of harassment whether on the count of race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, national origin, ancestry, age (forty and above), mental or physical disability, genetic information, veteran status, any military service or application for military service, participation in discrimination complaint-related activities or membership in any other category protected by local, state or federal law. Harassment and discrimination are unlawful and will not be tolerated by Spark.
[H3] SEXUAL AND DISCRIMINATORY HARASSMENT
All employees have the right to be free from sexual or discriminatory harassment. Sexual or discriminatory harassment, whether by management, supervisory personnel, non-supervisory personnel or third parties is unlawful and will not be permitted. Because Spark takes allegations of sexual or discriminatory harassment seriously, Spark will respond promptly to complaints of sexual or discriminatory harassment, as well as to management otherwise learning that possible sexual or discriminatory harassment is occurring. Where it is demonstrated to its satisfaction that such harassment occurred, Spark will act promptly to eliminate the harassment and impose such corrective action as is necessary, including disciplinary action up to and including termination where appropriate.Please note that while this policy sets forth Spark’s goals of promoting a workplace that is free of sexual or discriminatory harassment, the policy is not designed nor intended to limit Spark’s authority to discipline or to take remedial action for workplace conduct we deem unacceptable, regardless of whether that conduct satisfies the definition of sexual or discriminatory harassment.Discriminatory harassment is harassment based on race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, national origin, ancestry, age (forty and above), mental or physical disability, genetic information, veteran status, any military service or application for military service, participation in discrimination complaint-related activities or membership in any other category protected under local, state or federal law.Sexual harassment is defined as unwanted sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and verbal, physical, or visual conduct of a sexual nature where: (a) submission to or rejection of such advances, requests, or conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of employment or as a basis for employment decisions; or (b) such advances, requests, or conduct have the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work performance by creating an intimidating, hostile, humiliating, or sexually offensive work environment.These definitions include any direct or implied requests by a supervisor for sexual favors in exchange for actual or promised job benefits, such as favorable reviews, salary increases, promotions, increased benefits or continued employment, as well as any sexually-oriented conduct that is unwelcome and has the effect of creating a workplace environment that is hostile, offensive, intimidating, or humiliating to male or female workers.Examples of conduct that, if unwelcome, may constitute sexual harassment depending upon the totality of the circumstances, including the severity of the conduct and its pervasiveness, include the following:either explicitly or implicitly conditioning any term of employment (e.g., continued employment, wages, evaluation, advancement, assigned duties, or shifts) on the provision of sexual favors;touching a sexual part of an employee’s body;touching any part of an employee’s body after that person has indicated, or it is known, that such physical contact was unwelcome;continuing to ask an employee to socialize on or off-duty when that person has indicated she or he is not interested;displaying or transmitting sexually suggestive pictures, objects, cartoons, or posters if it is known or should be known that the behavior is unwelcome;regularly using sexually vulgar or explicit language in the presence of a person if it is known or should be known that the person does not welcome such behavior;derogatory or provoking remarks about or relating to an employee’s gender, sexual activity, or sexual orientation;coerced sexual acts.‍It is unlawful for males to sexually or discriminatorily harass females or other males, and for females to sexually or discriminatorily harass males or other females. Sexual or discriminatory harassment on the job is unlawful whether it involves co-worker harassment, harassment by a manager, or harassment by persons doing business with or for Spark. Sexual or discriminatory harassment may subject Spark to liability.
[H3] COMPLAINT PROCEDURE
The responsibility to investigate complaints of harassment has been assigned to: (1) Alexa Lyons, CFO (alexa@sparkcapital.com; 617-830-2014); (2) Diana Berisha, General Counsel (diana@sparkcapital.com; 917-243-4436). Any employee who believes that he or she has been the subject of harassment or knows of possible harassment should report the alleged act to Alexa or Diana as soon as possible. If the employee would prefer to report the alleged act to his or her direct supervisor, or to any other manager, the employee should feel free to do so. These individuals are available to discuss any concerns employees may have and to provide information about Spark’s policy on sexual harassment and the complaint process. All supervisory and management staff are required to report any complaint that they receive, or any harassment that they observe, to Alexa or Diana. Employees should not allow an inappropriate situation to continue by not reporting it, regardless of who is creating or experiencing the situation.An investigation will be undertaken promptly if management receives a complaint or otherwise learns of possible sexual harassment occurring. The investigation may include a private interview with the employee making the complaint, with witnesses, and with the person accused of sexual harassment. The investigation will be conducted in such a way as to maintain confidentiality to the extent practicable under the circumstances. When Spark has completed its investigation, it will, to the extent appropriate, inform the person filing the complaint and the person alleged to have committed the conduct of the results of the investigation. If the investigation reveals that sexual harassment did occur, Spark will act promptly to eliminate the offending conduct, and where it is appropriate, impose disciplinary action. Sanctions may include counseling, verbal or written warnings, suspension, and/or discharge.It is unlawful to retaliate against an employee for filing a complaint of sexual harassment or for cooperating in an investigation of a complaint for sexual harassment. Any individual who has been found to engage in such retaliation against another employee may be subject to appropriate sanctions, including counseling, verbal or written warnings, suspension, and/or discharge. If any employee believes that she or he has been subjected to retaliation for having brought or supported a complaint of harassment, that employee is encouraged to report the situation as soon as possible to his or her direct supervisor or the CFO.The state agencies responsible for complaints of sexual harassment are:Massachusetts: the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (“MCAD”). The MCAD can be reached in Boston at One Ashburton Place, Room 601, Boston, MA 02108-1518, telephone number (617) 994-6000.‍New York: New York Division of Human Rights. The NY Division of Human Rights can be reached at Office of Sexual Harassment Issues, NYS Division of Human Rights, 55 Hanson Place, Room 900, Brooklyn, NY 11217, telephone number (718) 722-2060.‍California: CA Department of Fair Employment and Housing (“DFEH”). The DFEH can be reached at 2218 Kausen Drive, Suite 100, Elk Grove, CA 95758, telephone number (800) 884-1684.The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) is the federal agency that investigates sexual harassment claims. The EEOC can be reached at:Massachusetts: John F. Kennedy Federal Building, 475 Government Center, 4th Floor, Room 475, Boston, MA 02203, telephone number (617) 565-3200.‍New York: 33 Whitehall Street, 5th floor, New York, NY, 10004, telephone number (800) 669-4000.‍California: 450 Golden Gate Avenue, 5 West, P.O. Box 36025, San Francisco, CA 94102-3661, telephone number (800) 669-4000.Both the MCAD and the EEOC require that a claim must be filed within 300 days of the incident complained of. DFEH and the NY Division of Human Rights require that a claim must be filed within one year of the incident complained of.We trust that all managers, supervisory personnel and employees will continue to act responsibly to establish a pleasant working environment free of sexual harassment and discrimination of any type.
[H3] ENTREPRENEURS, INVESTORS, AND OTHER THIRD PARTIES
Spark values its relationships with entrepreneurs, investors, and other third parties. All persons with whom Spark does business must be treated professionally, and with dignity and respect. Entrepreneurs should be supported and provided opportunities, as appropriate, without regard to their race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, national origin, ancestry, age (forty and above), physical or mental disability, veteran status, military service or application for military service, participation in discrimination complaint-related activities or any other categories protected by local, state or federal law. No persons with whom Spark does business should ever be given reason to conclude that their gender or membership in a protected category has had any impact whatsoever on their business dealings with Spark.Spark personnel are also strictly prohibited from engaging in any discriminatory or sexual harassment toward entrepreneurs or any other persons with whom Spark does business. The definitions and examples set forth in the policy on discriminatory and sexual harassment set forth above apply equally to such persons. If conduct would not be permissible with respect to a fellow employee, it is likewise impermissible with respect to entrepreneurs and other third parties.Each Spark employee has an important role to play in ensuring that entrepreneurs and other persons with whom Spark does business are protected from discrimination and from sexual and discriminatory harassment. Whether the conduct is by management, supervisory personnel, non- supervisory personnel or a third party, if any Spark employee observes or otherwise knows of possible discrimination or harassment in violation of this policy, the employee is required report the matter to Alexa Lyons or Diana Berisha immediately.It is of paramount importance that Spark promote an environment where persons feel they can voice concerns about discrimination and harassment, without fear of retaliation or reprisal. Spark employees are strictly prohibited from engaging in any retaliation against other employees, entrepreneurs, or other persons with whom we do business for reporting concerns about discrimination or harassment, or participating in any investigation of such conduct. Any persons found to have engaged in retaliation will be subject to disciplinary action, which may include termination.
[H3] NON-FRATERNIZATION
Romantic, sexual, familial, and other intimate relationships between either (a) supervisory or management personnel and employees within their chain-of-command, or (b) a Spark employee and an entrepreneur, can raise issues of equity, fairness, and favoritism, generally. Even the appearance of favoritism must be avoided. Accordingly, such relationships are not permitted. If Spark becomes aware of a romantic, sexual, familial, or other intimate relationship involving supervisory or management personnel and an employee within their chain-of-command, one of the involved employees may be transferred (i.e., outside the chain-of-command) and/or other disciplinary or corrective action may be imposed. If Spark becomes aware of a romantic, sexual, familial, or other intimate relationship involving a Spark employee and an entrepreneur, it should be reported to Alexa Lyons or Diana Berisha.Such relationships between employees who are not within the same chain-of-command are not addressed by this policy. However, if, in Spark’s opinion, the appearance of impropriety, a conflict, disruption, or other problem m