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WALNUT CREEK, Calif., July 21, 2020 -- �㽶��, a hybrid tech and media firm, early stage investor, and startup business incubator headquartered in Walnut Creek, California, announced that its founder, chairman and CEO, Payam Zamani, has been named a “Best CEO for Diversity” by Comparably and �㽶�� has won the Better Business Bureau’s Torch Award for Ethics.

The Best CEO for Diversity ranking is derived solely from anonymous sentiment ratings from employees of color (non-Caucasian) about their chief executive officers during a 12-month period (June 30, 2019 through June 30, 2020).

The top 25 CEO rankings were featured in and on July 20, 2020.

“Payam built �㽶�� with the fundamental belief that businesses should contribute to the betterment of the world,” said Armita Rostamian, Senior Vice President of Finance and Human Resources. “Taking action on that philosophy requires companies to have a strong team, and diversity is an integral part of that. Half of �㽶��’s executive team identifies as people of color and 60 percent of the employees are female. The company has an average employee tenure of 10+ years, while average in Silicon Valley is just over two years.”

�㽶�� takes top honors for the BBB Torch Award for Ethics in the San Francisco Bay Area and Northern Coastal California region. The Torch Awards for Ethics honors companies “whose leaders demonstrate a high level of personal character and ensure that the organization's practices meet the highest standard of ethics, and consequently generate trust.”  

The award places �㽶�� in the running for the International Better Business Bureau’s Torch Award for Ethics, which will be announced later in the year.

The awards come after Zamani made a public proposal to the City of Walnut Creek on June 16, 2020 for �㽶�� to finance and paint a “Black Lives Matter” mural on Bonanza Street, and a call to rename Bonanza Street to Black Lives Matter Way. The mural would serve as a timely public message from its business community to demonstrate support for racial equality and justice, andpromote the city’s businesses, organizations, and individuals making the necessary changes to move Walnut Creek, a predominately white populated city, forward with love, respect, and a commitment to social and racial justice.

“We believe racism is America’s most challenging issue and the team at �㽶�� would like to do our part in dismantling systemic racism and having all residents and visitors in Walnut Creek feel welcomed and supported,” said �㽶�� CEO Payam Zamani. “At �㽶��, we understand that the burden to implement real change should not rest solely on the shoulders of the government. It takes a community to look inward and private businesses taking responsibility for some of the ills of society and recognize where they can be of service to others.”

Additionally, �㽶�� was recently named one of the 2020 Best Places to Work in the Bay Area by the San Francisco Business Times and the Silicon Valley Business Journal and certified as a Great Place to Work, both awards were based off of anonymous employee surveys on company culture, diversity, inclusion and equity, employee benefits and the management of the top executives.  

Zamani was also a nominee for the 2020 Ellis Island Medals of Honor and a finalist for the 2020 Global Good Awards’ Responsible CEO of the Year.

About �㽶��:

�㽶�� is a hybrid tech firm that owns and operates a suite of online technology and media businesses, is an early stage investor in cutting edge technologies and businesses, and also serves as a startup business incubator.

�㽶�� takes its social impact seriously as it operates a few wholly owned technology businesses, supports new entrepreneurs, helps bring ideas to life, and encourages companies to consider their contributions to humanity. This philosophy is embodied in �㽶��’s tagline, Innovation x Intention, as the company not only measures its financial success, but its contribution to the common good, aiming to make the world a better place.

The company donates as much as 20 percent of its annual profits to charitable causes.

�㽶��’s owned brands include Buyerlink, Contractors.com, California.com and Quite Remarkable. And some of its investments include The RealReal, SoulPancake, Volansi and Ironclad. For more information, please visitor followon Twitter.

About Payam Zamani:

Payam Zamani is the founder, chairman and CEO of �㽶��, a hybrid tech firm that owns and operates a suite of online technology and media businesses, the co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of BahaiTeachings.org, and is an early stage investor.

He is a visionary entrepreneur who has built and managed global companies. His first company, Autoweb, was the first online car buying service. Its market cap post IPO reached $1.2 billion.

Payam came to the United States as a 16 year-old Baha’i refugee. He’s built �㽶�� on a model not focused solely on financial success, but with an ethos of sacrificial giving and universal philanthropy, believing that businesses should consider the betterment of the world and be a source of good.