According to Google Trends data, there has been a greater increase in U.S. searches for Black-owned businesses, artists, and leaders than ever before. Historically, Black Americans have inspired change and pushed society forward. The racial disparity in tech is staggering -- a reported 67% of tech companies are made up of less than 5% of Black employees and Black women make up less than 0.5% of leadership roles in tech. Trailblazers in the industry have founded organizations that are working to increase representation in the Black community. Their visions and missions highlighted below:
Coding Programs
Our Vision: To increase the number of women of color in the digital space by empowering girls of color ages 7 to 17 to become innovators in STEM fields, leaders in their communities, and builders of their own futures through exposure to computer science and technology. To provide African-American youth with the skills to occupy some of the 1.4 million computing job openings expected to be available in the U.S. by 2020, and to train 1 million girls by 2040.
Our vision is the equitable distribution of power in an economy shaped by the digital revolution.
Ada Developers Academy is a non-profit, tuition-free coding school for women and gender diverse adults. We focus on serving low income people, underrepresented minorities, and members of the LGBTQIA+ community.
The Federal Reserve Bank, OHUB delivers early exposure, skills development, job placement, entrepreneurship support programming, net new job creation and alternative capital formation via geographically placed technology hubs, citywide communities, campus chapters, managed programs and live experiences and technology that include thousands of college students, young professionals, founders, investors and ecosystem builders throughout America and beyond.
Education/Career Advancement
○ National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering
NACME partners with like-minded entities to provide scholarships, resources, and opportunities for high-achieving, underrepresented minority college students pursuing careers in engineering and computer science. By supporting their academic endeavors and professional development, NACME produces well-qualified candidates that meet today's urgent hiring demands for more diverse STEM talent.
Blacks In Technology is a tech focused community and media organization that is dedicated to increasing the representation and participation of Black people in the technology industry.
○ National Society of Black Engineers
The mission of the National Society of Black Engineers is "to increase the number of culturally responsible Black Engineers who excel academically, succeed professionally and positively impact the community."
○ BDPA
BPDA has enabled the upward mobility of African Americans and other minorities in the Information Technology (IT) and STEM fields
○ Information Technology Senior Management Forum
By 2020, ITSMF will graduate 500 professionals through a series of rich, developmental, and career-advancing programs, and do so by being a second family to its members and partners.
Entrepreneurship
To use innovation to create system change by catalyzing economic growth for Black and Latinx communities through women entrepreneurs.
Black & Brown Founders gives entrepreneurs knowledge, tools and cutting-edge tactics to launch startups without relying on venture capital.
While the diversity gap is no doubt a major concern in tech, the positive is that people are more aware than ever before that this diversity gap in tech is a real problem. Ultimately, the US education system and businesses will transform, nonprofits will expand, and more Black employees will find, and stay in, careers in computing-related tasks.
Diverse teams are, and always will be, the only way companies will keep up with the changing demands of a world.