Authors/Essays

Racial Equity Is Not an Add-On: Getting Diversity Right for Our Communities and Our Economy

Karla Monterroso
Acting CEO, Code2040

Twitter: @karlitaliliana 

 

Allison Jones
Director of Marketing and Communications, Code2040

Twitter: @ajlovesya 

 

At this stage in the “diversity in the workplace” conversation, the business case has been made. Time and time again, researchers have provided hard metrics that support the inclusion of women, people of color, and others who bring unique perspectives—and rarely has doing the right thing so closely aligned with doing the most profitable thing. But many companies still find themselves struggling to enact the cultural change required to drive this type of change forward within their organizations. And we’re starting to see a backlash among some in Silicon Valley who are sick of hearing they need more women and people of color in their ranks.

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Getting There: Transportation as a Key to Economic Opportunity

Joseph Okpaku
Vice President, Government Relations, Lyft

Twitter: @JosephOkpaku

For people living in lower-income neighborhoods, what is the single most determinative factor in economic upward mobility? Crime? Education? Jobs?

Not according to studies out of Harvard and NYU which found that “commuting time has emerged as the single strongest factor in the odds of escaping poverty.”

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Black to the Future: Will Robots Increase Racial Inequality?

Spencer Overton
President, The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies

Twitter: @SpencerOverton

Today, we stand at the crossroads of opportunity. If we do nothing, automation and other technologies could displace Black workers and increase racial disparities. But with strategic positioning that accurately predicts the skills and jobs that will be in demand, we can harness automation to increase prosperity and opportunity for the Black community.

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From Welfare to the Workforce: Training Low-Income Mothers for 21st Century Success

Valarie Shultz-Wilson
President & CEO, Urban League of Southern Connecticut

Twitter:   @UrbanLeagueSoC1

For many low-income mothers timing out of welfare-to-work programs, they face a future where they do not possess the credentials and technological skills necessary to secure 21st century jobs. New collar jobs require an easy familiarity with high levels of automation. Employers routinely seek workers with college degrees in science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics (STEAM) and companies are increasingly relying on non-permanent, agile talent, e.g., temporary workers, consultants, and freelancers, all of which places a greater burden on workers to be competitive in our global job market.  

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The ABCs of Black Wealth: Ambition, Black Entrepreneurship, and Cryptocurrencies

Nnena Ukuku
Partner, Venture Gained
Owner, Simplicity@Legal
Founder, Black Founders Start Up Community

Twitter:@nukuku

In our never-ending quest to “secure the bag,” many of us may have contemplated owning the popular, media darling Bitcoin. But rather than collect these (bit)coins, it would better serve communities of color to own the technology that powers Bitcoin and all other cryptocurrencies.

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Diversity, Inclusion and Growth Define the Future of the Tech Sector

Martin Whittaker, CEO, JUST Capital

Twitter: @justcapital

 

Hernando Cortina, Director of Indexes & Analytics, JUST Capital

Twitter: @justcapital

 

One of the most pernicious ironies of the technology boom in America has been that despite its progressive ideals and socially-conscious intentions, not to mention the huge amounts of wealth it has created, the tech sector has underperformed when it comes to advancing the economic and social prospects of communities of color and promoting diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

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Cracking Tech’s Diversity Code

Darnell L. Williams
President and CEO of the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts

Facebook: @ULEM

Technology is one of the fastest growing industries in Massachusetts and its largest employer. Last year, the tech sector in Massachusetts added 9,400 jobs to the economy, but far too often a large swath of the population was excluded from these job opportunities.

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