TL;DR We don’t have a diverse, equitable, and inclusive (DEI) tech industry. We need one to serve the market better, take the money that’s being left on the table, and produce outsized returns for all. There’s a lack of dollars going to underestimated founders and companies addressing underserved communities, and a lack of diverse check writers. How can we make it a DEI tech industry? Approaches can include, but are not limited to: Increasing the number of underestimated tech talent (also promote, sponsor, and pay well) Increasing the dollars going
TL;DR — This isn’t a self-promotional post about landing a job. It’s about embracing failure and hard lessons as a necessary part of the process in making a lofty dream become a reality. These days when people ask me how I’m doing, I would often ask if they’ve seen “The Pursuit of Happyness” because life for me is like the movie (mainly the ending). Through the pursuit of my own “happiness” — I learned valuable lessons in making a dream become a reality. Imagine celebrating your birthday with family and
At the start of 2019 I made a promise to myself: to only read novels written by women of color. I couldn’t have predicted how much this would change me. The decision wasn’t solely driven by a desire to invest in people and communities that I believe in, but an attempt to balance a lifetime-so-far spent reading the voices of those who represent systems and ideologies that oppress me and communities I care for deeply. The content we consume directly impacts the way we see the world and the way
This article was originally posted here by Wogrammer. Iyore: In Nigeria’s Edo language, it means “I have survived a long and difficult journey.” For Iyore Olaye, this is certainly an apt moniker. The 25-year-old has leaned into the meaning of her name by embracing each challenge life has thrown at her. The result has been a long, difficult, and rewarding journey from an underfunded school district in New Jersey to the startup world of Silicon Valley, where Iyore has earned recognition as one of the most exciting young innovators in
Movin’ to the Music Looking back 5 years, I feel like I’ve failed many times over when I made the decision to leave a job in finance to pursue a music career in NYC. My job in finance entailed me informing my team of technological developments disrupting the banking industry, testing their new mobile app, and researching cybersecurity standards. After a while, I didn’t find my job to be as fulfilling or challenging as I thought it would be, but I stuck it through until one day I received a unique opportunity
This story was originally published on Wogrammer here. Four years ago, Ana decided to leave her role as a business development consultant and become a software engineer. She caught wind of Women in Technology Peru, an organization that teaches women how to code. Although Ana was always interested in math and science, she grew up in an area of Peru that didn’t provide many opportunities to build upon those foundational STEM skills. However, once she immersed herself in an inspiring local community of female coders, it sparked her decision to attend
I came to Affirm from a fairly unusual background. I’d never worked in tech or recruiting and prior to Affirm, I helped run a private optometry practice in Downtown San Francisco. Now I’m a Technical Sourcer on Affirm’s Talent team and co-lead our LGBTQ+ Employee Resource Group (ERG). My career trajectory is untraditional but that’s always been me – I’ve always been a bit different. A little about my past I was born and raised in Kingston, Jamaica until I was 10. Since then I’ve spent a majority of my
After about 9 months teaching myself how to code, I have accepted an offer with the Guardian Newspaper to join their Digital Fellowship programme as an Associate Software Engineer. In this article, I want to support readers who are already teaching themselves how to code or are considering it. For others, I hope this article sheds some light on how we can support those trying to become engineers without bootcamps or formal education. What does self-taught mean? To me being a self taught engineer means that you haven’t completed any formal
What personal passions bring you to Abstract? I’m very passionate about having diversity in my life. I love having friends and coworkers from different backgrounds and walks of life. I love working at Abstract because we all share these views and inclusion is a huge focus. What’s one childhood lesson that you still carry with you to this day? “What’s for you, is for you” is an idea that I truly believe in. Growing up, there were times that I looked at other people’s accomplishments and compared them to my own. More
I got my first job when I was 16. A few weeks after I got my driver’s license, I drove my red, 2002 Ford Focus over to a local Frisch’s Big Boy. I’d never eaten there, but it always seemed to be empty which I thought was just the right level of intimidating for my first job. My would-be manager, a white man of around 60, conducted an informal interview with me at one of the empty tables — we had every seat in the place to choose from. With
