Like many industries, the tech sector still has some way to go in addressing diversity and bias issues and although there has been some progress with big companies like Google creating initatives specifically for minority communities – the work shouldn’t and doesn’t stop there. After diverse intake in companies – what roles are they being given, the salary disparity once in the role, the treatment among colleagues and the handling of racism allegations. We’ve heard countless of stories of Black employees and their allies being sidelined for speaking out against
A jury has ordered Tesla to pay nearly $137 million in damages to a former Black employee after it was found to have ignored his racist abuse claims while working at its California factory. Owen Diaz, first hired through a recruitment agency, worked as a freight elevator operator between June 2015 and July 2016 at the manufacturer’s Fremont plant in the San Francisco Bay area. And according to documents, during his tenure, he suffered racist slurs, including the “n-word” and a hostile work environment. “Tesla’s progressive image was a facade
Ellington West is the CEO of Sonavi Labs, a company using a digital stethoscope with Bluetooth connectivity, called Feelix, to identify and diagnose respiratory disease from lung and body sounds. The recognition comes after she closed a seed round with over $3.5 million raised. It was supported by Sand Hill Angels of Silicon Valley, Gaingels, Nightingale Partners, Matt Hellauer of PTX Capital, and other angel investors. The company has also received two grants through the National Institutes of Health worth over $3 million combined. She then went on to win $100,000 in the Princeton Empower 2021 pitch competition. In addition, the company received
Although there aren’t many, Black-owned banks have gone from strength to strength and have enabled the community to accumulate savings, learn finance skills, start their businesses, and more. Some might question why these banks are necessary, and the truth is, in some parts of the world, financial exclusion has put Black people at a severe disadvantage. And if you take a closer inspection at America’s staggering wealth gap where the median wealth for a Black family is just a tenth of a White household’s – it becomes more apparent why minority-owned banks
US tech giant Adobe has donated $3million to historically Black colleges and universities and a Hispanic serving institution to help minority students get into tech. Bowie State University, Winston-Salem State University, and a school catering to Hispanic students will receive $1 million donations under Adobe’s new Anchor School Program. The program aims to “provide students with training, career readiness programs, internships, financial assistance, and digital tools.” Adobe’s chief talent, diversity, and inclusion officer, Brian Miller, told Fortune that it’s a “deep, focused partnership” that “really” allows the company to expose
The not-for-profit organization is raising funds to publish a book highlighting the achievements of 51 Black women in tech to give young people in schools access to role models from diverse communities. Once the book, dubbed The voices in the shadow, is published, TLA Black Women in Tech aims to distribute 300 copies to schools in the UK and Ireland for free. The mission has also been backed by the Digital and Culture Minister, Caroline Dinenage, who said it was important for children to know they can do anything in life. There
When it comes to Venture Capital, the UK is far from meeting the necessary targets for diversity, particularly when it comes to the Black community. But Black VCs up and down the country are not staying silent anymore, and many of them are becoming more and more vocal on the lack of diversity in the sector, with some taking matters into their own hands to make an active change. From blogs and podcasts that advise new founders, group mentoring sessions to even launching their own firms specifically for Black aspiring VCs
Barclays Eagle Labs has partnered with Foundervine [CEO Izzy Obeng pictured] to launch its second 12-week virtual accelerator program designed just for Black-founded early-stage tech businesses. The program, which officially kicks off on November 22, was created to help new startups founded by one or more black entrepreneurs access resources to help them with sales strategy, operations, product development, and leadership. According to Barclays, applications are now open for the Accelerator to UK-based digital and tech start or scale-ups with a “minimum viable proposition for their business and with one or more
A video of a white man verbally abusing a Black Amazon driver and allegedly calling him a racial slur has gone viral. Footage of the incident, captured by a smart Ring Doorbell camera, shows Brad Boynton, who was later revealed to be a Virginia Tech graduate working at Amazon Transportation Services, yelling at driver Boynton Mayrant for walking on his lawn. Viewers can hear Mr. Boyton telling the driver to “walk the F-away” before berating him for walking on the grass. “Dude – on the grass, dude? Do you not know any of
A group of tech and diversity pioneers is calling for robust action to be taken as Facebook’s facial recognition software mistakenly labeled a video featuring Black men as “about primates.” Marcel Hedman, the founder of A. I group Nural Research, a company that explores how artificial intelligence is tackling global challenges, described the long-standing issue as a “multi-layered” problem that can “definitely be solved.” Mr. Hedman, 22, based in London, said: “There was definitely no shock when I heard about the Facebook incident, and I think the reason why is
