Female and Latinx-founded fintech company, Mendoza Ventures, has taken a massive step in its move to invest in underrepresented startups. Bank of America’s Investment Mendoza recently achieved a first close on its third $100M fund to further their work to support startups founded by diverse founders. The fund, led by Bank of America (BofA), included Grasshopper Bank alongside multiple other investors. The anchor funding comes from BofA’s commitment to making capital much more accessible to founders often overlooked by investors. “Mendoza Ventures is at the forefront of supporting innovation and
The Business of Tech’s Diversity report has revealed that diversity in IT leadership still has a long way to go. What is The Business of Tech’s report all about? The report, created by Dave Sobel, examines diversity development in tech leadership. Sobel, the host of The Business of Tech podcast, is a leading expert in delivering technology services. Through his podcast, Sobel discusses uncomfortable topics associated with tech and business – one of which is diversity. “We love metrics in our industry. We have data and statistics and performance numbers
The tech industry has a diversity problem. At this point, improving diversity in the tech industry is no longer a moral imperative but a massive key to reducing economic inequality. What is Capital One’s Make Today initiative? Capital One is using its new initiative to promote diverse tech talent. The banking platforms hope this will be the first step in creating welcoming tech workplaces by building financial technology products that bring diverse perspectives to data solutions. The Make Today initiative – which will be led by Kimberly Hall, Vice President of Software
A new report by the RAND Corp. has revealed that the success of Pittsburgh’s tech sector heavily relies on the city’s ability to diversify its tech hires. What did the report reveal? The report titled “Assessing Pittsburgh’s Science and Technology-Focused Workforce Ecosystem” has disclosed that, among other challenges, Pittsburgh faces a declining population that severely impacts its workforce. According to the report, approximately 18% of Pittsburgh’s employment works in science and technology-focused occupations, which is higher than the national figure of 16%. However, Pittsburgh’s workforce does not reflect the makeup of its population,
Who said braids weren’t professional? Fionnghuala “Fig” O’Reilly is committed to redefining what is deemed “acceptable” in the workplace. The pioneering engineer sparked the attention of hundreds of Twitter users after a photo of herself rocking feed-in braids in the lab went viral. After becoming the first Black woman to represent Ireland in the Miss Universe competition and becoming the only Black woman in her class to graduate with a systems engineering, O’Reilly is used to beating the odds. The engineer, who has spent her whole life navigating her dual
A lack of inclusive and welcoming work environments is contributing to poor retention rates among young diverse tech workers, finds a new report by Wiley Edge. In a survey of 2,000 18 to 24-year-old UK tech workers, only 1 in 5 said they liked their company’s culture. Another 1 in 5 felt welcomed by their colleagues. Black respondents were the least—and white respondents the most—likely to say they liked and felt welcome in their company’s culture. When asked why they had ever left or wanted to leave a tech role,
From tech conferences to business challenges, HP’s global chief information officer (CIO) Ron Guerrier, is spearheading the tech giant’s work with HBCUs to build and foster Black talent into tech. Throughout his pathway to IT leadership, Guerrier has made it his priority to speak up about the lack of diversity in the industry. The trailblazer’s new partnership with HBCU is a further testament to his commitment to helping his community break into the sector. HP’s partnership with HBCUs Through Guerrier, HP will be working alongside HBCUs to build a
Despite Big Tech’s promises in the summer of 2020, Black and Brown tech employees are finding themselves hard hit by short-sighted cuts to diversity efforts and layoffs. The Great Reset “The great reset” is what San Jose State University’s Professor Ahmed Banafa calls the current climate of tech layoffs, restructuring, and downsizing. While much of the global economy took a massive hit during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the tech industry thrived. Tech companies made huge profits and hired tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of new staff. Yet, fast forward
To celebrate Computer Science Education week, Girls Who Code have launched a new video game, Girls Who Code Girls, tailored to turning users into creators by helping them code their characters. According to recent stats, 77% of video game developers are men meaning most female and non-binary characters are designed by men, which is why women are misrepresented. Black Girls Who Code hopes to change that with their new gaming experience. Girls Who Code, founded by Reshma Saujani, is a non-profit organization committed to disrupting the imbalance in gaming by challenging the misogynistic culture that
Design engineer Lisa-Dionne Morris is the UK’s 41st Black woman professor, an achievement she describes as a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.” After working in the industry for over a decade, Morris was able to kickstart her professorship after joining the 100 Black Women Professors NOW initiative, which aims to help Black academic women navigate and manage their careers. Morris’ promotion to Professor of Public & Industry Understanding of Capability Driven Design within the School of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Leeds marks the first professorship of the program. The program, which
