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The Congressional Black Caucus, like Jesse Jackson, feels it’s time that something is done about the lack of diversity in the tech sector. And the CBC is taking action. It recently hosted a live stream panel discussion to introduce CBC TECH 2020, which is a new initiative aimed at increasing African-American representation and diversity in Silicon Valley.
Diversity in tech is something CBC chair, Congressman G.K. Butterfield, takes seriously. “When I was sworn in, one of my promises was that we would launch an effort that would evaluate Fortune 500 companies to determine if they are diverse and inclusive. It has appeared to me over the years that they are not. 500 companies are a lot to evaluate at one time, but we will do it. We chose the tech sector to start because it’s one of the fastest sectors in the country and African Americans are a major part of its customer base,” Butterfield told The National Journal.
Tech is a booming industry and Butterfield wants to make sure Blacks benefit from the sector’s jobs boom. “We know that over the next five years, there will be 1.4 new tech jobs created and we would like a fair shot at some of these jobs,” he said. “All of these companies are greatly lacking in diversity from top to bottom; the stats are embarrassing and deplorable.”
According to Butterfield, one way to close this gap is to make the tech sector more appealing to African-American high school and college students.
“We want [tech companies] to go to HBCUs and recruit students; we want them to give some of their philanthropy money to STEM programs geared towards African-American students who just need the programs to give them the boost needed to move forward. It’s about community reinvestment – and that should be easy because these companies make millions of dollars in profits. There’s nothing wrong with making unprecedented profits, but I would hope that there would be some reinvestment,” explained Butterfield.
And like Jackson’s push to get the tech giants to address diversity, Butterfield says through CBC TECH 2020 it will also reach out to these companies to add African Americans to their boards and in senior management positions.
“The board of director issue shouldn’t take a lot of time – maybe 6 months to a year,” says Butterfield. “And there are qualified Blacks who could easily move up to senior positions. The workforce issue, however, is more difficult.”
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