{"id":3708,"date":"2016-11-16T22:40:52","date_gmt":"2016-11-16T22:40:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/achangeiscoming.net\/?p=327"},"modified":"2016-11-16T22:40:52","modified_gmt":"2016-11-16T22:40:52","slug":"time-to-double-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/2024.thenexus.today\/index.php\/2016\/11\/16\/time-to-double-down\/","title":{"rendered":"It\u2019s time to double down on diversity and inclusion"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"lights-and-candles\"Two days after the election, New Tech Northwest<\/a> had a diversity-in-tech event<\/a> in Bellevue. To be honest, I wasn\u2019t in the mood. Networking\u2019s an effort for me even in the best of times, and this is most definitely not the best of times. But then again it seemed better than spending more time being depressed about the results, so I decided to go.<\/p>\n

I wasn\u2019t the only one who felt that way.\u00a0 Almost all the speakers talked about the election, sharing their shock and sadness, saying things like \u201cI didn’t know if I would be up to coming tonight”.\u00a0 It came up in a lot of the casual discussions with other attendees as well.\u00a0 Several people told me it was the first time they had been out of their house since Tuesday.<\/p>\n

By the end of the event, most of us were in a noticeably better frame of mind.\u00a0\u00a0 Some of it was just the experience of being in a diverse crowd of interesting people, talking about something we’re all passionate about\u00a0 Most of all, though, it was the very first speaker who changed the mood – for me, and I think for a lot of others as well.<\/p>\n

How to react?<\/h2>\n

Cynthia Tee, Executive Director of Ada Developers Academy started her talk off by saying \u201cYes, I\u2019m going to go there,\u201d and shared how the morning after the election she spoke with a diverse group of women, non-binary, and gender fluid students. What message to send them?<\/p>\n

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“It’s time to double down on diversity and inclusion.”<\/p>\n

Cynthia Tee<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Yeah, really!<\/p>\n

Cynthia\u2019s Preparing for the Years Ahead<\/a> on the Ada Developer Academy tumblr goes into a lot more detail about what she means. Here\u2019s an excerpt:<\/p>\n

What happened last night and today makes us more defiant, and determined to double down on the change we\u2019re after. We each look inward and ask ourselves what we can do individually – and as a team – to combat oppression, speak up against it, and support other organizations who champion equity…. There is no place for neutrality, complacency, or silence. As a community, we want to move through this historical moment with solidarity, agency, activism, and pride.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Indeed.<\/p>\n

A few days later, here’s what EricaJoy<\/a> said in her post After:<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

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\nIt is time for leaders in the the tech industry to double down on their Diversity and Inclusion efforts.<\/p>\n

EricaJoy<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Hey wait a second, I\u2019m noticing a pattern here!<\/p>\n

Reasons to double down<\/h2>\n
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“Progress is not inevitable, it requires our intervention.”<\/p>\n

Malkia Cyril, at Fusion Magazine’s Real Future Fair<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

In the aftermath of the Trumpocalypse, there are a lot of reasons to double down on diversity and inclusion.\u00a0\u00a0 The most important: a lot of blacks, Latinxs, women, Muslims, LGBTQs, immigrants, people with disabilities, and other marginalized groups are being targeted and need our support right now.\u00a0 Several of the links in the reading list have suggestions about how you can help.<\/p>\n

And let’s face it, the lack of diversity in the leadership and engineering teams of companies like Facebook<\/a> and Twitter<\/a> helped contribute to where we are today.\u00a0 The environment they’ve created empowers harassers and trolls; magnifies hate speech<\/a> and false news<\/a>; pushes people into filter bubbles and echo chambers;<\/a> optimizes for psychological manipulation<\/a> and radicalization;<\/a> and tracks people’s preferences, locations, associations, and personal data without protections against authoritarian governments.<\/p>\n

Now the same kinds of non-diverse teams at non-diverse companies are building VR worlds with no defense against sexual assault<\/a> and algorithms that embed historical biases in the code at the expense of marginalized groups<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0 Is this really what we want?<\/p>\n

The world’s ready for a new approach to software<\/a>, one that embraces differences and sees diversity as a strength.<\/p>\n

Diverse teams are more creative and better at problem solving<\/a>.\u00a0 Yes, it can be challenging to get people from different backgrounds to communicate effectively and work together well;\u00a0 but as I was pointing out just last week, we know a lot about how to create inclusive environments<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0 The diversity-in-technology community can be a key part of a multiracial, multi-cultural, international, transpartisan alliance of people who want to work together to change things – in tech, and more broadly.<\/p>\n

And finally, while the short-term priority is to limit the damage from this election, here in the US and around the world, we’re not just trying to get back to the situation we had before.\u00a0 Our goal is to build the kind of world we want to live in.\u00a0 For me – and hopefully for you as well – diversity and inclusion are at the center of the future we’re creating.<\/p>\n

Postscript: additional reading, ripped from today’s headlines<\/h2>\n

Here\u2019s a handful of links from the last week or so that I’ve found especially valuable.\u00a0 Read and share!<\/p>\n