3 Steps To An Inclusive Tech Ecosystem – In Oakland And Beyond

This post is part of Jopwell’s “From The Desk Of” series featuring the leading voices in corporate America sharing their thoughts, insights, and experiences around building more diverse and inclusive workforces.

You have likely never heard my title before: Chief Technology Community Officer (CTCO). It’s a hybrid role centered around the intersection of tech, social justice, community, and place. As CTCO of the Kapor Center, every day I have the opportunity to create a more inclusive tech ecosystem, in and beyond our homebase in Oakland, California.

How did I get here? It wasn’t a straightforward path, but rather, a journey complete with three career pivots, half a dozen cities I called home, and learnings from communities across the U.S. and abroad.

I studied electrical engineering as an undergraduate at the University of Southern California and then began my career as a software engineer in the aerospace industry, working on jet fighters and integrating space subcomponents into larger systems. While I found this type of engineering fascinating, most of my work was done behind classified walls. I discovered that my passion lies in looking at complex problems and bringing people together to solve them in new ways.

So, I completed my MBA and pivoted into the world of management consulting. I worked with both governmental and commercial clients, collaborating with stakeholders on new ways to use data, create and deliver products, and explore emerging technologies via startups. It was exciting work, but I wanted more purpose, especially once I moved to the Bay area, where we have extremely high levels of homelessness; gaps in access to technology and infrastructure across zip codes; and never-ending stories of people of color sidelined in tech.

Meeting the Kapor Center founders, Mitch and Freada Kapor, at an Oakland community event was the catalyst that led to my current role as CTCO of the organization. At Kapor, I apply the same problem-solving skills I gained in the earlier years of my career to our mission to create and activate a more inclusive tech ecosystem for all, and that starts with going deep in Oakland.

In Oakland, Black and Latinx professionals make up less than 20 percent of the tech community. And, while some may point out that this is an above-average representation when compared to the U.S. average of 3 percent, it is still not acceptable. We can and will do better.

Oakland residents employed in the city’s tech sector have the highest potential for upward economic mobility, given that they earn 75 percent more than the average worker. But how can we in Oakland say that we are the home of tech “done right” when gentrification, lack of affordable housing, and the underemployment of people of color are creating huge social and economic inequality? Oakland prides itself on its diversity, and yet, our representation numbers are starting to resemble the staggeringly low figures seen in Silicon Valley.

At the Kapor Center, we believe that when the community of tech leaders reflects the diversity of the United States, tech will play an integral role in closing gaps and disparities that exist in this country. We work to create and support game-changing initiatives that open up tech pathways and entrepreneurship opportunities for people of color and those who are underrepresented. As CTCO, a big part of my job is to ask: Are we doing enough to create a diverse, inclusive, innovative tech community? There is a lot of talk, but what are the solutions that will create genuinely representative and inclusive tech, and how do we support them? Are we being forward-looking without minimizing the complexities?

Here are three mantras that I believe are critical to activating this type of change.

1. Provide a physical homebase.

In Oakland, the people drive the culture and the city — and I learned fast that intentional, progressive use of space is a key need of our community. Oakland has gone through significant gentrification, which means that commercial and residential space are at a premium. We have seen the community members we serve leave Oakland and go farther out in the East Bay just to afford housing. Those same folks are now traveling from as far as three times the distance to have access to the same services. So, providing an open, welcoming, physical space for innovation is crucial if we want to nurture diverse talent.

Our new building was specially designed for tech-focused community activation. In 2017, the Kapor Center (which includes Level Playing Field Institute, our nonprofit arm that engages with underrepresented youth in STEM, as well as Kapor Capital, our venture arm) hosted about 350 events, curated to show how tech can be a tool for progress if we use our voices and actions to shape it.

During a recent event, we invited Oakland community members to join us as two Black venture capitalists talked shop. It was striking to walk into a room where the “Silicon Valley ratio” does not apply to us – because we are in Oakland at the Kapor Center – a place where the people doing and teaching the work look like people in our community. We don’t believe in simply talking about diversity – we focus on showing it.

2. Offer support at every stage.

I want to empower Oaklanders, starting with youth, not just to consume content but to create it. I want to embolden them to make products that matter, that areculturally relevant, that are inclusive, and can monetize like crazy. My systems engineering background has helped me, as CTCO, to be very intentional about the design of our tech pathways and tech entrepreneurship programming.

It all centers around raw talent. We help power TechHire Oakland, an initiative that provides a one-stop shop for underrepresented Oaklanders – in high school to community college and beyond – to gain access to tech skill building programs, internships and jobs through a community-driven network of local training and employment partners. Our Oakland Startup Network, is another pathway for aspiring and current tech entrepreneurs in our community to be connected to educational content, curated mentoring, free space, and customized event programming.

Once we have the raw talent, we encourage them to take action. In partnership with the largest startup global network, Techstars, we have to-date fostered startup ecosystems in four cities across the U.S. through Startup Weekends (54-hour events that take a venture from idea to launch). So far, more than 300 participants have walked away with business prototypes created with the help of peers and mentors after one impactful weekend.

After the prototype phase, we continue to support tech innovators at the Kapor Center Innovation Lab, or iLab, which incubates tech talent at the critical stage of validation. Our first cohort, comprised of five nonprofits and seven entrepreneurs, will be completing their residency this March and will continue to grow and scale.

Finally, through our sibling organization, Kapor Capital, and their peers, we are further increasing social capital and pathways to venture funding for our community.

My mantra in community building is to meet people where they are at. This requires not only visible pathways, but also those that are vetted, trusted, and deliver results. By providing support at each stage, we are helping our community not only master tech skills in emerging technologies, but also, create new technologies we have yet to see.

3. Look toward – and invest in – the future.

We want to prepare our community for the future, today. If we don’t look forward, we will miss another tech transformation and thus miss the opportunity to unlock the economic rewards that tech may bring. Inviting members of our community into our work, helps us more easily see where the gaps are in the ecosystem. We see where funders are investing money, and we try to direct community-based organizations towards those resources and prepare them for the next phase of technology innovation.

As a continuously curious techie at heart, I am always learning about new tech trends, in particularly the impact of automation and artificial intelligence in our communities. Oakland’s complex infrastructure, housing, economic, and social justice issues require us to look for new perspectives. If we do not apply diverse thinking to artificial intelligence, we will allow others to codify their biases into algorithms that soon will impact all of us. In Oakland, this sense of urgency is starting to feel palpable. Half of our workforce is in industries that are changing rapidly because of technology. As these industries push for automation, a significant number of jobs will disappear with new jobs requiring new skills to arise. These emerging technologies are not for just technologists anymore; everybody needs to be a proactive part of this discussion. To continue this work outside the walls of Kapor Center and Oakland, I recently joined the advisory board for an Oakland-based A.I.-skillbuilding organization, Ai-4-All.org. I am also on the board of 1Degree.org, a tech nonprofit, digitizing social services resources and access to end the cycle of poverty in this new tech era. Together, we will change not only the face of modern tech, but of emerging tech.

Now more than ever, we need intentional, intersectional, and empathic leadership in technology that keeps our diverse communities at the center. As a hub that connects the dots between the talent in the community and industry, the Kapor Center is establishing a growing, foundational trust. We hope to show people how we can continuously learn together – and that “we” includes everybody.

The Kapor Center For Social Impact is a Jopwell partner company and investor.