AnitaB.org President and CEO Brenda Darden Wilkerson recently participated in the SXSW panel “Still So White: Tackling Diversity in Media & Tech” about the barriers in making diversity and inclusion happen across the media and tech industries, and what everyone needs to do to move DEI forward.
UPDATE: Read or listen to Brenda’s Forbes article “Decade of Failure: Improving the Future of DEI in Media and Tech” recapping the dialogue.
Here’s an excerpt:
“The DEI problems in tech present different challenges but have similar roots to those in the media industry. Technology developed solely by cisgeneder white men (the largest demographic in tech) generally cannot efficiently identify and address the specific needs of those outside of their demo or psychographics. People cannot solve for what they don’t know and what they don’t listen to. The rallying cry to diversify tech has been sounding for years and it is time for leaders to stop, listen, learn and act. They need to be ready to sit with their discomfort and do the hard work.”
Read more posts from the thread AnitaB.org Expands Open Source Programming With Support From craig newmark philanthropies