Communications of the ACM
Black Engineers Join Forces to Boost Diversity
New nonprofit /dev/color seeks to address the scarcity of African-Americans in technology.
Credit: /dev/color
Software engineer Makinde Adeagbo officially launched the /dev/color nonprofit last week to address the scarcity of African-Americans in the technology industry.
The group has recruited African-American engineers from top tech firms to mentor and represent other blacks and elevate the next generation, according to Adeagbo.
"We are a community that helps one another, and part of that is that younger people get to see these role models: black software engineers who are getting into management, or trying to start their own companies, or are becoming real experts in their technical domain," Adeagbo says. "Those examples help lead someone to believe: I can do this because someone like me is doing this."
The nonprofit pairs each member with another to offer guidance and establish goals.
In an online community, members learn the skills and connections needed to advance in the tech industry, while social events give black engineers the opportunity to engage with a Caucasian-dominated sector.
The nonprofit joins a growing list of African-American-founded organizations committed to solving the tech industry's racial diversity problem, which includes Black Girls Code, Code 2040, and the Hidden Genius Project.
From USA Today
View Full Article
Abstracts Copyright © 2015 Information Inc., Bethesda, Maryland, USA
No entries found