I’m passionate about increasing the diversity of the tech pipeline. The scale of the problem and the multitudes of contributing factors can be overwhelming at times. But I’m not one to shy away from meaty problem, especially when I’m passionate about the outcome.

I joined the WTIA Diversity Action Committee to work on this problem. Today, we’re publicly launching a small, but important effort.  We want to create relationships between tech leaders and those struggling to enter and stay motivated in the tech pipeline, especially women and underrepresented minorities. The Speakers Bureau is the beginning of that effort.

The Speakers Bureau connects tech leaders who are passionate about encouraging people to pursue careers in technology with organizations who are helping to increase the diversity of the tech pipeline. If you’re a tech leader, you can sign up to be notified about specific opportunities to inspire budding technologists.  If you’re an organization focused on increasing the diversity and capacity of our tech pipeline, you can make a specific request for participation and we’ll send out a bat call to our index of tech leaders who fit your need.

We believe that further opportunities for collaboration and support will emerge from these connections.

To explain my beliefs and goals for this program, I drafted the Fire Starter’s Manifesto. If you believe these things and see the value in connecting tech leaders with organizations fostering a more diverse tech pipeline, please join us.

The Fire Starter’s Manifesto

Access to technology is not optional. It is not a lifestyle. Technology fundamentally transforms education, access to capital and critical services, employment opportunities, human connections, health, and wellness. The rate of innovation is increasing. Technologists, therefore, have an outsized impact on our experience of the world.

There is a widening chasm between the urgent need for qualified technologists and our ability to develop them. Further, the technology industry does not reflect the diversity of experiences, perspectives, and backgrounds that make up our communities.

The overwhelming homogeneity of the tech pipeline is acute early on and becomes excruciating at executive levels. We believe a person’s opportunity should not be limited by gender, skin color, religion, or socio-economic background.

Fostering a diverse and rich tech industry is a moral imperative. Access to technologies created by and for diverse perspectives will improve income equality and social justice.

Although we face powerful structural barriers that erode the tech talent pipeline, there is nothing inherent about technology that makes it unfriendly to women and underrepresented minorities. The structural barriers are man-made and they will be unmade.

We believe in tackling big, seemingly insurmountable challenges by breaking them down into smaller tasks. As Martin Luther King reminds us, “The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends towards justice.” Every small ac of virtue creates a ripple effect beyond measure. Together, we are creating a more welcoming, enriching, and equitable technology industry.

It is difficult to dream about something that you have never seen.

Many people are discouraged from pursuing tech careers simply because they either do not know anyone who works in these fields, or they do not understand what people in these fields do.

We believe that telling our stories matters. You can change the course of someone’s life by sharing the right idea at the right moment. Telling someone “It’s important to me that you’re here” and “You can do this” makes a profound difference.

William Butler Yeats said, “Educating isn’t the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.”  We believe in lighting the fire and inspiring everyone – especially women and underrepresented minorities – to explore the compelling world of technology.