DINT 121 - Can Kamala Harris boost leadership status for Black women in tech?
With Harris's powerful acceptance speech yesterday, we have hope that Black excellence will gain acceptance and recognition in tech.
Kamala Harris is looking quite presidential.
Tech leaders, particularly Black female tech leaders, can expect a bump in visibility in the workplace, say leading experts.
That’s because representation doesn’t just help youngsters from our demographic believe they can rise to our heights or greater. Representation helps our colleagues of all backgrounds to see Black women as capable leaders.
It’s beyond due time.
During Harris’s acceptance speech for the Democratic Party nomination last night, she looked into the camera and said, “We believe women.” This in response to Donald Trump’s Project 2025 requirement for each state to report on adherence to draconian laws governing women’s bodies to a government official whose sole job is to monitor such things.
But Harris communicated something deeper with her direct statement that we believe women. She’s making it ok. She’s making it safe for women to vote for her.
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Why do Black women in tech, as opposed to all sectors, face such an uphill battle when ascending to, and remaining within, significant leadership roles?
We have an archetype of the tech leader. When asked to create a picture of a tech leader, ChatGPT develops this image:
ChatGPT was designed by, and trained on data designed for, people who look like the person in the picture above.
The current crop of CEOs at the top of the Big Tech firms look like this:
Whether we know it or not, we’re acculturated to seeing tech leaders as male and white or South Asian.
Is it too much of a burden to put on Harris’s shoulders to change that dynamic? Harris convened a meeting of top-level leaders in tech to discuss implications of AI on the U.S. and the world overall.
Black female tech executives look like this according to ChatGPT:
For real-world Black, female tech CEOs, check out People of Color in Tech’s writeup on the Forbes 50 Over 50 list in 2023.
Harris has deep ties to Silicon Valley, (San Francisco) and enjoys widespread financial support among the venture capital elite who fund the apps you’re using today and the ones you’ll be using tomorrow, says The New York Times.
Is it a jump to see Harris’s strong connection to tech as a gateway to significant leadership for Black women in tech? Will someone ‘put some respect on our names’ and actually trust us with high-stakes projects?
The answer may be found in how we each interpret Harris’s statement when describing past difficulties in getting things done in law and government:
“We were underestimated at practically every turn,” Harris stated towards the end of her acceptance speech. “But we never gave up, because the future is always worth fighting for.”
Bits and Bytes
Actress MALINDA WILLIAMS STARTED A CODING BOOT CAMP series for HBCUs, starting at Jackson State University in Mississippi. Williams, known for appearances on the Cosby Show, Sister, Sister, and The Wood, began the bootcamp through her Arise and Shine Foundation, a nonprofit to support women of color in STEM.
Coding isn’t enough
We’re hoping Williams is including ways to expand beyond traditional coding during her bootcamp. Here’s why:
AWS CEO Matt Garman is telling you to DEVELOP OTHER SKILLS. Business Insider uncovered a secret recording of a meeting at AWS in June. In it, AWS CEO Matt Garman told coders, “"If you go forward 24 months from now, or some amount of time — I can't exactly predict where it is — it's possible that most developers are not coding,"
Garman is new in-seat having just ascended to CEO of AWS in June. These words were some of his first as CEO:
"A lot of times we think about customers, which is great, but I'd also encourage everybody internally to think about how you are just completely changing what you're doing," Garman said.
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Adaptive tech
Exciting developments continue to emerge from our youngsters. Khalifa Aminu, a 19-year-old from Nigeria, CREATED GLASSES THAT HELP THE BLIND NAVIGATE THE WORLD SAFELY. The glasses send pulses alerting the wearer to objects around them. The glasses identify the objects through infrared lighting. Aminu’s goal is to help blind people reduce or eliminate the use of a walking stick.
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DINT Reads
Right now I’m reading several dissertations published in the last few years by women tackling questions around advancement in the corporate world for Black women.
Here’s one published in the Harvard Business Review from 2018. The themes remain fresh:
By Alexis Nicole Smith, Marla Baskerville Watkins, Jamie J. Ladge, and Pamela Carlton
Palate Cleanser
Another cool use for tech, automatic sliding doors that only open if you smile.
