<figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/916/1*2S0LuNew63NtY_PB8scCmw.png"></figure><h4><a href="https://summit.powertofly.com/">Diversity Reboot: Amplifying Black Excellence</a></h4>
<ul>
<li>
What: The theme of this year’s conference is addressing how to best support Black leaders, such that the economic challenges Black people have endured (for example Black women having higher unemployment rates) during the pandemic do not replicate themselves moving forward. This conference is a 4-day</li>
<li>
Where: <a href="https://summit.powertofly.com/">Online</a>
</li>
<li>
When: Feb 7–10, 2021</li>
<li>
Cost: Free</li>
</ul>
<a href="https://summit.powertofly.com/#rsvp">Register here</a>
<h4><a href="https://hopin.com/events/february-virtual-conference-beyond-diversity-bringing-substance-to-inclusion-and-belonging">From Day One: Beyond Diversity: Bringing Substance to Inclusion and Belonging</a></h4>
<ul>
<li>
What: This forum considers how companies can follow through on their diversity hiring pledges and commitments. Additionally, it aims to explore how companies can help employees feel a sense of belonging, and why this may be beneficial for companies. Attendance is mainly by application.</li>
<li>
When: Feb 16, 2022</li>
<li>
Where: <a href="https://hopin.com/events/february-virtual-conference-beyond-diversity-bringing-substance-to-inclusion-and-belonging">online</a>
</li>
<li>
Cost: early bird: $49, advance purchase, $99, general admission: $149</li>
</ul>
<a href="https://hopin.com/events/february-virtual-conference-beyond-diversity-bringing-substance-to-inclusion-and-belonging#booths">Register or apply here</a>
<h4><a href="https://forumworkplaceinclusion.org/">Forum on Workplace Inclusion: Solving for X: Tackling Inequities in a World of Unknowns</a></h4>
<ul>
<li>
What: This year’s conference addresses ways we can continue to tackle systemic inequities in a world that is constantly in flux and to do this in an inclusive, equitable, and sustainable manner.</li>
<li>
Where: <a href="https://forumworkplaceinclusion.org/">online</a>
</li>
<li>
When: April 5–7, 2022</li>
<li>
Cost: Early bird rate: $900, standard rate: $1,000 (with a discount rate for small businesses, non-profits, and groups)</li>
</ul>
<a href="https://web.cvent.com/event/8bfb411f-0122-4640-a4e1-18472f91c89b/summary">Register here</a>
<h4><a href="https://huetechsummit.com/">Hue Tech Summit</a></h4>
<ul>
<li>
What: This summit is designed to empower women of color in tech, that aims to help them elevate their careers in the industry. This year’s conference highlights women who are making major contributions behind the scenes, and women who are breaking barriers within the industry.</li>
<li>
When: May 6, 2022</li>
<li>
Where: <a href="https://huetechsummit.com/">online</a>
</li>
<li>
Cost: To be confirmed</li>
</ul>
<a href="https://huetechsummit.com/event-register/">Register here</a>
<h4><a href="https://lesbianswhotech.org/pridesummit2022/">Lesbians Who Tech: #PrideSummit</a></h4>
<ul>
<li>
What: This conference gathers thousands of queer women and allies across the tech industry, to help them connect with and learn from one another, and to raise awareness of their work in the industry.</li>
<li>
When: June 6–10, 2022</li>
<li>
Where: <a href="https://lesbianswhotech.org/pridesummit2022">online</a>
</li>
<li>
Cost: Free — $399 (free options available by application)</li>
</ul>
<a href="https://lesbianswhotech.org/pridesummit2022/">Register here</a>
<h4><a href="https://www.hci.org/conferences/2022-virtual-conference-inclusive-diversity-recruitment-hiring-equity-july-20-2022">Human Capital Institute: Inclusive Diversity Recruitment: Hiring with Equity</a></h4>
<ul>
<li>
What: Learn more about inclusive hiring, including how to implement equitable practices, how to address bias in selection, and how to attract a more diverse set of applicants to your job postings.</li>
<li>
When: July 20, 2022</li>
<li>
Where: <a href="https://www.hci.org/conferences/2022-virtual-conference-inclusive-diversity-recruitment-hiring-equity-july-20-2022">online</a>
</li>
<li>
Cost: $195 — $1,895</li>
</ul>
<a href="https://www.hci.org/conferences/2022-virtual-conference-inclusive-diversity-recruitment-hiring-equity-july-20-2022">Register here</a>
<h4><a href="https://www.hci.org/conferences/2022-virtual-conference-creating-culture-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-september-21">Human Capital Institute: Creating a Culture of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion</a></h4>
<ul>
<li>
What: This conference will teach you how to further your DEI commitment. You’ll learn how to build a common language for your team, through which you can understand DEI, as well as how to set and communicate a clear vision for DEI practices.</li>
<li>
When: September 21, 2022</li>
<li>
Where: <a href="https://www.hci.org/conferences/2022-virtual-conference-creating-culture-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-september-21">online</a>
</li>
<li>
Cost: $195 — $1,895 (depending on the number of events you wish to attend)</li>
</ul>
<a href="https://www.hci.org/conferences/2022-virtual-conference-creating-culture-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-september-21">Register here</a>
<h4><a href="https://www.lever.co/webinar/neurodiversity-by-universal-design/">Lever: Neurodiversity by Universal Design</a></h4>
<ul>
<li>
What: The webinar discusses how we can make our hiring processes more inclusive of neurodivergent hires, as well as the advantages of hiring with neurodiversity in mind. This webinar is a joint effort between lever and Ultranauts Inc. a leader in neurodiversity inclusivity.</li>
<li>
When: <a href="https://www.lever.co/webinar/neurodiversity-by-universal-design/">on demand</a>!</li>
<li>
Where: online</li>
<li>
Cost: free</li>
</ul>
<a href="https://www.lever.co/webinar/neurodiversity-by-universal-design/">Access the webinar here</a>
<h4><a href="https://inclusivedesign24.org/2022/">Inclusive Design 24 (#id24)</a></h4>
<ul>
<li>
What: A 24-hour global event, that celebrates and explores inclusive design. Join to learn and share your own ideas and knowledge about inclusive design. You can find recordings from previous Inclusive Design events <a href="https://www.youtube.com/inclusivedesign24">here</a>.</li>
<li>
When: September 22, 20222</li>
<li>
Where: <a href="https://inclusivedesign24.org/2022/">online</a>
</li>
<li>
Cost: free</li>
</ul>
<a href="https://inclusivedesign24.org/2022/">Learn more here</a>
<h4><a href="https://conference.diversitynetwork.org/">Diversity Abroad — Global Inclusion</a></h4>
<ul>
<li>
What: Diversity Abroad hosts an annual conference focused on diversity, ewuity, and inclusion in education and cultural exchange. The forum will offer opportunities to learn about career advancement and belonging. education abroad, and global engagement. The aim is to move us toward a sustainable and equitable future.</li>
<li>
When: October 2–7, 2022</li>
<li>
Where: San Francisco, CA</li>
<li>
Cost: to be confirmed</li>
</ul>
<a href="https://conference.diversitynetwork.org/">Learn more here</a>
<h4><a href="https://www.devcolorinmotion.com/register/">/Dev/color IN MOTION</a></h4>
<ul>
<li>
What: An opportunity to connect and collaborate with a global network of Black software engineers, techies, and industry leaders. /Dev/color IN MOTION was founded by a former Pinterest engineer who is on a mission to create a network for Black software engineers, coders, and DEI specialists.</li>
<li>
When: 2022 dates, to be confirmed</li>
<li>
Where: <a href="https://www.devcolorinmotion.com/register/">online</a>
</li>
<li>
Cost: usually prices range from $50–$250</li>
</ul>
<img src="https://medium.com/_/stat?event=post.clientViewed&amp;referrerSource=full_rss&amp;postId=442e5456d23" width="1" height="1" alt=""><hr>
<a href="https://blog.divercity.io/11-dei-events-to-look-out-for-in-2022-442e5456d23">11 DEI Events To Look Out for In 2022</a> was originally published in <a href="https://blog.divercity.io/">The Bridge by Divercity</a> on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

11 DEI Events To Look Out for In 2022

As with many other areas, the use of AI in recruitment efforts is on the rise. We’ve heard of the perils of relying on AI given the proven biases introduced and reproduced by algorithms in many areas. But how does bias show up in algorithms used to aid hiring efforts?
<h3>Uses of AI in hiring processes</h3>
<figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*2ypWgwfKYHJQ0qrQf2KIXQ.png"></figure>Algorithms are used in a variety of ways throughout the recruitment process. Two areas where AI is commonly used include:
<ol><li>
Sourcing candidates: identifying candidates suited for a position or targeting the right audiences with job ads.</li></ol>
2. Parsing through resumes: AI is frequently used to analyze resumes to assess a candidate’s skills and competencies for a job.
Multiple studies and real-life examples have proven that both AI-reliant processes tend to be riddled with bias. But how exactly does bias show up in these processes?
<h3>Who should we target with job ads?</h3>
AI is often used in the initial stages of recruitment, for sourcing the right candidates. This can include identifying the right places to reach the “right” candidates. Often these algorithms are interested in maximizing clicks on job ads, such that the relevant candidates become those who are most likely to click on a job ad.
<a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/1904.02095">A 2019 study</a> conducted by researchers at Northeastern University and USC, suggests that such algorithms and processes can skew ad delivery, resulting in certain users being less likely to see certain ads due to their demographic characteristics. The study found that ads for supermarket cashiers on Facebook targeted mainly women, and jobs for taxi drivers targeted mostly Black audiences. While these algorithms are not explicitly preventing certain groups of applicants, they serve as a barrier nonetheless, making it difficult for certain groups to access job opportunities. This may occur without the awareness of the advertisers and despite their disapproval of such discrimination. Calling attention to the need to analyze and monitor the use of such platforms and algorithms.
<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-amazon-com-jobs-automation-insight/amazon-scraps-secret-ai-recruiting-tool-that-showed-bias-against-women-idUSKCN1MK08G">Amazon’s</a> AI recruiting tool which showed bias against women is a great example of the perils of relying fully on an algorithm’s decisions.
<h3>Which candidates are most qualified?</h3>
<figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*tDZL5z-09K6PCZQwmKC5Kg.png"></figure>Restricted by time, recruiters and hiring teams are naturally unable to fully review all applications, spending, on average, no more than <a href="https://www.glassdoor.com/blog/scanning-resumes/#:~:text=We're%20going%20to%20let,to%20the%20%E2%80%9CRejected%E2%80%9D%20stack.">6 seconds</a> on a resume. Instead of in-depth analyses, they often resort to quick strategies and systems for condensing the applicant pool, shortcuts that are often biased. The hope is that AI can help with narrowing down the application pool and can help minimize those biases. Yet AI designed for this purpose seems susceptible to biases of its own.
Often algorithms are used to scan resumes for keywords and other key selection criteria. Other algorithms attempt a prediction of a candidates’ likely to succeed in the role. Criteria are often based on past hiring decisions. This is where bias seeps in. Past hiring decisions often reflect past biases, such that in relying on historical data we merely set ourselves up to reproduce these same biases.
In fact, regulations may require companies to inspect their hiring tools for bias along demographic lines, but there are loopholes in these requirements that allow certain biases to remain unchecked. For instance, <a href="https://hbr.org/2019/05/all-the-ways-hiring-algorithms-can-introduce-bias">if an organization can demonstrate that a tool is conducive to certain business interests</a> they may be able to get away with more biased algorithms. Moreover, even in cases where employers are able to prove that their tools measure performance and fit alone, these performance measures can sneak in biases from past performance data.
This is not to say that AI should be excluded from the hiring process, as AI can be a powerful tool for reducing biases as well. To be sure humans perpetuate biases in the hiring process too. In fact, it may at times be more difficult to identify and therefore correct for human biases in the hiring process.
Check back next week; we’ll be discussing ways to mitigate AI bias in the recruitment process, such that we can continue to take advantage of the benefits of AI, without additionally perpetuating bias.
<img src="https://medium.com/_/stat?event=post.clientViewed&amp;referrerSource=full_rss&amp;postId=2aad7483019e" width="1" height="1" alt=""><hr>
<a href="https://blog.divercity.io/2-ways-ai-can-perpetuate-bias-in-the-hiring-process-2aad7483019e">2 Ways AI Can Perpetuate Bias in the Hiring Process</a> was originally published in <a href="https://blog.divercity.io/">The Bridge by Divercity</a> on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

As with many other areas, the use of AI in recruitment efforts is on the rise. We’ve heard of the perils of relying on AI given the proven biases introduced and reproduced by algorithms in many areas. But how does bias show up in algorithms used to aid hiring efforts?

2 Ways AI Can Perpetuate Bias in the Hiring Process

<figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*6jFwP9dn4I8C_-8uMedHmw.png"></figure>The social justice movements of the past two years <a href="https://blog.divercity.io/empty-words-just-wont-cut-it-9a5100083739">pushed companies to renew their commitments to Diversity &amp; Inclusion</a>. Of course, good intentions and the good publicity that comes with virtue signaling are not the only things pushing companies to care about diversity, we now also know that there’s a business case for diversity and inclusion. A few years ago, <a href="https://blog.divercity.io/diversity-can-give-you-a-competitive-advantage-a2a4ebccf347">McKinsey announced</a> that companies with greater diversity, <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/why-diversity-matters">outperform their industry peers</a>. It’s been 1.5 years since these companies pledged to do better, and 7 years since McKinsey’s first pivotal report — so where are we now? Tech is still far from diverse, inclusive, or equitable, but here’s what we learned about DEI and healthy workplace environments over the past year.
<h4>1. AI bias is still very much a problem, and big tech is not doing enough</h4>
About a year ago, ethical AI researcher Timnit Gebru, was fired from Google. Gebru was critical of biases built into some of today’s artificial intelligence systems, including ones used by Google, she was also critical of Google’s diversity hiring efforts, both in a published paper and in correspondence with folks at the company. Besides the papers she’s published, Gebru has spoken out about the difficulty of voicing concerns as an employee in big tech. She <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/03/technology/google-researcher-timnit-gebru.html">revealed that</a> “Your life starts getting worse when you start advocating for underrepresented people. You start making the other leaders upset” — yet another case confirming the challenges that come with attempting to break those barriers, especially when you’re a member of a marginalized group yourself. Gebru has since spoken out about the importance of labor protections and anti-trust measures, for tackling bias in AI. As her example shows, biases are often unearthed by employees. This means if we are to make any progress on this front, it’s important to check the power of big tech companies and to empower employees to voice their concerns. Thankfully Gebru is just getting started, she recently founded the <a href="https://www.dair-institute.org/">Distributed Artificial Intelligence Research Institute (DAIR)</a>, which aims to minimize AI harm and to ensure AI development is beneficial to everyone, not just a select few.
<h4>2. Remote work comes with its own DEI considerations</h4>
The abrupt shift to remote work as a result of the pandemic has been an adjustment to some, and to be sure not everyone has had the privilege of working from home. But we’ve seen the inclusion benefits that come with remote work: it has the potential to allow for a more diverse workforce, it can help organizations be more <a href="https://blog.divercity.io/is-your-workplace-parent-friendly-44e1177c67a3">inclusive of parents</a> and caregivers, and can reduce the number of microaggressions that many marginally placed employees have to face at work. More importantly, we learned that if organizations are planning to go back to in-person workplaces, or hoping to switch to a hybrid model, then they’ll need to make adjustments to allow the DEI benefits of remote work to continue.
Over the past year, it has also become clear that remote work comes with its own <a href="https://blog.divercity.io/dei-considerations-in-the-age-of-zoom-7e8ec606a0b2">set of DEI challenges</a>, including disparities in access to WiFi and space for remote work, the different ways bias shows up on zoom, and the need for <a href="https://blog.divercity.io/sustaining-inclusive-virtual-spaces-64efc35fd7ca">creating online avenues</a> where employees can voice DEI concerns. We’re also finding <a href="https://blog.divercity.io/sustaining-inclusive-virtual-spaces-64efc35fd7ca">workarounds for these challenges</a>, for starters, you can take your ERGs online, and add captions to your zoom meetings.
<figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*kr_K5a_96uekQrFQ2Okl1w.png"></figure><h4>3. VR for diversity training? Yes? No? Maybe</h4>
Studies are inconclusive when it comes to the effectiveness of diversity training, and many are skeptical of its impact to be sure, yet there’s <a href="https://blog.divercity.io/transform-your-company-culture-with-vr-8bcd0d9ee5a9">hope that VR can help take diversity training</a> to the next level. To be sure, much more research is required to understand whether VR can truly transform diversity training, it’s an exciting development nonetheless, and as with many others, it’s raising many questions. For instance, over the past few weeks, one <a href="https://www.blackenterprise.com/tech-company-criticized-for-using-white-actors-to-depict-people-of-color/">VR company has been criticized</a> for allowing white actors to depict characters of color — raising questions about the ethics of creating these games.
<h4>4. Trust is key</h4>
When managers demonstrate trust it sends a message that they care about their team’s workplace experience, this can foster a sense of safety for employees, and enable them to better perform. This is especially important in a remote setting where managers can’t always see what employees are up to, and may feel the need to be extra watchful as a result (and we know that’s a terrible idea for workplace environments). Rather than being overly watchful, we know now that better communication tools and strategies, and clear expectations are the way to go. Prime examples of trust in the workplace are the Netherlands and Finland, where 14.1% of the population worked remotely even prior to the pandemic, and where trust has been cited as a key factor to enabling an <a href="https://blog.divercity.io/trust-is-foundational-to-a-healthy-remote-work-environment-c2b7f4ba5fda">effective remote work experience</a>.
<h4>5. It’s time to prioritize mental health at work</h4>
Being overly watchful of your employees doesn’t just demonstrate a lack of trust, but it can also negatively impact mental health. We also know now that setting healthy work-life boundaries in remote work settings is hard enough as it is. However, there are a few things an organization can do to foster a healthy work-life balance. It starts with leadership demonstrating the importance of prioritizing mental health. You can do this by intentionally communicating your commitment to mental health. You can also lead by example, take a day off when you’re feeling down. If, as a leader, you normalize this, employees will feel comfortable doing the same, and this will signal to employees that their wellbeing is a priority to you. It’s also helpful to set clear expectations about work hours. Thankfully, we’re having more conversations about mental health at work than ever before. This year we spoke to two companies focusing on improving mental healthcare through tech. Learn more about how Alternova is <a href="https://blog.divercity.io/476f05169d3e">democratizing access to mental health care</a>, and find some <a href="https://blog.divercity.io/mental-healthcare-where-we-are-where-were-heading-a65ca73b38b1">advice</a> about prioritizing mental health as a leader here.
What Have you learned about DEI and wellness at work this year? Let us know in the comments!
<img src="https://medium.com/_/stat?event=post.clientViewed&amp;referrerSource=full_rss&amp;postId=336163ece1d8" width="1" height="1" alt=""><hr>
<a href="https://blog.divercity.io/what-2021-taught-us-about-dei-and-wellness-at-work-336163ece1d8">What 2021 Taught Us About DEI and Wellness At Work</a> was originally published in <a href="https://blog.divercity.io/">The Bridge by Divercity</a> on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The social justice movements of the past two years pushed companies to renew their commitments to Diversity &amp; Inclusion. Of course, good intentions and the good publicity that comes with virtue signaling are not the only things pushing companies to care about diversity, we now also know that there’s a business case for diversity and inclusion. A few years ago, <a href="https://blog.divercity.io/diversity-can-give-you-a-competitive-advantage-a2a4ebccf347">McKinsey announced</a> that companies with greater diversity, <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/why-diversity-matters">outperform their industry peers</a>. It’s been 1.5 years since these companies pledged to do better, and 7 years since McKinsey’s first pivotal report — so where are we now? Tech is still far from diverse, inclusive, or equitable, but here’s what we learned about DEI and healthy workplace environments over the past year.

What 2021 Taught Us About DEI and Wellness At Work

<figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/772/1*fb8XU7m6axV4bEvC7MhBIw.png"></figure><h3>February</h3>
<h4><a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/afro-future-summit-2022-tickets-150186869971">Afro Future Summit</a></h4>
<ul>
<li>
When? February 28</li>
<li>
What? Afro Future Summit is the world’s most iconic summit curating an active network of black futurists, investors, tech entrepreneurs, celebrities, politicians and business moguls.</li>
<li>
Where? Miami</li>
<li>
Cost? $0 – $99.99</li>
</ul>
<h4>
<a href="https://www.experience.afrotech.com/tickets">AfroTech Executive</a> (Miami)</h4>
<ul>
<li>
When? February 3</li>
<li>
What? A full day of networking with corporate execs, investors, founders, and other tech professionals.</li>
<li>
Where? Miami</li>
<li>
Cost? $397</li>
</ul>
<h3>March</h3>
<h4>
<a href="https://www.experience.afrotech.com/tickets">AfroTech Executive</a> (Brooklyn)</h4>
<ul>
<li>When? TBC</li>
<li>
What? A full day of networking with corporate execs, investors, founders, and other tech professionals.</li>
<li>
Where? Online &amp; Brooklyn, Miami, &amp; Los Angeles, CA</li>
<li>
Cost? $397</li>
</ul>
<h4><a href="http://www.blackenterprise.com/wps">Black Enterprise Women of Power Event</a></h4>
<ul>
<li>
when? March 24–26</li>
<li>
what? 4-day professional leadership conference for executive women of color. The event includes hands-on workshops and opportunities to network with industry leaders.</li>
<li>
where? Las Vegas, Nevada</li>
<li>
cost: $1,395 — $1,695</li>
</ul>
<h3>April</h3>
<h4><a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-black-business-summit-expo-tickets-156409189095">The Black Business Summit and Expo</a></h4>
<ul>
<li>
when? April 2</li>
<li>
what? Network with Black business professionals from across Florida.</li>
<li>
where? Florida</li>
<li>
cost: $99 — $395</li>
</ul>
<h3>May</h3>
<h4>
<a href="https://www.experience.afrotech.com/tickets">AfroTech Executive</a> (Washington, D.C.)</h4>
<ul>
<li>
When? TBC</li>
<li>
What? A full day of networking with corporate execs, investors, founders, and other tech professionals.</li>
<li>
Where? Online &amp; Brooklyn, Miami, &amp; Los Angeles, CA</li>
<li>
Cost? TBC</li>
</ul>
<h4><a href="https://es.blackenterprise.com/">Black Enterprise Entrepreneurs Summit</a></h4>
<ul>
<li>
When? May 18–20</li>
<li>
What? Learn about growing your business, gain new ideas and insights, and network with other entrepreneurs, at this immersive 3-day conference.</li>
<li>
Where? Philadelphia, PA</li>
<li>Cost?</li>
</ul>
<h3>June</h3>
<h4>
<a href="https://www.experience.afrotech.com/tickets">AfroTech Executive</a> (Bay Area)</h4>
<ul>
<li>
When? TBC</li>
<li>
What? A full day of networking with corporate execs, investors, founders, and other tech professionals.</li>
<li>
Where? Online &amp; Brooklyn, Miami, &amp; Los Angeles, CA</li>
<li>
Cost? TBC</li>
</ul>
<h4><a href="http://www.bloggerweek.com/">Blogger Week™ Unconference</a></h4>
<ul>
<li>
When? TBC</li>
<li>
What? The event connects Black Americans and allies with industry experts from various fields</li>
<li>
Where? Washington, D.C.</li>
<li>Cost?</li>
</ul>
<h3>July</h3>
<h4><a href="https://www.nationalbcc.org/about-us">National Black Chamber of Commerce Convention</a></h4>
<ul>
<li>
When? TBC (usually in July)</li>
<li>
What? An annual networking event for professionals and entrepreneurs. The National Black Chamber of Commerce® economically empower and sustain African American entrepreneurship within the United States and via interaction with the Black Diaspora.</li>
<li>
Where? TBC</li>
<li>
Cost? TBC</li>
</ul>
<h3>August</h3>
<h4><a href="https://www.powernetworkingconference.com/shop">PowerNetworking™ Conference</a></h4>
<ul>
<li>
When? August 3–6</li>
<li>
What? voted one of the top five conferences in the world for entrepreneurs by Forbes, this event is for black entrepreneurs looking to connect, grow and prosper.</li>
<li>
Where? Houston, TX</li>
<li>
Cost? $397.50 for students, $747.50 for general public</li>
</ul>
<h3>September</h3>
<h4>
<a href="https://www.experience.afrotech.com/tickets">AfroTech Executive</a> (Los Angeles)</h4>
<ul>
<li>
When? TBC</li>
<li>
What? A full day of networking with corporate execs, investors, founders, and other tech professionals.</li>
<li>
Where? Online &amp; Brooklyn, Miami, &amp; Los Angeles, CA</li>
<li>
Cost? TBC</li>
</ul>
<h4><a href="https://blackwomensconferences.com/">Black Women’s Empowerment Summit</a></h4>
<ul>
<li>
When? September 24</li>
<li>
What? A gathering of Black women entrepreneurs in the south, complete with finance workshops, speaker series, and a young entrepreneurs section.</li>
<li>
Where? Atlanta, Georgia</li>
<li>
Cost? by donation</li>
</ul>
<h3>October</h3>
<h4><a href="http://www.nationalblackbookfestival.com/">National Black Book Conference</a></h4>
<ul>
<li>
When? October 20–22</li>
<li>
What? This event gathers Black authors, publishers, libraries, and readers from across the US for an opportunity to network and join an expo.</li>
<li>
Where? Online</li>
<li>
Cost? $50</li>
</ul>
<h3>November</h3>
<h4><a href="https://www.experience.afrotech.com/tickets">Afrotech Conference</a></h4>
<ul>
<li>
When? November 8–13</li>
<li>
What? A multi-day conference composed of virtual events, in-person networking events with thousands of tech industry professionals and recruiters from around the company, as well as discussions on emerging trends within the industry.</li>
<li>
Where? Los Angeles, California &amp; Online</li>
<li>
Cost? General$362.82, Corporate $568.80</li>
</ul>
Know of any events we missed? Let us know in the comments!
<img src="https://medium.com/_/stat?event=post.clientViewed&amp;referrerSource=full_rss&amp;postId=87331f082e10" width="1" height="1" alt=""><hr>
<a href="https://blog.divercity.io/black-business-events-2022-87331f082e10">Black Business Events 2022</a> was originally published in <a href="https://blog.divercity.io/">The Bridge by Divercity</a> on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Know of any events we missed? Let us know in the comments!

Black Business Events 2022

<figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*nZ5CNFZ4loRra-X9PD4DAQ.png"></figure>It is with great honor that I announce that Divercity.io is one of the 12 companies out of thousands of applicants that was accepted into Techstars as part of the Workforce Development Program 2021 Cohort. The Techstars Workforce Development Program isn’t just any ordinary accelerator in that it specifically focuses on impact-driven companies tackling a workforce issue in a scalable way. The accelerator emphasizes impact as a metric, which is delightfully refreshing in a very capital-focused world.
<a href="http://divercity.io/">Divercity.io</a>, with our AI-driven DEI-focused hiring technology, fits the profile for the type of company that the Techstars Workforce Development Accelerator seeks since our goal is to drive more diversity into the workforce.
According to the Kapor Center, companies in the tech space are losing above $16B annually due to poor diversity hiring and retention practices, and our goal is to change that by giving recruiters access to tools that enable them to build diverse teams. We are proud to be part of the 2021 cohort and will absolutely make the most of this opportunity.
Joining Techstars is beyond an honor and we are elated to make the most of the program as it opens up new doors and exposes us to a network of like-minded founders who are willing to support one another towards making the workforce a more inclusive and richer space in every sense.
Here’s to changing the world one impact-focused company at a time.
— Chuka Ikokwu CEO &amp; Founder, Divercity, Inc.
<img src="https://medium.com/_/stat?event=post.clientViewed&amp;referrerSource=full_rss&amp;postId=becc6c47e433" width="1" height="1" alt=""><hr>
<a href="https://blog.divercity.io/divercity-inc-now-a-techstars-workforce-development-portfolio-company-becc6c47e433">Divercity, Inc., Now a Techstars Workforce Development Portfolio Company</a> was originally published in <a href="https://blog.divercity.io/">The Bridge by Divercity</a> on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

It is with great honor that I announce that Divercity.io is one of the 12 companies out of thousands of applicants that was accepted into Techstars as part of the Workforce Development Program 2021 Cohort. The Techstars Workforce Development Program isn’t just any ordinary accelerator in that it specifically focuses on impact-driven companies tackling a workforce issue in a scalable way. The accelerator emphasizes impact as a metric, which is delightfully refreshing in a very capital-focused world.

Divercity, Inc., Now a Techstars Workforce Development Portfolio Company

It may seem difficult to stay up to date with the ever-changing nature of job applications, are cover letters still important? Are quick LinkedIn applications a good idea? But here’s a tip that is easy to implement: including quotes in your cover letter or resume.
<figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/822/1*0Wlu-1h4fkERW0GsWWJlZw.png"></figure>Before you dive into researching the most inspirational quotes to include in your resume, these are absolutely not the kinds of quotes that will help you get a job. Such quotes say nothing about your skills and experience and are in fact more likely to worsen your chances than improve them. The quotes we’re talking about here are testimonials from your network such as past clients and managers.
You’ve probably seen more and more of your connections on LinkedIn include quotes in their profiles, and there’s a great reason why many are utilizing this LinkedIn feature. For starter’s testimonials are a great way to highlight your skills without coming off too arrogant, a fear many of us have when boasting about ourselves for a chance at an opportunity. Besides being the more comfortable choice, testimonials may be more valuable to your employer than your own words are. After all, they are proof that someone else thinks you’re skilled and experienced at what you do. Sometimes testimonials will emphasize a skill you didn’t even know you had, or they can help emphasize skills that you didn’t realize were valuable.
<h4>Here’s how you can start</h4>
Getting quotes and testimonials from your contacts is a simple process. Begin by reaching out to various people in your network and asking them if they would be willing to provide a short quote or testimonial to add to your LinkedIn profile. Reach out to as many people as you think could speak to your skills and abilities. You likely won’t get a response from everyone, and some of the testimonials you get will be better than others. Keep in mind that the position of the person writing the quote matters as well. While your teammate’s testimonial about how great it was working with you can be useful, it certainly won’t hold as much weight as a quote coming from a decision-maker such as your manager, who can speak more to your performance.
<h4>“I’m a Freelancer, though!”</h4>
If you’ve been freelancing or working independently for a few years you might be worried that lacking coworkers puts you at a disadvantage, but fear not! You can always get testimonials from past and current clients. Client testimonials may even prove to be more valuable, as clients are in a perfect position to evaluate the value you’ve added. Knowing that clients are happy with your work can be a huge bonus, as it is a direct measure of how good at your job you really are.
<h4>Now to the universally dreaded cover letter</h4>
<figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/984/1*5R_7q4l0rdp_l_60t9q67A.png"></figure>Your quotes and testimonials don’t have to live exclusively on your LinkedIn page. When you’re ready to submit a job application, you can carefully select a testimonial or two to embed in your cover letter. Hiring managers are flooded with resumes, and including quotes can be just the thing to give you an edge. After all, by including quotations you’re providing proof for the skills your cover letter and resume suggest you have. Think of them as a mini-reference that the hiring manager doesn’t have to put in any effort to secure.
A word of caution though: it’s important not to flood your cover letter (or your LinkedIn profile) with quotes and testimonials. Quotes will start to lose value if your employer has to sift through a bunch of isolated quotes about how great you are at your job. This is also why it’s important to make sure that the quotes you include in your resume are specific to the job you’re applying to, that is make sure they speak to the skills and experience that the target position values.
Testimonials and quotations are becoming more and more common in our world, and they are a handy way for employers to learn a little about candidates who come without a referral. As you make new connections in your career it’s a good strategy to consistently ask the relevant people for LinkedIn testimonials. Even if you’re happy with your current set-up, once it’s time for you to make career moves, those testimonials will be a great help.
Consistency will ensure that you won’t need to round up a list of people and send a bunch of requests for testimonials each time you’re in search of a new opportunity. Plus you’ll likely get more (and better) responses if you ask for testimonials right away.
<img src="https://medium.com/_/stat?event=post.clientViewed&amp;referrerSource=full_rss&amp;postId=7c9d5c3ef07e" width="1" height="1" alt=""><hr>
<a href="https://blog.divercity.io/demonstrate-your-skills-with-testimonials-7c9d5c3ef07e">Demonstrate Your Skills With Testimonials</a> was originally published in <a href="https://blog.divercity.io/">The Bridge by Divercity</a> on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

It may seem difficult to stay up to date with the ever-changing nature of job applications, are cover letters still important? Are quick LinkedIn applications a good idea? But here’s a tip that is easy to implement: including quotes in your cover letter or resume.

Demonstrate Your Skills With Testimonials

Knowledge is produced and shared, in many ways including written, and verbal testimonial exchanges. When we engage in exchanges, we often evaluate the credibility of those we are engaging with. If we see them as being credible, we’re more likely to trust their contributions. Members of marginalized groups are often undervalued as producers of knowledge. As a result, their words tend to be given less credibility, and they tend to have more trouble contributing their ideas, meaning their contributions are more likely to be silenced too.
<figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/981/0*KUgqXLvlP3OkpO2x.png"></figure>This idea has been explored and described by various activists and thinkers throughout history. More recently, philosopher <a href="https://www.mirandafricker.com/books.html">Miranda Fricker</a> coined the term <a href="https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198237907.001.0001/acprof-9780198237907">Epistemic Injustice</a> to describe the injustices that marginalized groups often face in their capacities as knowers.
This phenomenon can be experienced even more acutely by women of color. In fact, women of color are in a double bind, while they are devalued as credible knowers, they are often called upon to do the additional labor of explaining themselves and their experiences to an audience that doesn’t value their contributions, to begin with.
Similar ideas to Fricker’s have been described by thinkers and activists of color such as Cherrie Moraga and Gloria Anzaldua, and Kate Rushin who in her 1981 poem “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Bridge_Called_My_Back">The Bridge Poem</a>” writes:
<blockquote>I’ve got to explain myself</blockquote>
<blockquote>To everybody</blockquote>
<blockquote>I do more translating</blockquote>
<blockquote>Than the Gawdamn UN</blockquote>
<blockquote>Forget it</blockquote>
<blockquote>I’m sick of it</blockquote>
<blockquote>I’m sick of filling in your gaps</blockquote>
<blockquote>Sick of being your insurance against The isolation of your self-imposed limitations</blockquote>
<blockquote>Find another connection to the world</blockquote>
This idea Rushin describes still plagues us today. Rather than taking the time to understand the many experiences of people of color we often rely on them to educate us instead. When they do offer us information, it tends to be ignored, or devalued.
All of us are susceptible to unconscious biases, so it’s critical that we try our best to be more conscious of the ways they manifest themselves in our work environments and interactions. Here are two common examples of epistemic injustice in the office.
<h3>1. Who’s contributing to meetings?</h3>
If you’re not familiar with <a href="https://divercity.io/blog/article/what-is-implicit-bias-and-what-can-you-do-about-it">bropriating and manterrupting</a>, now is the time to get familiar with them and recognize the ways that they come into play at work, and in your life more generally. Women’s ideas are often taken less seriously be it in meetings or brainstorming sessions. This is evident in the fact that they are frequently interrupted while contributing their thoughts and oftentimes, the same ideas they contribute, are later taken seriously when reiterated by others. This experience is even more acute for women of color, especially Black, Latinx, and Native American women.
<h3>2. Who’s doing the housework?</h3>
Office housework refers to “non-promotable” tasks, ones that don’t contribute to learning and career growth. Those can include: being asked to serve on non-consequential committees, only asking women team members to take on roles such as note-taking and meeting set-up, or gift arrangements. Of course, if that’s part of your job description it’s a different matter. Women take these tasks on more frequently than do other employees <a href="https://hbr.org/2018/07/why-women-volunteer-for-tasks-that-dont-lead-to-promotions">according to HBR</a>. “Why don’t women just say no?”, you might ask, well it’s not so simple. Women are also more likely to be seen as unlikeable when they say no. Women of color tend to face even more pressure to do housework tasks.
<figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1000/0*aNkCDK4O3FJgVvor.png"></figure>How is this related to epistemic injustice? If we are asking women to do non-promotable work, this means we see this work as being “women’s work” or “women of color’s work”. In seeing office housework as “women’s work” we are implicitly suggesting that their contributions are less valued when it comes to non-housework tasks.
<img src="https://medium.com/_/stat?event=post.clientViewed&amp;referrerSource=full_rss&amp;postId=d68717afd680" width="1" height="1" alt=""><hr>
<a href="https://blog.divercity.io/whose-contributions-are-we-valuing-d68717afd680">Whose Contributions Are We Valuing?</a> was originally published in <a href="https://blog.divercity.io/">The Bridge by Divercity</a> on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Knowledge is produced and shared, in many ways including written, and verbal testimonial exchanges. When we engage in exchanges, we often evaluate the credibility of those we are engaging with. If we see them as being credible, we’re more likely to trust their contributions. Members of marginalized groups are often undervalued as producers of knowledge. As a result, their words tend to be given less credibility, and they tend to have more trouble contributing their ideas, meaning their contributions are more likely to be silenced too.

Whose Contributions Are We Valuing?

<figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*CjmJAcvzIqsCo2Z2ds5CTQ.png"></figure>Diversity is first and foremost a matter of equity and fairness. Allowing equal access to opportunities for underrepresented identities is just the right thing to do. Beyond that, however, diversity is also a driver of business success. We live in an increasingly inter-connected world; by diversifying our teams we reach wider talent pools, and we are more likely to have team members who reflect our consumer bases. A more diverse team means a more diverse set of ideas are shaping your product or service. It is no surprise that greater diversity translates into better performance.
<h3>1. Race and gender diverse companies have higher financial returns</h3>
<h4>
What the numbers say:</h4>
<a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/why-diversity-matters">A McKinsey report</a> found that companies in the top quartile for racial and ethnic diversity are 35% more likely to achieve financial gains above industry medians. Meanwhile, companies in the top quartile for gender diversity are 15% more likely to reap financial gains above industry medians.
In the US, racial and ethnic diversity has a stronger impact on financial returns than does gender diversity.
Takeaway: As McKinsey suggests, diversity is a competitive differentiator, moving market shares towards more diverse companies.
<h3>2. Diverse companies are innovative companies
</h3>
<h4>
What the numbers say:</h4>
<a href="https://hbr.org/2018/01/how-and-where-diversity-drives-financial-performance">An HBR study</a> found that companies with higher than average diversity had 19% higher innovation revenues.
In this study, ‘innovation revenue’ was taken to be the percentage of revenue gained from products introduced in the last 3 years, while ‘diversity’ was calculated as an average across six areas: migration, industry, career path, gender, education, and age. All six categories of diversity showed statistically significant correlations with innovation, but ultimately gender, industry and nation of origin had the largest effect.
Takeaway: Valuing multiple forms of diversity is highly beneficial to innovation
<h3>3. Companies with diverse leadership are more likely to report a growth in market share and capture of new markets.</h3>
<h4>What the numbers say:</h4>
<a href="https://hbr.org/2013/12/how-diversity-can-drive-innovation">An HBR study</a> found that companies with “two-dimensional” diversity are 45% more likely to have reported a growth in market share over the past year and 70% more likely to report that they have captured a new market.
The word “two-dimensional” is used to describe what HBR calls inherent and acquired diversity. While ‘inherent’ diversity refers to traits we are born with, such as race, ‘acquired’ diversity refers to traits gained through life experience, for instance working in a different country. Companies whose leaders demonstrate at least 3 inherent and 3 acquired diversity traits are two-dimensionally diverse.
Takeaway: the more diversity the merrier. A broad approach that includes multiple diversity dimensions fosters an environment where unconventional or ground-breaking ideas are welcomed.
<h3>4. A higher representation of women in leadership positions results in greater returns</h3>
<h4>
What the numbers say:</h4>
<a href="https://www.catalyst.org/research/the-bottom-line-connecting-corporate-performance-and-gender-diversity/">A Catalyst study</a> found that higher representation of women in leadership positions results in 34% greater returns to shareholders
Companies with more female representation in executive or leadership positions consistently outperform companies where less than half the leadership positions are filled by women
That’s not all: while only about 5% of companies on the Fortune 1000 list are led by a female CEO, those<a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/3048342/the-business-case-for-women-in-the-c-suite"> corporations contribute 7%</a> of the revenue of the Fortune 1000 list.
Takeaway: breaking that glass ceiling and inviting more women to the boardroom will unlock greater revenues.
These numbers clearly indicate that much stands to be gained from diversity. In fact, CompTIA CEO Todd Thibodeaux argued that diversity could net the IT industry a whopping<a href="https://www.techrepublic.com/article/how-much-is-diversity-in-tech-worth-400b-says-comptia-ceo/"> $400 billion in revenue</a> per year!
Of course, a focus on <a href="https://www.divercity.io/blog/article/equity-diversity-inclusion-what-s-the-difference">diversity alone is insufficient</a>. Getting people through the door is one thing, but without an inclusive environment, they are unlikely to stay. To foster diversity and unlock higher levels of success and innovation, equal attention must be placed on inclusion.
<a href="http://divercity.io/">Diversify your team </a>and gain benefits beyond the optics.
<img src="https://medium.com/_/stat?event=post.clientViewed&amp;referrerSource=full_rss&amp;postId=a2a4ebccf347" width="1" height="1" alt=""><hr>
<a href="https://blog.divercity.io/diversity-can-give-you-a-competitive-advantage-a2a4ebccf347">Diversity Can Give You a Competitive Advantage</a> was originally published in <a href="https://blog.divercity.io/">The Bridge by Divercity</a> on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Diversity is first and foremost a matter of equity and fairness. Allowing equal access to opportunities for underrepresented identities is just the right thing to do. Beyond that, however, diversity is also a driver of business success. We live in an increasingly inter-connected world; by diversifying our teams we reach wider talent pools, and we are more likely to have team members who reflect our consumer bases. A more diverse team means a more diverse set of ideas are shaping your product or service. It is no surprise that greater diversity translates into better performance.

Diversity Can Give You a Competitive Advantage

The new realities of remote work wrought by the pandemic have transformed the nature of the workplace, and remote work is a change that is, in many ways, here to stay. Unfortunately, a shift to remote work, while it solves some inclusion challenges, does not yield a fairer work environment alone. As we usher in a new era of remote and hybrid work, it is essential that we continue to monitor diversity and inclusion challenges specific to virtual work environments.
Remote work environments, though they make the workplace inclusive in some ways, come with their own set of DEI challenges. Let’s take a look at some of the DEI challenges that are rife in remote work environments.
<h3>Unequal Work Environments</h3>
<figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*NTEdzqZupW5tNDDiNb9xjA.png"></figure>Not all employees have the same levels of technological access. Some may have unstable Wi-Fi connections or slower computers. Similarly, not all employees will have the same comfort levels with technology; although troubleshooting may be a simple two-step process for some, for others a technical issue might require a trip to a repair person.
Likewise having a quiet, private space from which to work is a privilege. Some may not have the luxury of a permanent at-home office from which to conduct all their zoom calls, some may share their living space with roommates and may thus have to coordinate meeting times, or join a meeting from their bedroom.
Census <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Population-Households-and-Persons-per-Household-By-Race-Ethnicity-in-65-Census-Tracts_tbl2_234737074">data</a> shows that Black households have 20% more people than do white households, while Latinx households on average have about 80% more people. Meanwhile, 66% of Black respondents, and 61% of Latinx respondents to a PEW Research center <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/08/20/smartphones-help-blacks-hispanics-bridge-some-but-not-all-digital-gaps-with-whites/">survey</a>, confirmed they had access to broadband internet, as compared to 79% of white respondents.
Such work environment considerations impact not only a person’s stress levels and ability to complete their work in a timely manner but also how they are perceived by others. A 2014 <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1071581914000287">study</a> found that even short delays on phone systems can cause a perception of unfriendliness or a lack of focus, perceptions that can exacerbate existing unconscious biases.
This may also lead to bias in the recruitment and hiring process, as companies may favor applicants who have a certain level of technological access, limiting their applicant pool.
<figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*aLVd36VdFqUgDWZ7x_p2tg.png"></figure><h4>TL;DR</h4>
<h4>Problems:</h4>
<ol>
<li>Remote work environments may inadvertently favor candidates who have the necessary technology and work environments.</li>
<li>The environment in which a candidate conducts an interview may activate unconscious biases about the candidates’ professionalism.</li>
<li>A lack of access to a quiet working space or the necessary technology can create stress for both existing employees and job candidates.</li>
</ol>
<h4>Strategies:</h4>
<ul>
<li>
Review job descriptions for unconscious bias. Your job description may inadvertently communicate to certain groups of candidates that they are not the right fit for the job. Ensure that you’ve used inclusive language in your job description, to attract a diverse talent pool.</li>
<li>
Be aware of unconscious biases during interviews. Many candidates will conduct virtual interviews from their homes, especially in the current times, and not all candidates will have the latest computers or high-speed Wi-Fi. If you let environmental factors sway your evaluation of the candidate you may be discriminating against certain groups of candidates.</li>
<li>
Be empathetic. Conducting an interview or meeting from your home can be a stressful experience if you’re tight on space, be mindful of how this may impact a candidate’s interview performance.</li>
<li>
Equalize the playing field. To what extent are you able to support an equal work environment for candidates? Are there resources they can lean on to help them get set up for an interview? These are important considerations.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Bias Can Still Show Up In Zoom Meetings</h3>
The same problems that frequently plague meetings are still present, and sometimes exacerbated in virtual meetings. Interruption is a microaggression that women, particularly women of color, are frequently faced with in group settings. Women can <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0001839212439994">face backlash</a> when speaking at length, they’re seen as incompetent or unlikeable. The recent shift to remote work has shown us that such microaggressions are<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/14/us/zoom-meetings-gender.html"> just as likely</a> to feature in virtual meetings, if not more.
Technical problems such as internet connectivity lags may make it more difficult to get a word in edgewise, and may also enable a continued pattern of interruption of women’s voices, further exacerbating the imbalance of contributions, and adding to the difficulty of managing interruptions and microaggressions.
<h4>TL;DR</h4>
<h4>
Problem:</h4>
Unconscious biases such as the interruption of women, and the exclusion of introverts, that are commonly surfaced during meetings are likely to continue in virtual environments.
<h4>Strategies:</h4>
<ul><li>
Run structured meetings. Provide participants with an agenda ahead of time, that includes points of discussion, to accommodate introverted participants who may prefer to process information ahead of the meeting. Ensure that you leave feedback channels open for additional feedback and ideation once a meeting is over.</li></ul>
<figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/932/1*Ez4nofvb2RUVCNnDtPj7_w.png"></figure><ul>
<li>
Utilize technology. Decide on a system for meeting etiquette and stick to it. This can include how team members can indicate if they would like to speak or ask a question. Video call platforms provide many features that can enable this. Zoom, for instance, has a hand-raising option that allows participants to inform the group that they’d like to chime in. The platform also provides other nonverbal feedback features, including a Polling option that allows participants to vote ‘yes’ or ‘no’ and several other useful features, that can allow introverts to contribute in a comfortable way. Leveraging nonverbal features can help include everyone in the conversation.</li>
<li>
Check repeated behavior. If you notice an employee is repeatedly interrupting others, take them aside, and speak to them, they may not be aware of this pattern.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Voicing Equity and Inclusion Concerns Remotely</h3>
Voicing concerns about equity and inclusion matters may prove challenging in remote work environments given some of the communication challenges common to virtual environments.
It’s true that with tools like <a href="https://www.divercity.io/blog/article/12-tools-to-optimize-your-remote-workspace">Slack</a>, staying in touch with your remote team has grown significantly easier. Still, conversations are for the most part limited to Slack and scheduled meetings. As a result, it is easy for most conversations to revolve around work.
If opportunities for engagement are limited it can be difficult to build trust between team members. A lack of <a href="https://blog.divercity.io/trust-is-foundational-to-a-healthy-remote-work-environment-c2b7f4ba5fda">trust between employees</a> can render it difficult to voice concerns about equity and inclusion matters, which can ultimately result in feelings of isolation for underrepresented professionals.
<h4>TL;DR</h4>
<h4>Problems:</h4>
Remote work environments lend themselves to isolation and can make it difficult to build trusting relationships amongst team members, which as a result may render it
<ol>
<li>difficult to raise equity and inclusion concerns, and</li>
<li>challenging to have difficult conversations.</li>
</ol>
<h4>Strategies:</h4>
<ul>
<li>
Make communication pathways clear. Make it clear to employees who they can go to with equity and inclusion concerns.</li>
<li>
Foster a culture of continued learning. This may mean continuous education on <a href="https://blog.divercity.io/making-bias-a-safe-word-58cb1634ebfb">unconscious bias</a>, and how it can be minimized in all decision-making processes.</li>
<li>
Contextualize DEI. Why is DEI important to your organization? In what ways does it support your business mission? Making this clear to your team can encourage DEI efforts to be collective efforts, and can help foster a culture of continued learning and growth around equity and inclusion.</li>
<li>
Mindfully make space for difficult conversations. It’s important that employees feel they have a space to broach difficult conversations. It’s essential that these are spaces that enable contributions from all employees. At the same time, it’s important not to pressure employees to speak about their experiences, or educate the team, as this can be an added burden — a weight that underrepresented minorities are frequently burdened with.</li>
</ul>
As the remote work trend continues to spread, it is likely that more DEI challenges will surface. Creating inclusive workplaces requires a concerted and collective effort. We all have a part to play in minimizing bias and fostering inclusion. As the world makes the rapid transformation to remote work, leaders must continually assess DEI barriers, and consistently implement changes in a transparent manner.
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<a href="https://blog.divercity.io/dei-considerations-in-the-age-of-zoom-7e8ec606a0b2">DEI Considerations in the Age Of Zoom</a> was originally published in <a href="https://blog.divercity.io/">The Bridge by Divercity</a> on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The new realities of remote work wrought by the pandemic have transformed the nature of the workplace, and remote work is a change that is, in many ways, here to stay. Unfortunately, a shift to remote work, while it solves some inclusion challenges, does not yield a fairer work environment alone. As we usher in a new era of remote and hybrid work, it is essential that we continue to monitor diversity and inclusion challenges specific to virtual work environments.

DEI Considerations in the Age Of Zoom

<figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*i8Z-8On1_zx8lRQnXITvrw.png"></figure>It’s important to be mindful of the degree to which Native Americans are excluded from the tech space if the aim is to make the field an inclusive one. Talk of diversity in the tech industry rarely mentions and consistently fails to meaningfully engage Native Americans communities.
Statistics that describe the extent of Native American representation in tech are lacking, a further indication of the depth of the problem. While we have data on pay gaps and some knowledge of the challenges Latinx and Black people face in tech, the same information is not as widely available for Native Americans.
Beyond the challenges of entering the highly competitive tech workforce, Native Americans face many challenges in setting up and growing their own businesses. These challenges are compounded by limited access to capital, particularly for businesses on reservations. Thankfully some organizations are creating pathways for Native Americans in entrepreneurship and tech. One such organization is Change Labs.
<h4>Change Labs:</h4>
<a href="https://nativestartup.org/">Change Labs</a> is a Native-led and controlled nonprofit, that empowers and fosters “the creation of small businesses that provide social benefit to tribal communities.” The incubator and co-working space sets entrepreneurs up for success by supporting them for three years of their entrepreneurship journey through infrastructure, expertise, and mentorship.
Change Lab’s <a href="https://nativestartup.org/our-vision">goal </a>is to increase the number of Indigenous-owned and led businesses:
<blockquote>“Tribal America has no deficit of challenges — from the lack of infrastructure, to rampant and persistent poverty, to under-performing public education. Despite our sovereignty, we remain dependent on outside forces to address these problems by providing needed jobs, sustaining our governance, and thereby driving our economies. However, by enabling and supporting Native small business operating within our communities, we can begin to make steps towards economic self-sustainability.</blockquote>
<blockquote>To achieve this, we must invest in the necessary elements of the ecosystem required to support and sustain entrepreneurial activity. Change Labs was designed to create a safe place for entrepreneurs and community members to explore and develop their ideas.”</blockquote>
Change Labs is led by Heather Fleming, Jessica Stago, and Natasha Hale. The team impressively ran through 4 years of prototype initiatives learning about and addressing entrepreneurship challenges faced across the Navajo Nation. Change Labs is the fruit of that labor.
Among the prototypical initiatives was a virtual incubator, the Native American Business Incubator Network (NABI), founded in 2014, with the aim of providing tailored legal and business advice, as well as helping businesses establish themselves. Their goal was to establish a self-reliant community. The duo ran various workshops to address the commonly encountered issues in Indigenous-run businesses.
The virtual incubator served countless businesses and saw the launch of several successful businesses. The success of the virtual incubator motivated its growth into Change Labs, a physical co-working space and an incubator, that serves the Navajo Nation’s largest community, Tuba City, Arizona.
<figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/0*EKJAVWbzKAmqRu8g"></figure><h4>Sharing Knowledge Gained Along the Way</h4>
The founders of Change Labs are also committed to sharing the knowledge they’ve accumulated over the years they’ve spent developing Indigenous businesses. Their <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5fdbe6b531feb5270b47b57c/t/600096c0cba9ed22c8ab1502/1610651330685/Change%2BLabs%2B2021%2BTOC.pdf">Theory of Change</a> is a dynamic document that is continuously updated with learnings, and input from Navajo entrepreneurs. The document outlines how they came up with their model, and how their model contributes to social development.
Change Labs is unique in that it serves Indigenous communities within reservations, unlike other sources of support that often benefit those who are running businesses outside of reservations. Moreover, the organization’s model is an extremely flexible one, consistently adapting activities to the specific challenges faced by Indigenous entrepreneurs.
Securing funding can be especially challenging for businesses operating on reservations. Banks are often unwilling to lend to those businesses since reservations are Trust Property, or property held in trust by the U.S. government for Indigenous tribes. Trust Land cannot be sold or transferred, making it a risky investment for banks, which are unable to foreclose in case of a failure to pay back loans. While other options, such as credit unions, do exist, those are often expensive and unsustainable.
Last year senate signed the<a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/294"> Native Americans Business Incubators Program Act</a>, which was first introduced to the senate in 2016, by Tom Udall, Vice Chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. The act will fund business incubators aimed at supporting Indigenous American-owned businesses, to address the aforementioned challenges to entrepreneurship.
While the passing of the Act is a step in the right direction, organizations like Change Labs are essential to ensuring Indigenous representation in entrepreneurship. Change Labs, in addition to providing tailored support and understanding the specific issues faced by Indigenous entrepreneurs, continues to share its knowledge so as to effect wider change.
You can learn more about Change Labs, and contribute to their movement here. To read about their entrepreneurship stories head over to their blog.
Looking to bring diversity and inclusion to your workplace? Head over to <a href="http://divercity.io/">Divercity.io</a>
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<a href="https://blog.divercity.io/moving-the-needle-indigenous-inclusion-in-entrepreneurship-932a9de7de8e">Moving the Needle: Native American Inclusion in Entrepreneurship</a> was originally published in <a href="https://blog.divercity.io/">The Bridge by Divercity</a> on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

It’s important to be mindful of the degree to which Native Americans are excluded from the tech space if the aim is to make the field an inclusive one. Talk of diversity in the tech industry rarely mentions and consistently fails to meaningfully engage Native Americans communities.

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