Diversity in tech is an almost universally supported concept. But with each well-intentioned comment, campaign and panel that attracts a wave of criticism for missing the mark, the issue gets increasingly tangled.
With that in mind, we decided to take a look at four Austin organizations working hard to move the needle on diversity in tech. If you want to help make a difference, these are good places to start.
RecruitHER is the retort to any executive who says his tech company is mostly male because female talent is hard to find. The recruiting agency was founded this summer in Austin to source candidates from all manner of diverse backgrounds, but it puts an emphasis on women in tech.
It also counsels candidates on issues facing women professionals, with expertise from co-founders Ashley Doyal, a veteran tech recruiter in Austin, and Gina Helfrich, the former Director of the Harvard College Women’s Center and a 2014 transplant to Austin’s enterprise tech sector.
Doyal (pictured right) said real diversity just makes good business sense.“Hiring ‘the best person for the job’ is only possible when you interview a diverse slate of candidates,” she said. “We're pleased to see more and more Austin companies making this a priority.”
Clients include RetailMeNot, Pandora, GitHub and Electronic Arts.
Feminist Hack ATX
Helfrich also founded Austin’s Feminist Hack Meetup in September of last year, an open forum on gender diversity in Austin tech that fosters actionable discussions in an email list and at open coffees on the second Tuesday of every month.
According to Helfrich (pictured left), Feminist Hack ATX is open to feminists of any gender.“While other tech groups provide a necessary and valuable women-only space, Feminist Hack ATX focuses on building capable and effective allies,” Helrich wrote on the group’s website, “and creating mixed-gender spaces where women can comfortably speak, be heard, and fully utilize their talents as leaders and facilitators.”
Launched late last month, Diversity Fund blends the progressive push of companies like RecruitHER with the benefits of crowdfunding platforms. It combines rewards such as pre-sales and giveaways with lending and equity to encourage unlikely alliances among Texas investors and entrepreneurs.
According to the company, women and minority business are in the majority and growing at 1.5 times their male counterparts, but they’re twice as likely to be turned down by banks and 95 percent less likely to receive VC funding.
The company is led by serial entrepreneur Charlie Jackson, who goes by the title Chief Happiness Officer.
“Entrepreneurs no longer need to go hat in hand to different lenders each time they need money, or, worse, struggle for months while losing opportunity due to lack of capital,” he said. “As a new source for investors and with a market focus on LGBT, women and minority-led businesses, Diversity Fund provides business finance for the rest of us.”
The company plans to expand nationally in 2016.
CODE2040
CODE2040 began making waves in Austin’s tech community this summer, when it selected 25-year-old TicketKarma founder Joel Rojo (pictured below) as its 2015 Entrepreneur in Residence.
That honor comes with $40,000 in seed financing and a ticket to visit the Googleplex in Silicon Valley for training and networking.The Google-backed organization helps Black and Latina/o entrepreneurs take their companies to the next level while cultivating diversity in their own communities. CODE2040 also offers programs for students, companies and volunteers.
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