Greetings, Family!
Stay committed. Stay optimistic. Keep advocating. Use data to tell the story.
Our own Robert Scott was included in a recent WSJ article about what Tech leaders are saying about the impact of the recent Supreme Court decision striking down Affirmative Action practices in College Admissions based upon the majority opinion’s skewed interpretation of the 14th Amendment Equal Protection laws. We are all wondering if this SCOTUS decision will impact corporate commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. We are all wondering if there will be a rollback of commitments to increase representation of underrepresented minorities in the technology sector.
Many of our comments and our overall tone are not reflected in the article but we are pleased to be able to weigh in on prominent issues impacting our organization and the people we serve.
We are of course disappointed with the Supreme Court’s decision. We see the potential for this to influence some corporate hiring practices, but we are choosing to be optimistic. Optimistic because the original motivation behind the most recent corporate commitment to DEI was about a public acknowledgment that racial bias exists… after the death of George Floyd. Many Americans acknowledged that racism does influence American institutions and individual behavior and thus a renewed groundswell of Americans committed to making social change to address the problems. When we saw the knee on the neck of George Floyd, we all witnessed undeniable violent criminal acts that were attributed to racism, bigotry, and abuse of power.
We all advocated for change. Corporations followed social pressure and social movement. We must keep advocating and showing evidence of the need for DEI. We must continue to show undeniable evidence of the barriers faced by Black technologists prepared to reach the highest level of executive leaders in Fortune 500 companies. We want to show the impact of investing in Black leadership excellence rather than beat the drum of hopelessness and despair. We need to prepare our ecosystem and our members and our corporate sponsors with tools to keep advocating and showing evidence.
ITSMF has not experienced any negative consequences or changes from our corporate partners about their approach to DEI or partnership with ITSMF yet.
We should anticipate having to justify our partnerships more intensively and having to show data reflecting the outcomes and the impact directly. There are a number of factors that are coming into play, layoffs, the economy, election year.
Despite the unknown, we are deeply committed to our mission, now more than ever.
ITSMF increases the representation of Black professionals at senior levels in technology, to impact organizational innovation and growth. We do this by developing and nurturing these dynamic leaders through enrichment of the mind, body, and soul.
Stay committed. Stay optimistic. Keep advocating. Use data to tell the story.
President and CEO, ITSMF
About Information Technology Senior Management Forum
Since 1996, Information Technology Senior Management Forum (ITSMF) has been dedicated to increasing the representation of Black professionals at senior levels in technology to impact organizational innovation and growth. We do this by developing and nurturing these dynamic leaders through enrichment of the mind, body and soul. At its inception, only 3% of senior-level positions in the technology industry were held by Blacks. With a half-million new computer-related jobs expected by 2028, ITSMF is committed to increasing the number of qualified Black professionals for these positions. For more information about ITSMF, visit www.itsmfleaders.org.
