The Tech Equity Collective Impact Fund recently announced the latest grantees for their 2024 initiative.
Initially created in 2021, the Tech Equity Collective Impact Fund opens up new paths for and supports Black tech innovators.
For this year’s iteration of the project, 20 grantees have been chosen. Each grantee will receive $50,000 in support through the one-million-dollar initiative. Each recipient will also become part of the Tech Equity Collective’s community alongside other experts and peers and gain access to virtual seminars dedicated to providing tips on how to grow in the industry.
The grantees include Colorwave, GovTech Academy, Byte Back, BRIDGEGOOD, Brooklyn Public Library-LevelUP, America on Tech and Baddies in Tech.
This year’s program also includes Black UX Labs, Code Super Powers, Hack Diversity, Resilient Coders, WeCode KC, and Per Scholas. The C-Better Foundation, Colorwave, /dev/color and Next Shift Learning, Inc. will participate in this year’s Tech Equity Collective Fund.
We’ve been selected as 1 of 20 grant recipients of Google’s Tech Equity Collective Impact Fund.l Grant!
— Baddies in Tech (@baddiesintech) March 13, 2024
The $50K non-dilutive funding will help us scale our impact and programs to help WOC start and grow successful tech careers! 👩🏾💻💕
Read about it here: https://t.co/s2Ch3eR6V6 pic.twitter.com/TDUc861bmM
“These organizations were selected for their spirit of innovation and their commitment to a more equitable tech industry,” said representatives for Google, the creator of the initiative. “We applaud their work and are honored to support their ongoing efforts.”
The program was created in 2021 to address the low rates of Black tech employees. According to consulting firm McKinsey & Company, in a 2023 report, they found that, although Black adults make up 12% of the U.S. workforce, they make up only eight percent of the tech industry.
Moving up the corporate ladder, there was even less representation as only three percent of tech executives are Black. Per McKinsey, this gap is expected to grow as there’s only a projected eight percent increase in Black talents being hired in these tech positions by 2032.
Similarly, the wage gap is also expected to expand, accumulating to a projected $350 billion loss in wages for Black families in the span of eight years.
In a report, the NAACP highlighted the issue and the lack of diversity in tech overall, labeling it as a “modern civil rights issue.”
Working alongside the Kapor Center, the civil rights organization emphasized the need to begin supporting Black tech talent from early on by providing quality tech education in schools.
According to their joint report, only 75% of Black students go to schools that offer foundational computer science skills while nearly 25% of Black students don’t have access to a computer at home.
“Inequitable education structures, policies, and practices continue to impact Black students in traditional institutions of higher education, as well as alternative educational pathways like tech bootcamps and apprenticeships,” said the report authors. “Addressing these challenges within traditional institutions of higher education (four-year, HBCUs, and two-year) and alternative pathways will be essential to the expansion of the Black technology workforce.”
