Ensuring Tech is an Equalizer
Tags: Technology, Diversity In Tech, Diversity And Inclusion, Baltimore

Over the past 8 months, Fearless has been fortunate enough to continue working through the COVID-19 pandemic. Our teams have been able to transition to working from home and our projects and contracts have continued allowing us to keep building software with a soul.

But the experience of tech employees and other digital-first companies like Fearless is not the same as everyone in our community.

“You think about this economy today and we can just hop on a computer and work. People are working globally, and those with the ability are able to get up and work from anywhere they choose. But there are also so many people who don’t have access to reliable internet or devices,” said Fearless CEO Delali Dzirasa during a panel about tech’s role in economic responsibility. “While we’re sitting here in a virtual conference from the comfort of our homes, some people can’t even do their schoolwork. That is ridiculous in 2020.”

Fearless is focused on the communities and people who are being left out, they are the people who use our technology and benefit from the improvements made on our projects.

“Our focus is the user. Yes, many of our contracts are with the government, but they are tasked with serving the people. This is about struggling people who are trying to get their healthcare and are struggling to access healthcare and benefits. Those are the people who we work for and who are always front of mind for us,” Delali said.

More companies need to make community and people a core part of their mindset and business.

There has always been a potential for technology to improve our lives. Think of how we deliver information. 150 years ago if you wanted to share something long-distance, your best option was mailing something that traveled on a horse and buggy. Now mail takes days instead of weeks, and your information can get to someone in moments if you send a text, email, or social media direct message.

Now we need to make sure tech is supporting everyone, not just a small group. There are good things happening in tech, but all companies need to accelerate and push those efforts forward.

“This idea that community and giving back is a cute add on to a company, and not in its DNA, is really problematic. You shouldn’t do something only to check the box of corporate responsibility. At Fearless we have three focuses: customer, culture (our team), and community. All of them must work in concert for us to be a great company,” Delali said.

Talk is one thing, but action is another.

A core component of Fearless’ strategic plan is our 50/50 goal. By 2024, we plan for our member representation to be at least 50% women and 50% minorities.

Did you catch the most important word in that last sentence? Plan.

We are actively working towards our 50/50 goal and apply the thinking we’d use for any other business goal to this initiative.

We know technology can be the great equalizer and we have a strategic plan to achieve our goal:

Build Talent : Through our community work and partnerships, we are working to create talent, not simply hoard the existing diverse talent in our area. By creating space for the next generation to learn and succeed in this industry, we can create a larger talent pipeline in our cities.

: Through our community work and partnerships, we are working to create talent, not simply hoard the existing diverse talent in our area. By creating space for the next generation to learn and succeed in this industry, we can create a larger talent pipeline in our cities. Amplify the voices around us : As we rise as a company, we can bring others up alongside us. We want to give the Black voices in our company and in our cities the space to share and be heard.

: As we rise as a company, we can bring others up alongside us. We want to give the Black voices in our company and in our cities the space to share and be heard. Provide exposure: We invite our city’s next generation of leaders into our spaces and share our craft so they are exposed to the tech community long before their first job. When communities of color see themselves in the tech industry, we can begin to break down the barriers and fear of the unknown to make tech feel accessible.

“People see us and say we’ve done a good job of building a good company, and maybe they say, ‘Well you’re black so that’s why you were able to do it.’ But no, we planned for it,” Delali said. “Companies have goals and plans and tactics but when it comes to corporate responsibility, it’s not often executed the same way. So it’s really easy to forget when it’s not in your long-term plans.”

Making sure you’re a good corporate citizen will add to your bottom line, not detract from it. Studies show that companies perform better when there are diverse thoughts, perspectives, and experiences and in the spaces where decisions are made and work is done. At Fearless that diversity and differences in opinion and experience are critical to our work. The software we build is used by millions of people, so we must design tools that will be useful to millions of different people. Having a homogeneous team makes it harder to create something for a non-homogenous population.

But saying you want to hire diverse teams and create an inclusive environment is very different from doing the work to make that happen.

“How do you bridge the gap and get people in the room together that haven’t traditionally been in the room together? How do you get people to build new relationships so they can extend opportunities,” Delali said. “It is on business leaders to be good translators and get conversations and connections happening in the space from the boardroom to the community.”

Tech leaders often discount the fact that there are so many people who are able and can power their company, but the dots aren’t being connected. The inability to activate people who can help you hurts your company and your bottom line.

“There is a community of folks who want to work, they want access and they’re getting slapped on the hand multiple times, whether it’s redlining or the education is bad or they don’t have access to the technology and– again, they can’t have access to these jobs. I feel there is a personal responsibility and question of how do we bring all people and communities together?”