Monday, May 18, 2015

Did he REALLY just ask me that question? A Board President who has no filter!


The Glass House journey is constantly full of surprises, challenges and most of all, opportunities.  Whether I am presenting before a group, delivering a keynote address or teaching, I can honestly say it's been years since I've been nervous or unsure.  Indeed I get butterflies here and there, but that's good because it keeps my creative juices flowing.  I  never want to get to a point of being too self-assured.

I was fairly excited to meet with a particular arts organization in Walnut Creek for a leadership opportunity.   The meeting was about two weeks ago and I was told in advance that I would be meeting with the Board President and three Board Members, and there would be twelve questions prepared for me to answer during this meeting.  This was all very familiar given my experience before groups over the years.

The first 15 minutes of the meeting went smooth, at least for me, and then something very strange happened.  Let's just say, it was very strange to me.  The Board President struggled with his next question --- one that was 'not' on the pre-prepared list, and he admitted to struggling because he prefaced his statement by saying:  "I don't want it to sound racial". 

At that moment, I used my peripheral vision to scan the faces of the other Board Members who clearly were uncomfortable and on edge about what their Board President was leading up to.  He continued to struggle and then said, "Walnut Creek looks like me....older white people. Would you have a challenge with that?"

I had about  two seconds to have an out-of-body experience before responding and I never took my eyes off of him since he started that particular question.  The first words out of my mouth were, "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.  It is my belief that this organization has been stagnated with doing the same thing so you have chosen to take an innovative approach, coupled with the experience you knew I brought to the table, and hence I am here.  So, I think this is a question for you because clearly you knew who I was before I arrived.  Do you have a challenge with who I am?" 

It would take a thesis statement to tell you the details of the discussion that followed this extremely disappointing, off-putting, egregious and disrespectful question from the Board President of this arts organization.  Really?  Seriously?  Let's not talk about the very obvious -  this man knew that I was a Commissioner for Contra Costa County Arts & Culture, Board VP for the SF/Oakland Chapter of the California Diversity Council, and yet he appeared very comfortable in his behavior, withstanding his 'struggle for words'.

The next day I received an email requesting a follow-up telephone conversation with two of the Board Members.  On that call, I was extended an offer to continue the selection process and meet other team members.  After declining that offer, I suggested they consider governance training for their entire Board and I would deliver those services, for a fee, given my Board Source Certification in that area of training.  I further shared that I could tell by the body language and conversation that followed the Board President's discriminating question to me, that they were aware of the legalities that could ensue.  Proper governance training may have avoided such questioning.  However, the elephant in the room is the culture and dated thinking of the Board President that has been accepted by the group is really the most damaging to the arts field and it speaks completely against the milestones that have been in the area of Diversity & Inclusion.

In 2015...the 21st Century....Imagine that!  And go!
 
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Who moved the dial on diversity at Rev. Jesse Jackson's PUSHTECH2020 Conference?

Rev. Jesse Jackson's PUSHTECH2020 Conference took place on May 6th in San Francisco, and during his remarks throughout the day you would often hear him say, 'here in Silicon Valley'.  Clearly an implication that SF can be considered Silicon Valley and the movement of closing the gap of diversity and inclusion among the tech giants needed to happen in both the Bay Area and SV.  Rev. Jackson's PUSHTECH2020 initiative of Diversity + Inclusion = Innovation has drawn national attention and just about every tech and corporate giant who has diversity and inclusion initiatives,  were in the house at the conference.  Well of course they were because when Rev. Jesse Jackson talks, people listen.

While there is certainly a reason to continue the conversation about the diversity gap in technology,  Lisa Jackson, Apple's VP Environmental Initiatives, said in her keynote address to not discredit the non-tech jobs (which are 60% of the jobs in SV), that are held by a diverse population at Apple because these jobs do feed families.  In Apple's effort to show their movement to divide their resources among diverse communities, Ms. Jackson further stated that Apple has donated $10M to NCWIIT (National Center for Women in Information Technology) and extended more than $3B to diverse suppliers.  Those are indeed impressive numbers, however Mr. Butch Graves, President & CEO of Black Enterprise called it 'window dressing' because Apple, along with several other tech industry companies represented at the conference, do not have 'one' person of color on their Board of Directors.  Particularly, during the Leading from the Top: Minority Board of Directors on Advancing the Diversity & Inclusion Agenda panel, Mr. Graves stated that Apple's idea of a 'diverse supplier' is women and many of those women-owned companies who receive contracts from Apple are not from a diverse populations.  Desiree Johnson, CEO, Johnson Publishing, who was also on this panel, stated that attention must be paid to ad buys in Black media.  That while many of the tech firms represented at this conference buy millions of dollars in advertisement, those ads are not seen in Black media.

Lastly, Lisa Jackson wanted attendees to know that Williams Capital Group, manages Apple's bond investments, where Christopher J. Williams, Chairman and CEO is an African American.

Who put money on the table and moved the dial at the conference?  Who took a first step in showing a monetary investment right here in Oakland?  Intel!  Brian Krzanich, Intel's CEO announced  they will invest $5 million over the next five years in a new pilot program to teach computer science to high school students in the Oakland Unified School District.  The goal of the program will be to send 600 high school graduates to college to study computer science engineering in preparation for jobs with Intel or other companies.

Several comments during Rev. Jesse Jackson's keynote address reigned true and received applauds.  Rev. Jackson stated, "Let’s turn pain to power by hiring youth and not shooting them down", "Diversity & Inclusion is not the cost of doing business, it’s doing good business",  and "Let's move the conversation from diversity to equality".
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Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Ken Coleman's Perspective on Diversity in Technology - 4 Myths


Ken Coleman, Board Chairman for Saama Technology, is one of the most celebrated African Americans in technology here in the Bay Area and when he speaks many ears are listening.  Mr. Coleman points out four myths about the state of Blacks in technology in Silicon Valley, two of which are: (1) media has treated the SV area like the 'left coast' and given far more attention and coverage to diversity in technology happening on the East Coast; and (2) given the success and contributions that West Indians and Asians have made to technology, little to no attention has been given to women, Hispanics or Blacks.  While I agree with these myths, moving towards solutions and/or strategies to dealing with these issues is at the top of my list.

See Ken Coleman's interview and read more here: Silicon Valley Insider Pinpoints Common Myths Around Diversity In Tech