Earlier this week, Angela Benton, Founder and CEO of NewMe, published a piece on Inc.com called “Why Facebook’s Latest Shot at Diversity Misses Its Mark.” It analyzes how the tech giant’s new diversity initiative, TechPrep, seems to be a temporary effort and funded by McKinsey & Company, not Facebook itself.
The goal of their new initiative is “to promote computer science and programming as a career option and to provide resources to get started” for multi-cultural young professionals.
Through her article, Benton points out that this sounds a lot like Facebook is doing the work while McKinsey is fronting the cost. She makes note that it seems as if Facebook, a wildly-successful household-name of a company, couldn’t find the funds to support a long-term, impact-making diversity program.
The initiative also plans to host a “roadshow in U.S. cities,” but Benton points out an essential question when it comes to impact on the tech industry… “How does it scale?”
Although she recognizes that Facebook means well in its efforts, her critique of these elements is well-supported and brings up important points of conversation when it comes to diversity in tech.
Interestingly, after this critique was published, Benton received an email from a Facebook spokesperson, asking for her to amend her piece.
https://twitter.com/rixflix/status/659814787287674880
Yes, her opinion piece that simply analyzed elements of the diversity initiative.
On point @rixflix! If @facebook is serious someone would have reached out on how to do better not try to convince me to change my opinions
— angelabenton.eth (@ABenton) October 29, 2015
Benton received support from Inc.com to not edit her piece to Facebook’s liking, and instead added a footnote that the company reached out. But she sticks by her original statements.
“I think the biggest thing about all of this is how close minded they were to the piece,” Benton said in an email with Blavity this morning, “Diversity/Inclusion should be a two-way conversation with the communities you are trying to help and tapping people who actually know and understand the community intimately is valuable to the overall impact that any program makes.”
She notes that when she wrote at Black Web 2.0, one of her first companies, she often had people reaching out about pieces. But instead of them blatantly asking for changed material, they would engage in conversations so that they could learn from critiques and gain suggestions from those passionate enough to discuss any critiques.
The disconnect between what Facebook claims to be doing and what they’re actually doing is substantial, as demonstrated not only by her original piece, but by their response.
It’s hard to be a minority in tech and even harder to critique existing initiatives that are at least doing something to make a difference. But here’s the thing, we should be critical of these initiatives, we are all stakeholders in making a difference in the tech industry. Having these conversations, even when difficult, is essential in carving out a path for people like us in the industry.
Have you had similar experiences? Let us know in the comments below!
