—Photo courtesy Congressional Black Caucus Tech 2020

WASHINGTON | December 3, 2015
Friends,

Today, Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) CHAIRMAN, G. K. BUTTERFIELD (NC) and REP. BARBARA LEE (CA), Co-Chair of the CBC Diversity Task Force, announced that seven national African American tech professional organizations have adopted African American Inclusion Plans [1] (AAIPs) designed to increase tech diversity. See the full write up, videos, and photos toward the end of this post [2].  You also can see the photos and video on Facebook [3].

Chairman Butterfield called on tech companies to:

1. Reduce the weight they put on job applicants being recommended by

people who already work in the company. When companies give significant weight to a job applicant who knows someone in the company, that applicant has an advantage over a person who does not know anyone in the company. This practice of rewarding people who have connections in the company reinforces a lack of diversity since the current employees are not diverse.

2. Implement a “Rooney Rule” style process that ensures there is a

female candidate AND an underrepresented minority in the interview pool.

Congressman Butterfield also outlined next steps for CBC TECH 2020 [1]

including:

1. Focusing more intently on the African American representation within

the government affairs offices of the tech companies that have plenty of

available talent in the Washington DC.

2. Traveling to additional tech hubs outside of Silicon Valley to meet

with the leadership of tech companies. The other members of our task

force will be organizing events in their respective districts to engage

a broader group of stakeholders.

3. Working with a broader section of tech companies including

TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMPANIES, FINANCIAL SERVICES TECH, and BIOTECH firms.

4. Highlighting the work of innovative tech companies that are setting

clear goals, taking risks, and producing results.

TROY G. CLAIR

Chief of Staff

Congressman G. K. Butterfield (NC-01)

2305 Rayburn House Office Bldg

202-225-3101

http://www.butterfield.house.gov [4]

Links:

——

[1] http://cbc-butterfield.house.gov/tech

[2] https://medium.com/@G.K.Butterfield/moving-beyond-the-pipeline-discussion-african-american-tech-talent-is-ready-willing-able-16c26a4104dc#.hl79fuz77

[3] https://www.facebook.com/congressmangkbutterfield

[4] http://www.butterfield.house.gov/