Open Letter to Congressional Black Caucus from BDPA Member

Frank Anderson

To all of the Congressional Black Caucus members,

I’m writing in response to the article I read in the USA Today titled ‘Congressional Black Caucus seeks measures to improve tech diversity’. I have been in the Information Technology business for over 30 years. Over my career, I have seen some progress only to be followed by some digression in the information systems. Therefore, I was excited when I read about the 1.4 million new tech jobs being created. I’m in agreement with the Congressional Black Congress about ensuring that a large segment of the new hires are African Americans. There will be several things that would need to be put in place for that to become a reality. We need to ensure our community embraces technology, develop relationships with the business community and align with professional minority technology organizations.

I belong to a Black nonprofit organization known as BDPA (Black Data Processing Associates). For 40 years, since 1975, BDPA through its more than 45 chapters across the United States has promulgated the upward mobility of African Americans in Information Technology. Through local chapter program meetings, workshops, local community outreach and its Annual Conferences it has become the largest technology organization representing minorities in the nation. Its mantra is 'from the classroom to the boardroom'.

BDPA has given me the ability to embrace technology with the various levels of experiences of people that I have met since joining the organization in 1989. Secondly, its membership has allowed me to develop important relationships within the business community. Finally, during the early stages of my career, there were countless mentors that shared my common experiences that kept me on the path to my successful career.

To the Congressional Black Caucus, I believe that BDPA is ideally suited to help America reach your stated goal to ensure that a fair share of the 1.4 million new tech jobs can become a reality for the African American community and not just a wishful pursuit. I encourage you to reach out to our national BDPA president Pamela Mathews by email (president@bdpa.org) or phone (301.584-3135 ext. 111) and forge a strategic alliance that will make a difference for Blacks in technology.

Sincerely
Frank L. Anderson, Member
BDPA Chicago
Twitter: @fander4276
Phone: (312)636-9340

What Do Pandora, Indiegogo and Ferguson Police Have in Common? Unable to Hire Black Folks!

Both Pandora and Indiegogo released diversity reports today that highlight an absence of African American employees. The companies join a bandwagon of tech brands that have been releasing similar reports throughout the summer.

At Pandora, approximately 3% of its 1,300 or so employees are African American and 4% are Hispanic.  That is the same percentage of African Americans as you find in the Ferguson, Missouri police department ... and we see how that worked out!   The low numbers are notable given that the company is located in Oakland, where about 28% of the total population is African American and 25% is Hispanic. The percentage of African Americans is even lower in leadership and tech roles, where they represent only 1.1 and 2.8% of employees. In contrast 6.3% of Pandora's leadership is Hispanic.

At Indiegogo, a company of slightly more than 100 employees, only 2% of total employees are African American, and the group is not represented in leadership or tech positions.

Read the rest of the TechCrunch article.

Why So Few Black Technology Entrepreneurs Funded by CincyTech?

I joined over 400 people at the CincyTech annual meeting at the Duke Energy Convention Center earlier this morning. I counted 35 start-up companies and community partners participating in the Start-up Showcase. I visited each of the booths and talked to many of the technology entrepreneurs who have enjoyed success with CincyTech.

CincyTech is a public-private partnership whose mission is to invest in high-growth start-up technology companies in Southwest Ohio. The organization provides management assistance, seed-capital investments and connections to partners who share its mission. CincyTech focuses on opportunities in information technology and life sciences. This is a wonderful opportunity for technology entrepreneurs.

After seeing the CNN's Black in America episode,'The New Promised Land: Silicon Valley' I was very sensitive to the issue of racism that impacts Black technology entrepreneurs when it comes to venture capital funding of start-ups. As such I was disappointed to see that less than a dozen of the 400 people in attendance were African American ... and only three (ConnXus, Innovative Card Solutions and SampleSaint) of the 35 booths were filled with technology companies that were owned and operated by people of African descent.

CincyTech President Bob Coy announced CincyTech’s performance numbers during the meeting. CincyTech has invested $10 million in 28 local start-up companies and helped its companies attract another $100 million in private co-investment since 2007. There were no statistics or emphasis mentioned at any point during the meeting about the dearth of Black technology entrepreneurs being supported by the process.

I am glad to see that there are Black leaders on both the staff and executive committee of CincyTech. That is better than what we saw from the movers and shakers in Silicon Valley.

I suggest that BDPA (local, regional and national) become more aggressive in their engagement with entrepreneurial organizations like CincyTech. I plan to follow-up with CincyTech and its portfolio companies to invite them to learn more about BDPA Cincinnati chapter and the BDPA Education and Technology Foundation. There should be speaker opportunities, company tours for our members and students, internships and perhaps even support for BDPA's college scholarship program.

Perhaps the CincyTech Annual Meeting in 2012 will have a growing level of engagement with Black tech entrepreneurs and start-ups!

Video Interview - 'Diversity in Tech' (Chamillionaire and BlackFounders.com)

Soulclap to Adria Richards for challenging African Americans and other people of color to get engaged in the technology industry. She took some time at TechCrunch Disrupt 2011 to discuss obstacles and opportunities of participating in networking and educational events.

There are many ways to increase diversity in the technology space. Check out her video interview.

Corporate Board Census Shows Significant Decline in Seats Held by African Americans

I have served on a number of nonprofit boards in my time. I have not had a chance to serve on a corporate board in my career. It appears that very few people of color are getting the opportunity to serve on corporate boards.

At least that is the conclusion reached in the corporate board census by the Alliance for Board Diversity (ABD).


ABD reported a surprising decline in the combined number of seats for women and people of color on the boards of the nation’s leading corporations. The largest decline was among Blacks. This year’s report found that in the Fortune 100 between 2004 and 2010, African Americans lost over 40 board seats while white men increased their presence on corporate boards, adding over 30.

Overall, women did not see an appreciable increase in their share of board seats. The Executive Leadership Council (ELC), an independent, non-profit corporation founded in 1986, is a founding partner in the Alliance for Board Diversity. ELC members are African American senior executives of Fortune 500 companies and equivalents. Considering the hundreds of board seats that became available during the six year period, ELC sees the combined decrease for all underrepresented groups and the steep decline for Blacks as disconcerting.

“It is troubling groups already severely underrepresented on corporate boards have collectively experienced a decline over the last six years,” ELC president and CEO Arnold W. Donald remarked in his assessment of the available data. "Most business leaders recognize that inclusion and the diversity of thinking that results from it creates real value. Shareholder value for most of the companies listed in the census is being compromised by the lack of board diversity. A decline in any single group of minorities or women is not good, a collective decline is troubling."

The ABD has worked collaboratively for more than six years to encourage corporations to increase the diversity of their boards. Catalyzed by sponsoring companies Altria and Kraft, the ELC has recently begun its own Corporate Board Initiative. ELC identifies and offers development opportunities to its members who are “board ready” and those who are nearly ready to assume the rigors of corporate board responsibilities. The organization has assembled an elite cadre of members prepared for board leadership and has worked with leading search organizations such as Heidrick & Struggles to prepare candidates and match them with opportunities.

Recent U.S. Census data shows that women and men of color comprise 66 percent of the U.S. population. Yet the ABD report indicates that more than 325 of the Fortune 500 have less than 25 percent representation, nearly 100 have less than 10 percent, and 37 companies have no women or minority representation whatsoever.

"Few will debate that inclusion and the diversity of thinking that it brings to business challenges creates real shareholder value," further stated Mr. Donald of ELC. "That's why the decline in the collective presence of underrepresented groups on the boards of America’s largest corporations as reported in this study is more than a little concerning. We at ELC, together with our ABD partners, plan to make a meaningful contribution in helping America's corporations address this missed opportunity."

Of course the first step towards serving on a corporate board is becoming a corporate executive. BDPA members who are currently serving in management positions within Corporate America are encouraged to consider applying for the Executive Protege Program *or* seeking out elected office at local, regional or national level within BDPA.

Do you have any thoughts on why there are so few African Americans on the corporate board of directors? It would seem that Corporate America could do better in the 'age of Obama', don't you think?

Is Nonprofit Leadership Too White and Too Male?

A new study by the Racial Diversity Collaborative and the Urban Institute finds that less than 8 percent of nonprofit organizations in Washington, DC are led by people of color. If the DC metropolitan area is a snapshot of the nation, the nonprofit sector is facing a huge and deepening leadership crisis that will only worsen over the next 20 years.

After at least two decades of working to increase the number of racial and ethnic minorities in the highest levels of leadership in nonprofit organizations and on nonprofit boards, we have failed. While the number of people of color working in nonprofits and in mid-level positions in organizations has increased over the years, the top leadership looks the same way it did thirty years ago--mostly white and mostly male. And when people of color do lead organizations, they tend to be identity-specific, fledgling or on the verge of collapse.

Read the rest of Huffington Post article here.