What are specific Things to do to build more diverse technical teams?
1. Start at the junior high school level in poor neighborhood by helping schools to teach minority kids how to code.
2. Help set up computer labs in junior high school in poor neighborhoods so that kids who cannot afford the equipment can use the lab.
3. Start coding challenges with prizes in those high school neighborhood and make the kids feel confident about their abilities.
4. Get successful minorities entrepreneurs to host the kids and give them tours of their companies and offices and projects to inspire them.
5. Give internships to minorities kids starting in high school.
6. For the kids in senior high school who missed early adoption to coding, speed them up with after hours coding classes to prepare them for college.
7. In college, make the minority kids feel welcome. Try to make them part of all activities ( computer related or not).
8. For the kids in senior high school who missed early adoption to coding, speed them up with after hours coding classes to prepare them for college.
9. In college, make the minority kids feel welcome. Try to make them part of all activities ( computer related or not). Help find internships from top IT firms (Google, Apple, IBM, etc.) for minorities.
10. When minorities start working after college, welcome them in the team and trust them. Don’t just invite certain kids to dinner and golf. It makes minorities feel unappreciated and unwanted.
11. Give minorities the same opportunity of advancement at work with other employees.
12. Inclusion, inclusion, inclusion in every aspect of the company is the key.
Assess the progress of your efforts and adjust. Make sure that team leads or managers are open minded people and make it a priority for them to build diverse teams, because in the long run, it will be a win win for the company
