Progress is often only seen as positive based on the sustainability measures associated with it, and many organizations have not kept their promises regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). This abandonment informs many (DEI) advocates’ perspectives when explaining the recent rollback of DEI programs at large and small corporations. The removal of equity-focused programming is not new. According to a previous AFROTECH™ report, many companies that made commitments to DEI in 2020 after the murder of George Floyd have dialed back or cut programs. Now, Microsoft is among the big-name companies, specifically in tech, that have decided to eliminate their intentional strategies around DEI. The pervasive question to these cuts is “why?” According to Business Insider, it was due to “changing business needs.” “True systems-change work associated with DEI programs everywhere are no longer business critical or smart as they were in 2020,” a leader of the laid off DEI team wrote in an...

Michael Jordan, together with his eponymous Jordan Brand, has announced a new set of financial initiatives for Black excellence. In a press release announcement, it was revealed that they’ve issued grants to three renowned institutions: Morehouse College, a popular Historically Black College and University; Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture; and Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting. Jordan will be donating $3 million to the Smithsonian over the course of three years. He will be donating $1 million over two years to Morehouse, and he will be donating $1 million over two years to the Ida B. Wells Society. “Education is crucial for understanding the Black experience today,” says Michael Jordan in the press release announcement. “We want to help people understand the truth of our past, and help tell the stories that will shape our future.” Legendary director Spike Lee, a 1979 graduate of Morehouse College, said that Michael...

Coco Gauff has invested in women’s basketball. Unrivaled is a 3-on-3 basketball league announced in 2023 and founded by WNBA stars Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart. Each player participating in its first season was granted equity in the league, setting a precedence in sports. “For years, women have relied heavily on off-court sponsorships for a majority of their income,” Stewart said in a press release shared with AFROTECH™ . “With Unrivaled , we’re revolutionizing the game by prioritizing investments in our stars and ensuring their on-court performance is reflected in their pay.” Collier added: “With the growing popularity of women’s basketball and the WNBA, this is an opportunity for us to extend our visibility into the traditional basketball season. Breanna and I set out to create a league that would change the way women’s sports are viewed and ultimately how sports leagues operate. We may have had the vision, but this isn’t just our league – it belongs to the players, and...

Equity-focused work may be a point of contention in today’s political environment, but it has not stopped the commitment of those dedicated to ensuring justice. Recently, Operation HOPE Inc. hosted its Hope Global Forums Annual Meeting. This convening brought together community stakeholders and influencers to discuss how to move into the future through economic, technological, and cultural advancements. During the meeting in Atlanta, GA, Hope Global Forum leader and CEO of Operation HOPE, John Hope Bryant, announced one of his goals to raise $100 million to fund the organization’s work of providing financial literacy and economic growth tools for individuals and small businesses. While providing his final remarks, Bryant confirmed that he is well on his way to receiving that fundraising amount through partners and corporations including Delta, Shopify, Truist, and Bishop T.D. Jakes. “Shopify, they’re ready for $60 million,” Bryant said. “Why did they do this? They are good people,...

A movement that was birthed out of the COVID-19 quarantine has raised millions of dollars to support Kamala Harris’ quest as the first Black woman president of the United States. “Win With Black Women” (WWBW) is a mantra and group conceptualized by Jotaka Eaddy, a social impact consultant in politics and technology who founded Full Circle Strategies. She understood the importance of community early on as a high school student looking to attend a conference geared towards those seeking law careers, Fortune reports. Raised in a humble environment in South Carolina, the $3,000 cost for the conference was out of reach for her parents. However, through the support of Black women church-goers she was able to attend. “Black women in my church and in my community sold chicken dinners and held bake sales to raise money to send me to that conference and to put me on an airplane that many of them have still never been on,” Eaddy said, according to Fortune. She went on to make history as the...

As a global financial and information technology company, Bloomberg has always remained a leader when it comes to helping investment firms small and large make smarter and faster business and financial decisions. Over the years, its mission has been to give markets the necessary tools to be better informed and more efficient, which helps grow economies, create jobs and raise living standards for people all over the world. Terrence Crossdale, a Team Leader for the Content Management System (CMS) Platform Engineering team, joined Bloomberg in 2020. His interest in Bloomberg was sparked by his understanding of the global impact of the Bloomberg Terminal. “I have a background in Information Systems and was excited about the prospects of contributing to technology with significant global relevance,” he recalls. The challenges and opportunities of working on technology that supports the global financial markets were compelling factors in his decision to join Bloomberg. The Backbone of...

The world is in an age of technology that people from decades ago likely could not fathom. With the emergence of AI and the range of tech products offered, there is little that people can’t imagine regarding innovation and advancement. This new tech era has revealed there isn’t just one way to create, to develop, or even to exist. In many ways, this technology amplified the necessity and interwoven strategies of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). The intersection of tech and DEI often manifests unexpectedly – in organizations where many people would not naturally think of those intersections. Capital One, for instance, is primarily known as a finance organization but is also a leader in technology and innovation. During a 2023 interview with Built In , the firm’s Director of Product Management, David Henkel, summed up its innovative approach. “We’re a tech company disguised as a bank,” he said. The work of people like Maureen Jules-Perez has cemented this identity marker. As...

Money. Every single one of us is working for it, it’s why we’re logging into these computers everyday, but for some reason, it’s also something we’re scared to talk about. In a recent LinkedIn survey, 40% of Black professionals felt like they were underpaid, but get this; only 30% had plans to ask for a raise, and 34% of us feel the hardest part of job searching is salary and benefits negotiations. If we agree that we’re all working for money–Lord knows I work HARD for mine–then why are we so scared to talk about compensation? By traditional measures, the U.S. labor market looks pretty good on paper. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data, the U.S. economy added more jobs than economists expected in February 2024, however, on LinkedIn we’re still seeing just one job opening for every two applicants. My goal is to help people, who plan to stay in their roles, better understand how not to leave money on the table and to help folks negotiating for new opportunities arm...