2018

Rewriting the Code: Black Women Lead the Fight for Digital Justice and Diversity in Tech

Melanie L. Campbell
President & CEO, National Coalition on Black Civic Participation; Convener, Black Women’s Roundtable

Twitter: @coalitionbuildr

Black women are making indelible marks in the technology industry as leaders, entrepreneurs and influencers in the nation’s digital economy and are leading advocates for digital justice. From government to business, public interest to grassroots organizing—Black women are making a significant impact in changing the face of tech from a “white-males only club” to one that reflects and embraces the disruptive innovation that diversity and inclusion brings to the industry.   

Offline: The High Cost of Digital Invisibility on Communities of Color

John C. Yang
President & Executive Director
Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC

Twitter: @johncyangdc 

We are on the advent of significant technological progress where machines and systems will make decisions based on learning from examples and concrete data sets. The positive implication of building processes on algorithms is that technology companies will have the ability to build better digital applications that interact with human-made objects, such as photos and online searches. The first step in creating an algorithm requires providing a program with lots and lots of data. However, when data is completely lacking for a community of color, this group simply does not exist in the digital space.

The Inclusion Solution: Bridging the Digital Divide

Janet Murguía
President & CEO, UnidosUS

Twitter: @JMurguia_Unidos

UnidosUS has been a proud partner of the National Urban League for many years. What unites us is a common goal of equality and justice for all and a common mission of improving opportunities for the communities we represent. Our work together has focused not only on ensuring civil and voting rights and ending discrimination, but also on achieving full economic opportunity for the 48 million African Americans and 58 million Latinos who call this country home.

Building Wealth: Flipping Data into Equity for Future Homeowners

John Taylor
President & Founder
National Community Reinvestment Coalition

Twitter: @ncrc 

The best way to rise from poverty into the middle class is to acquire a home.  But this has proven to be extremely challenging since the Great Recession of 2008, even for people with good credit and incomes to cover loan payments. For African Americans, home ownership is at a 40-year low.

Historically, mortgage loans for home purchases have contributed immensely to wealth-building for African Americans. Those days, though, are vanishing, and little progress is being made in the fight to protect all Americans from risk and discrimination.

2018 Equality Index

 

Beyond Their Means: Higher Education Loans Bankrupt America’s Future

Wade Henderson
Founding Board Member & Senior Advisor, Center for Responsible Lending

Twitter: @Wade4Justice

 

Ashley Harrington
Special Assistant to the President; Counsel, Center for Responsible Lending

Twitter: @CRLONLINE 

 

Once upon a time, higher education loans were valued as “good debt.” Today, these loans, once considered stepping stones on the path to the American Dream, are stripping wealth from individuals and communities and saddling many with long-term financial obligation—and little prospect of repayment.

The Digital Age Census: Potential and Peril for Black America

Vanita Gupta
President & CEO, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights & The Leadership Conference Education Fund
 

Twitter: @civilrightsorg 

Every 10 years, the U.S. Census Bureau undertakes a massive effort to count every person living in the United States. Because African Americans are among the groups of people who have historically been undercounted, and because an undercount can deprive communities of political representation as well as urgently needed resources, achieving a fair and accurate count in the 2020 Census is one of the most important civil rights issues facing Black America. That is why The Leadership Conference Education Fund has been collaborating with a broad network of civil and human rights advocates, policy experts, and service providers to call attention to the importance of the census and to sound an alarm about a potential disaster in the making.

Black to the Future: Will Robots Increase Racial Inequality?

Spencer Overton
President, The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies

Twitter: @SpencerOverton

Today, we stand at the crossroads of opportunity. If we do nothing, automation and other technologies could displace Black workers and increase racial disparities. But with strategic positioning that accurately predicts the skills and jobs that will be in demand, we can harness automation to increase prosperity and opportunity for the Black community.

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