2018

Race, Automation, and the Future of Work in America

Kristen E. Broady, Ph.D., Vice Provost for Graduate Studies & Academic Specialization & Full Professor of Business Administration, Kentucky State University

Twitter: @KEBroady 

A 2017 study by the McKinsey Global Institute estimates that automation could raise productivity growth globally by 0.8 to 1.4 percent annually and also suggests that half of today’s work activities could be automated by 2055. While this is a promising projection for those focused solely on economic growth, it is a source of fear for Americans who are employed in fields most at risk to automation.  Automation will affect Americans of all races, but it will have a significant impact on African-American and Latino workers. 

The Future is Female, Black, and Brown (and We Have the Data to Prove It)

Kathryn Finney
Founder & Managing Director, didtechnology/digitalundivided

Twitter: @kathrynfinney 

“Over-mentored, but under-sponsored.”

 –BIG 2018 applicant response to the question “Why are you applying to BIG 2018 Incubator?”

Earlier this year, as I reviewed over 200 applications for our BIG 2018 Incubator, I noticed a theme that I could not ignore. When it comes to their entrepreneurial journey, Black and Latinx women entrepreneurs (BLWE) want more than a periodic coffee chat or email exchange.They are looking for someone to not just tell them to keep knocking on doors, but someone who is willing to take them by the hand, walk them to the doors, show them the keys (and where to find them), unlock the doors, and walk them in.

Racial Equity Is Not an Add-On: Getting Diversity Right for Our Communities and Our Economy

Karla Monterroso
Acting CEO, Code2040

Twitter: @karlitaliliana 

 

Allison Jones
Director of Marketing and Communications, Code2040

Twitter: @ajlovesya 

 

At this stage in the “diversity in the workplace” conversation, the business case has been made. Time and time again, researchers have provided hard metrics that support the inclusion of women, people of color, and others who bring unique perspectives—and rarely has doing the right thing so closely aligned with doing the most profitable thing. But many companies still find themselves struggling to enact the cultural change required to drive this type of change forward within their organizations. And we’re starting to see a backlash among some in Silicon Valley who are sick of hearing they need more women and people of color in their ranks.

​​​​​​​Black and Digitally Invisible: The New Divide

Dr. Nicol Turner-Lee
Center for Technology Innovation Fellow, Brookings Institution

Twitter: @drturnerlee

More than 90% of the U.S. population is connected to the internet and regularly engages its transformative and transactional capacities. Despite this positive trajectory in digital access, recent data from the Pew Research Center shares that 11% of Americans are still not online[1] These non-internet users are disproportionately people of color, low-income, less literate, seniors, and geographically isolated within rural areas. The reasons for their marginal internet use are largely due to a lack of interest, the cost of broadband services, and the inability to secure an affordable device, such as a smartphone, tablet, or computer.[2]

From Doc McStuffins to Black Panther: On-Screen Diversity Drives Off-Screen STEM/STEAM Success

Dr. Myiesha Taylor
Founder, Artemis Medical Society

Twitter: @ArtemisMedSoc 

Throughout the history of our nation’s civil rights movement, images played an important role in conveying the struggle for equality. In this era of widespread media access, near universal adoption of social media platforms and the rapid dissemintation of content, images hold an even greater importance in conveying messages—both good and bad.

Smart Cities, Inclusive Growth: Harnessing the Enormous Economic Promise of Next Generation Networks

Don Cravins Jr.
Senior Vice President for Policy and Executive Director of the National Urban League’s Washington Bureau

Twitter: @DCravins

By the end of 2017, the U.S. economy appeared to be booming. The stock market was at record highs; companies were competing with one another to announce bonuses for employees in response to federal tax cuts; and the unemployment rate dipped to 4.1%, its lowest since 2000. But in minority communities, many of these gains were passing folks by. Blacks are significantly less likely to invest in the stock market, so the bull market charged right past; the wealth gap between whites and Blacks continues to expand despite a seemingly resurgent economy; and the Black unemployment rate (6.8% at the end of 2017) remains several points higher than the overall average.   

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