Oakland Economy, Tech in Oakland
How Uber could end up as Silicon Valley’s most spectacular crash
Original article by Kevin Maney – Newsweek Just a year ago, Uber reigned as the tech industry’s awe-inspiring, all-powerful Wizard of Oz. But lately, the curtain is being pulled back to reveal a guy who’s more like an angry drunk frantically yanking levers while taking roundhouse swings at the Tin Man and propositioning Dorothy. Uber […]
Uber launches ‘urgent investigation’ into sexual harassment claims
Original article by Sam Levin in the Guardian A former Uber engineer has come forward with allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination, claiming that management repeatedly dismissed her complaints, protected a repeat offender and threatened to fire her for raising concerns. The accusations from Susan Fowler, a former site reliability engineer who now works for […]
Oakland Economy, Tech in Oakland
Bay Area tech job growth is decelerating
Original article by George Avalos – East Bay Times SAN JOSE — Job growth in the tech industry used to zoom like a race car, but these days, hiring by this principal driver of the Bay Area’s economy chugs along more like a family SUV. The technology industry’s job growth in the nine-county region has […]
Diversity in tech: Lots of attention, little progress
by Barbara Ortutay – AP Technology Writer The tech industry has brought us self-driving cars, artificial intelligence, disappearing photos and 3-D printers. But when it comes to racial and gender diversity, its companies are no trailblazers. Despite loudly touted efforts to hire more black, Latino and female workers, especially in technical and leadership positions, diversity […]
Jesse Jackson Tells Uber to Release Diversity Data, Invest in Oakland
Original article by Sheryl Estrada on DiversityInc.com In a letter to Uber’s CEO Travis Kalanick, civil rights leader Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr., president and founder of The Rainbow PUSH Coalition, urged Uber to report its diversity data by February 15. Unlike many big-name tech companies, Uber has not released data on the racial and gender […]
‘Hidden Figures’: Can film inspire more young black women to embrace science, tech?
Original article by Joyce Tsai in The Mercury News OAKLAND — Kimberly Bryant still recalls how lonely and unwelcome it felt at times to be the only black female face in her college electrical engineering classes at Vanderbilt University in the mid-1980s. One of her first memories as a freshman was having the head of the engineering department […]
Can’t Afford Coding Camp? The Feds May Have a Loan for You
Original article by Issie Lapowsky – WIRED When he was just a senator from Illinois, Barack Obama ran for President on the platform that college should be affordable to anyone who wants to go. Now that he holds the office, his approach has shifted ever so slightly. College should be affordable, yes, but also, not everyone should […]
“Silicon Valley is hostile to diversity,” says Slack’s Leslie Miley
Original article/video by Cyrus Farivar – Ars Technica WATCH THE VIDEO Leslie Miley, the director of engineering at Slack, challenged an audience that historically has benefited from white privilege (including yours truly) to extend it to others, like women and minorities. “Extending is not making room at the table—it’s giving up your place at […]
Raising Capital as a Minority Entrepreneur
Original article by Devin Dixon – People of Color in Tech One of my favorite movies is Ratatouille because of it parallels to what it’s like being a minorty entrepreneur. One of the quotes from the film describes Anton Ego’s epiphany: “Not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist *can* come from […]
Oakland Economy, Tech in Oakland
Salesforce expands $22.5M education investments to Oakland
Original article by Kate Conger (@kateconger) – TechCrunch Salesforce.org, the philanthropic arm of the San Francisco-based cloud computing company, is expanding its education funding from its home city to Oakland. The foundation will invest $2.5 million into Oakland public schools this year and pour $6 million into San Francisco’s schools, bringing its total contribution to […]