Diversity Pledge

The Diversity Pledge

Technology has reshaped our society, and this has created tremendous wealth. But this wealth is unequally distributed; tech workers tend to be predominantly white and Asian men. Women and minorities are excluded from this boom.

Conversely, the impact of technology’s “creative destruction” adversely impact minority and women businesses more. This two-fold attack on the fabric of our society will have disastrous long-term repercussions.

The only way to prevent this runaway accumulation of the fruits of technology’s rise are to fix the lopsided rules of the game. Making tech a more welcome place for minorities and women should be our priority. Looking like our customers is good for business because “D&I is RoI”.

Making public pronouncements isn’t working. In 2014, the world’s biggest technology companies posted diversity reports as a first step towards changing the culture in the tech workforce. The studies, published by Apple, Facebook, Google, and Microsoft, revealed an industry dominated by white and Asian men. Six years later, the diversity remains stubbornly low. According to recent numbers, the proportion of US technical employees who are black or Latino at Google and Microsoft, has risen by about one percentage point since 2014. The share of black technical workers at Apple remains at 6 percent. This is a pivotal moment in history where we can wipe the slate clean and start again. BayOne pledges to take this onerous task as a responsibility and intends to show accountability.

We at BayOne have the intentionality and the leadership to move from idealism to deliberate and effective actionable approaches towards D&I initiatives. We will be judged by achievements and not just principles.

We believe that technology can improve people’s lives. And that starts with high paying jobs in growth sectors. BayOne Solutions calls on the biggest tech companies to find the skills they need from a wider range of people. A more diverse workforce will lead to better products that can address a wider range of customers from different ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds.

We pledge to educate ourselves about the burdensome history of racial injustices. We take a new pledge of action:

We will commit to improving the quality of functional tech education available to women and minorities.

We will directly address the biases in recruitment in the form of subtle discrimination and unconscious biases, and promotions that are holding back others from joining and prospering.

We will invest into upskilling and reskilling within our communities, to ensure that tech talent stays current.

We are committed to a joint fund, and mutual accountability towards these goals.