The Black community represents just 3% of the Silicon Valley tech workforce and less than 1% of VC funding. While the statistics are startling, analyses of diversity in tech must push past existing deficits to address broader implications for the future of the Black community. Exclusion from high paying tech positions coupled with automation that will eliminate jobs outside of the tech industry threatens the community’s economic future. And barriers to tech jobs and startup funding hinder innovation that meets the social needs of the Black community. This session convenes some of our country’s most forward-thinking scholars to discuss how the lack of diversity throughout the tech ecosystem will impact social equality, employment, prosperity, and the future of Black folks.

Programming descriptions are generated by participants and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of SXSW.