Put yourself in the office at almost any technology company in Buffalo and you’re surrounded mostly by white men.
It’s an issue that affects technology ecosystems across the world, and while there are well-meaning efforts locally, much work remains before Buffalo’s technology workforce is successfully diversified.
Bitwise plans to reach into Buffalo's underserved communities to create new pipelines of tech talent
TechBuffalo sees tech diversity as its primary mandate
This was the subject of the lecture April 20 by LaTanya White during the University at Buffalo’s Panasci entrepreneurship competition.
White, a Ph.D. scholar who works on racial equity and entrepreneurship, said understanding how minorities get boxed out of growth-stage startups goes back hundreds of years.
Slavery. The 1896 Plessy vs. Ferguson case in front of the U.S. Supreme Court that established the “separate but equal” doctrine. The racism encoded in the GI Bill following World War II. The U.S. government’s “redlining” residential property policies. The marginalization of certain groups to distinct niches of entrepreneurship – Black women to the beauty industry, for instance – and the self-limiting growth potential of their customer bases.
These and many other causes have shut out people of color, not just from generational wealth but from social capital as well.
Often it means that potential entrepreneurs fade from the rigorous process of building a company, before they even give it a chance, she said.
“The tech-enabled, venture-funded, lean startup narrative is a monolith that doesn’t always apply to entrepreneurs of color,” White said. Minority entrepreneurs “don’t necessarily have the relationships to get them into the room, or to the spaces where they can apply for an opportunity. They can’t go to friends and family to complete a seed round.”
White said it’s important to have honest conversations about diversity issues. Where more fortunate individuals have their own communities to support them, so too must a successful tech ecosystem wrap its arms around those from less fortunate circumstances, she said.
White lauded the programs around the Panasci competition, where three of the five student-led startups in the finals round had people of color on their founding teams.
“This is what it looks like to have an inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem,” White said. “We must teach entrepreneurship through lived racial equity, understanding the back story and the historical context that has informed the ways entrepreneurs of color come into your accelerators and incubators.”
Speaking to Business First after the event, White said that successful tech diversification means bridging the startup communities with other existing groups of people. Buffalo is extremely diverse. More than 35% of residents are Black and more than 12% are Hispanic/Latino, according to federal Census figures.
But it is also extremely stratified in both geographic and demographic ways.
Coalitions need to be built so that trusted voices can introduce the potential of startup tech in Buffalo. The more people who start listening, who become part of the crowd-watching events like Panasci, the more technology will become synonymous with the idea of opportunity for everyone.
“You need to find people who can open doors to audiences and who can say, ‘They are here to advance what we need in Black and Brown communities,” White said. “They may not be directly involved, but they have access and they have the power to begin building those relationships.
