Nearly every facet of life is being changed by new and emerging technology, and the workplace is no outlier.
Tech jobs are a quickly growing market, making up about 5.8 percent of the market in Dallas alone, and often times one of the higher paying ecosystems. New technology is also displacing other workers as AI and automation make some positions obsolete. For minorities and people on the lower end of the socio-economic spectrum the opportunities created in this changing market can seem out of reach, due to lack of opportunity or specified education.
“I had spent time out in the field teaching data science at SMU,” said Angel Durr, CEO and founder of DataReady. “I quickly discover there were some issue in the industry, especially in terms of diversity. I really kind of want to break those barriers about what data science is and make accessible it for a lot of people. Unfortunately, it’s not accessible to everyone.”
DataReady is a Dallas-based nonprofit focused on bringing data literacy and data science knowledge to K-12 students in the DFW area. With a boost from winning female community nonprofit WiNGS’ Women’s Enterprise Showcase, DataReady is itself ready to take its mission to the community.
Durr knows personally the struggles that disadvantaged students face: lack of access, support and lack of knowledge about emerging technology. Due to family struggles to simply put food on the table, Durr pushed herself, despite dealing with dyslexia, to make it to college, seeing it as her solution. However, after graduating, she found herself in six-figure debt. With DataReady, she hopes to help others avoid some of the same struggles she faced.
“Data science is all about being a problem solver; who better than someone who comes from a background where they’ve had to solve a lot of problems in their life,” Durr said. “I think tech, like most of STEM – people of color and people from low-income are at a disadvantage because STEM isn’t pushed as much as it is in the [richer] high schools.”
For students, DataReady offers engaging, hands-on data science learning, giving students the opportunity to explore the field. However, DataReady works with learners of all ages, offering a six-month certification training program for people who may not have a college degree or who are looking to get into the field of data science, without the cost of attending a university. Durr hopes that the certification will become a standard in the region that tech companies recognize as a qualification for a position. As the nonprofit grows, it plans to partner with businesses in the region, creating a pipeline for tech jobs.
"Data science is all about being a problem solver."
Durr hopes it will be a game changer in people’s lives, helping them to break out of the cyclical nature of poverty and have better opportunities. She also thinks the nonprofit could change the local marketplace by creating a larger pool of skilled workers that would not need to be relocated from other cities or states. In addition, she said it could also save companies money, as employees hired with DataReady’s certification don’t have large amounts of student debt to pay off and could be hired on at a lower starting salary.
Durr added that by giving more opportunity to people of color and people of lower socio-economic status, companies can benefit through increased diversity in the workplace, which she said not only helps by broadening the amount of perspectives in a company, but also by helping to foster a more inclusive environment.
“I am really just very dedicated to providing long-term, viable solutions to the cyclical problem of poverty… this is actually intensive work, where you feel like you’re actually contributing,” Durr said.
