The George Floyd murder by Minneapolis police last May not only sparked nationwide protests, it also resulted in institutional pledges to ramp up diversity and inclusion efforts across many spectrums of society. In Milwaukee, companies and business leaders in various industries followed suit with statements recognizing that — of the many race-related problems facing the city — increasing workforce representation and access to professional resources and opportunities was needed.
But in the technology industry — a sector that lags behind the overall workforce in terms of racial, ethnic and gender diversity — the situation was, and still is, particularly acute.
In the Milwaukee area, Black workers make up 12% of the overall workforce, but just 6% of the technology workforce, according to a March 2021 report by the computer technology industry association CompTIA. The area's tech workforce ranks in the lowest quartile of Simpson’s Diversity Index, which measures the depth and breadth of race and ethnicity within a workforce, according to the report.
As a whole, Wisconsin lags behind neighboring states in terms of the number of annual venture deals and the amount of venture capital invested in the state. Wisconsin companies raised $273.1 million across 77 deals in 2020, according to PitchBook data. Black entrepreneurs receive a fraction of that — in 2020, Black founders received less than 1% of the total venture capital dollars invested in the U.S., according to Crunchbase data.
Given this backdrop and the past year's attention on diversity and inclusion, we asked members of Milwaukee’s technology community what has changed and what still needs to be done to foster equity in the local tech and startup ecosystem.
Tech Diversity Timeline:
In the last year, various companies and organizations have announced initiatives aimed at increasing diversity, equity and inclusion. Following are examples of commitments made by members of Milwaukee's technology ecosystem and where those initiatives stand now.
- May 25, 2020: George Floyd killed by police in Minneapolis
- June 10, 2020: Milwaukee Tech Hub Coalition CEO statement: “Our current tech population is not reflective of our community.”
- Status update: The coalition has added an at-large board member (currently Jason Fields) representing Black and Brown communities. In November 2020, it formalized a programming goal of 50% representation from demographics traditionally underrepresented in tech (women, BIPOC, disabled, veteran). The group has exceeded this target in every program, according to coalition CEO Kathy Henrich.
- June 24, 2020: Milky Way Tech Hub announced a $50 million venture fund focused on diverse founders.
- Status update: The fund currently is raising money and aims to close the round by the end of 2021.
- July 2020: General Electric Co. named Milwaukee-based Mike Barber as its chief diversity officer.
- Status update: The company released a 2020 diversity annual report revealing that racial and ethnic minorities make up 24% of its U.S. workforce and 19% of its U.S. leadership.
- October 29, 2020: Fiserv announced $1 million in grants for Milwaukee minority-owned small businesses as part of the $10 million it pledged nationwide through its Back2Business program.
- Status update: The company has awarded $10,000 grants to multiple Milwaukee-area companies. In February 2021, it announced plans to increase its total investment in the Back2Business program to $50 million.
- November 18, 2020: Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures announced a $20 million fund for Black entrepreneurs.
- Status update: The fund has invested in five companies to date. The company also partnered with gener8tor to launch the Northwestern Mutual Black Founder Accelerator.
- December 15, 2020: Titletown Tech announced The Equity League, an investment division focused on diversity.
- Status update: The Equity League director Israel Squires said the group plans to publicly share an update by the end of June.
