When Donald Trump announced his presidential campaign in June 2015, he became well-known for his comments about Mexico:
"When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best," he said in his presidential announcement speech. "They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people."
His campaign was marked by marginalizing policies, such as banning all Muslims from the United States or building a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border and making Mexico pay for it. And President-Elect Donald Trump is a man who at the age of 59 told former Access Hollywood reporter Billy Bush "Grab ’em by the pussy. You can do anything" while talking about how he seduces women.
So maybe it comes as no surprise that now that President Trump is an imminent reality, many people in D.C.'s tech community are concerned about attracting diverse talent to the home of the new administration.
"It may discourage continued diverse talent from coming into the city, which has been a great contributor in bringing a representative body and to the city being a culturally diverse and exciting city," said Giadha De Carcer, founder and CEO of D.C.'s New Frontier Data.
D.C.'s tech scene has long been a role model for attracting diverse talent pools — or, you know, not white men. Personal finance company SmartAsset has ranked the D.C. metro area as the best place for women in technology in 2016. In 2015, NerdWallet ranked D.C. as one of the top five cities for black-owned businesses.
Which is why some in D.C.'s tech community are concerned about slowing the District's momentum.
Phone2Action co-founder Ximena Hartsock said in an email to DC Inno that diversity of background, perspective, ideology and skill are necessary to create a good company culture.
"The tech community in Washington plays a unique role in helping unite worlds such as government and technology that are isolated in the rest of the country," Hartsock said. "It was clear from this election that we were not having the tough conversations openly and constructively."
DC tech recruiter Jay Perreault, who owns his own firm called DCTechRecruiter and has been recruiting in the area for over 20 years, said that the best way forward is acceptance.
"We have to coach or offer to the candidate that there's hope as opposed to feeding into a lot of the negative media," he said. "The stage is set, acceptance is the key. Personally, I'm not thrilled, but it is what it is."
Perreault also said he worries that more candidates will be on edge about coming to D.C. Although he hasn't heard directly from potential candidates or companies, he says none of his 25 interview candidates have canceled this week.
"I'm a little bit disenchanted, but I think there are going to be an influx of candidates that are also nervous," he said. "Especially with the segments that have been called out [by Donald Trump]. This might be a direct attack."
There are going to be an influx of candidates that are also nervous.
Wetogethr's Chief Strategy Officer Brandon Luong said in an email that a Trump presidency could make it harder for his company to recruit talent internationally.
"Although I'm a first-generation Asian-American, I have the bias of being American, meaning Wetogethr would lack the thought process of Asians coming directly from overseas to broaden our horizons," he said. "Hiring foreign employees is already a taxing obstacle, and a Trump presidency may increase the difficulty of it."
But he also believes that it's important to look at how major tech hubs voted on the local and state-levels because those also shape recruiting efforts.
"The only positive thing I can say would be regarding powerhouses located in the DMV, Northeast and West Coast had all voted Democrat, meaning we could still see a number of diverse candidates in the overall tech space," he said.
Melissa Bradley, director of the American University Center for Innovation in the Capital, took time this morning in her entrepreneurship and innovation course to talk with her students about what they thought Trump's election would mean for AU's ability to attract diverse founders and international students.
Some thought the international reputation of the University would hold true; however, they were still concerned that Trump's economic plans would disincentivize international students from starting new businesses in the U.S., in general.
"Some students, versed in Trump's economic plan, said the tariffs are a disincentive for international students as the barriers to starting a company are too high and may have an impact on the entrepreneurial attraction of the US," she said.
And others were also concerned with how the viewpoints of the new president-elect would impact AU's current racial tensions on campus.
"AU has been in the news due to its racial tensions on campus, as have many other universities," Bradley said. "Therefore for U.S. based diversity — in terms of race or gender — the overall tenor of fear for minority and marginalized communities will have an impact on attendance in general and interest in entrepreneurship.
"The former is due to campus climate and the latter is due to the increased distrust in institutions and the financial system."
But only time will tell how the Donald's move to D.C. will influence hiring practices in the District. For now, Perreault hopes people will accept the election results.
"The train is here. Do you want to get on or do you want to stay here?" Perreault said.
Image used via CC BY-SA 2.0 — credit Gage Skidmore
