Change Policy, Procedures, and Systems
- Bolster enforcement mechanisms to ensure that fair and just adjudications of policy violations are consistently arrived at.
- Rewrite code of conduct and other policies to ensure that they have a racial justice and racial equity lens in order to empower all protected classes.
- Introduce mechanisms to reduce bias and prejudice in the evaluation and advancement processes.
- Ensure equitable distribution of workloads or tasks relating to diversity, equity, and inclusion to all staff members; evaluating progress and suitability regularly to ensure forward movement.
- Connect racial justice and racial equity metrics to evaluations and promotions.
- Ensure that at least 13% of the funds you spend — to conduct your operations, convene your conferences & meetings, train your communities, coach and develop your leadership, and more — go to Black-owned businesses.
- Request that the university address racial bias in policing on campus and identify this bias as part of the hostile climate on campuses
Improve Industry and Academic Workforce Environments
- Hire Black faculty and provide the resources necessary for them to be successful, i.e. equitable startup funds, strong career development guidance, solid mentors, and effective support systems.
- Develop a sustainable plan for the retention of Black faculty, do not just hire and then forget about them.
- Hire Black people and make resources available to ensure their success.
- Increase Black representation — of men and women — at the executive levels of leadership.
- Cite Black scholars in your syllabus and readings and acknowledge the contribution of their work.
- Ensure that career advancement opportunities are equitable and free from bias and prejudice for black employees.
- Increase visibility of the work of Black professionals through existing recognition programs.
- Partner with Black professionals and organizations on topics where our insights are often sought out.
- Seek Black professionals and organizations for our technical expertise, not only when you need help with diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.
- Allocate budget and funds to ensure the sustained support of diversity groups and organizations.
- Have Black people in your boardrooms and ensure that their voices and input are given equal weight.
- Have Black people in leadership positions and ensure that important decisions at all levels pass through their desks.
- Listen to and take seriously Black scholars and professionals when they bring attention to issues of racism, bias, and discrimination.
Support Students
- Ensure Black students are not accosted by faculty, fellow students, or campus police while accessing campus spaces. Interactions should be grounded in compassion, empathy and positivity, codified in school policy, and violations of this code of conduct, especially against black students, must have the most serious of consequences.
- Fund Black students to conduct research and engage in research activities.
- Ensure Black students are equally successful in obtaining industry internships.
- Ensure Black students do not face the microaggressions and mentally abusive culture of having to defend their place in your institution from uninformed peers who ignorantly demean their Black counterparts for affirmative action by claiming that they did not earn their seats on the basis of hard work and intelligence.
- Ensure legacy admits do not take away seats from deserving Black students and other people of color.
Improve Industry and Academic Research Environments
- Examine research funding policies and procedures to increase the funding to Black researchers.
- Establish authentic collaborations with faculty at HBCUs that provide equitable funding distributions between institutions.
- Diversity, inclusion & belonging training should be required by all (faculty, students, staff, leadership), annually similar to Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) Training for research, and conversations about diversity and inclusion should extend to include intersectionality and acknowledge the roles of power and privilege in our organizations.
Invest in Computing Non-profit organizations, Communities, and Businesses
- blackcomputeHER.org: blackcomputeHER.org is dedicated to supporting computing+tech education and workforce development for black women and girls.
- Black in AI: a multi-institutional, transcontinental initiative designed to create a place for sharing ideas, fostering collaborations, and discussing initiatives to increase the presence of Black individuals in the field of AI
- Data 4 Black Lives: Data for Black Lives is a movement of activists, organizers, and mathematicians committed to the mission of using data science to create concrete and measurable change in the lives of Black people.
- Strong TIES: Strong TIES’ STEAM programs mission is to introduce, engage, and broaden participation of middle and high school learners, particularly underrepresented and underserved, in the field of Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts, and Math (STEAM).
- Black Girls Code: Black Girls Code (BGC) is a not-for-profit organization that focuses on providing technology education for African-American girls.
- The National GEM Consortium: The mission of The National GEM Consortium is to enhance the value of the nation’s human capital by increasing the participation of underrepresented groups (African Americans, American Indians, and Hispanic Americans) at the master’s and doctoral levels in engineering and science.
- The National Society of Black Engineers: The mission of the National Society of Black Engineers is “to increase the number of culturally responsible Black Engineers who excel academically, succeed professionally and positively impact the community.”
- Black Boys Code: Black Boys Code helps Black boys engage with culture and become tomorrow’s drivers, creators, and innovators of technology.
- HBCU.VC: HBCU.VC is a nonprofit organization that trains students attending Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) in venture capital and technology entrepreneurship.
- Backstage Capital: Backstage Capital has invested over $7M in more than 130 companies led by underrepresented founders.
- BLCK.VC: BLCK VC was formed to connect, engage, empower, and advance Black venture investors by providing a focused community built for and by Black venture investors.
- Founder Gym: Founder Gym is the leading online program training underrepresented founders on how to raise money to scale their tech startups.
Contribute to Social Justice Organizations
- Black Lives Matter: Black Lives Matter (BLM) is an international human rights movement, originating from within the African-American community, which campaigns against violence and systemic racism towards black people.
- The Color of Change: Color of Change is a progressive nonprofit civil rights advocacy organization in the United States. It was formed in 2005 in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in order to use online resources to strengthen the political voice of African Americans.
- George Floyd Memorial Fund: A memorial fund for George Floyd’s family.
- NAACP’s Legal Defense and Educational Fund: The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is a leading United States civil rights organization and law firm based in New York City.
- Equal Justice Initiative: The Equal Justice Initiative is committed to ending mass incarceration and excessive punishment in the United States, to challenging racial and economic injustice, and to protecting basic human rights for the most vulnerable people in American society.
An Open Letter & Call to Action to the Computing Community from Black computer scientists and our allies 