#BlackTechFutures Research Institute

#BlackTechFutures Research Institute addresses racial tech disparities amplified by the pandemic by building a national Black tech ecosystem through aligned city actions, research, policy, Black tech thought leadership, and data. Currently: (1) Host conversations with Black tech thought leaders about how to build a national Black tech ecosystem; (2) Score cities' ability to create Black tech ecosystems with our Black Tech Ecosystem Index; (3) Work in cities to build their Black tech ecosystem through data and policy. If we were selected, we would build the #BlackTechFutures (#BTF) Data Project. The #BTF project is an automated tool that addresses city-based racial tech disparities in real time by providing community and government leaders with access to attitudinal data on city-based tech issues and by empowering Black people with evidence that they can change racial tech disparities. This new tool builds a national Black tech ecosystem by providing continuous data from cities across the US highlighting the challenges and opportunities that face Black people within cities. The #BTF Project: (1) Demonstrates that Black people can change structural inequalities in tech through taking consistent actions; and (2) Educates leaders on tech issues that matter to Black people to help them develop better tech policies.

Growing up in Houston in the 80s, I understood, acutely, the consequences of Reaganomics. My father was a high school graduate and “a natural-born mechanic.” In the 80s, my father lost his job at the local car plant where labor was being outsourced overseas. My family fell below the poverty line. As a child, I learned very early about the power of jobs and their God-like ability to both create joy (e.g. my 18-wheeler-driving uncles) and destroy (e.g. my father’s alcoholism) based upon the needs of a fluctuating economy, and now a future “automated” economy. Building a National Black Tech Ecosystem will strategically knit together Black technologist organizations, Black faith tech communities, Black venture funds, Black STEM scholars, Black public interest technologists, and Black tech ecosystem builder organizations to navigate these new worlds of technology for Black families who are most vulnerable to the current and pending effects of automation (e.g. job loss) and racial tech disparities that have become more pronounced during the pandemic.

Cities are positioning themselves to attract tech companies like Amazon increasing the demand for local tech workers. However, there are significant racialized tech barriers within cities, such as biased recruitment practices and lack of computer science courses in public schools, that work to inhibit black people from seizing these city-based tech jobs. Furthermore, municipalities are facing the same racial tech disparities found nationally where black people only comprise only 7.9% of computer-related occupations, less than 2% are employed at tech companies like Facebook, and where 70% black people's low skill jobs will be automated. These data points are amplified by a year of Covid19 where black people were more likely to die from the virus; close their businesses (e.g. 400,000), and not have the internet to do remote work and remote learning (e.g., 33% of black people don't have the internet). These data points paint a dismal picture of black tech futures. Therefore, we disrupt this narrative by building an automated tool that: (1) Gives black people HOPE that they, themselves, can change their cities' racial tech disparities; and (2) Helps city leaders develop community-centered tech solutions and interventions with black opinion data. 

Many initiatives have been launched by government (e.g. Connect Home), private companies, and community organizations (e.g. Tech Goes Home) to address the issue of the “digital divide” in the US. However, these many initiatives have not narrowed the digital divide or addressed the many racial tech disparities Black people face especially through the lens of tech skills, tech jobs, and tech startups. The aforementioned efforts do not center black people as the solution, only as the problem to fix. At #BTF Institute, we believe, "We are the ones we have been waiting for," meaning we center black voices in our research, city recommendations, and policy formation on how to build black tech ecosystems. We accomplish this by: (1) Hosting conversations with Black tech thought leaders about how to build Black tech ecosystems; (2) Scoring cities' ability to create Black tech ecosystems with our Black Tech Ecosystem Index; (3) Working with on-the-ground black tech ecosystem builders to develop policy recommendations; and (4) Building an automated tool that captures black opinion data to both empower black residents and help city leaders create better tech solutions for black people.

We are having an "immediate" impact because we center black voices. We work with 25 organizations from four southern cities (e.g. Nashville, Memphis, Birmingham, and Houston) to assess and build their black tech ecosystems. Of this group, 88% believe we must create black tech ecosystems for the future black prosperity and 100% of our fellows feel empowered to address racial tech disparities in their cities with research and policy. Our "long-term" impact is launching #BTF Data Project where we build an automated tool that addresses city-based racial tech disparities in real time by providing government leaders with access to attitudinal data on city-based tech issues and by empowering Black people with evidence that they can change racial tech disparities. An example of the intended effectiveness of the data project would be to use the tool to collect local black opinion data on how federal broadband dollars should be spent in municipalities to address internet access issues in poor black communities. To scale, we will build partnerships with national black tech ecosystem organizations and traditional civil rights organizations that have chapters in cities. These relationships will allow us to develop on-the-ground relationships with black leaders to launch BTF Institute programming.