Congressional Black Caucus pushes for diversity during Silicon Valley Trip

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus are visiting Silicon Valley to push the tech industry to improve diversity.

The visit is part of the group's Tech 2020 initiative, which calls on companies to boost the numbers of African-Americans they employ.

Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), whose Oakland district borders the country's tech hub, expressed frustration with the industry's efforts.

“Silicon Valley's economy is booming but we still don’t have the parity and equity in terms of racial inclusion,” Lee told The Hill on Monday. “The lack of understanding of why racial equity is important is mind-boggling to me.”

Lee declined to identify the companies she was referring to.

She has been joined by other Black Caucus members, including Reps. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), G.K Butterfield (D-N.C.) and Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), on the trip.

The lawmakers have met with Apple and PayPal and on Tuesday will meet with representatives from other companies including Facebook, Twitter and Airbnb.

Lee said that lack of diversity is hurting companies.

“I think from a company perspective, it helps with their growth, it’s economically beneficial to have a diversity of perspectives,” she said.

“We have also moral obligation to make sure there is an equality of opportunity for everyone.”

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Jesse Jackson presses Facebook on lack of diversity

[SOURCE] Jesse Jackson isn’t keeping quiet about the lack of diversity in the tech industry’s ranks.

The civil rights veteran and former presidential candidate plans to attend Facebook’s annual shareholders meeting in Redwood City today, pressing the company to include more minorities on its board and within its executive ranks. He has paid similar visits to shareholder meetings of eBay, Google and Hewlett-Packard this spring.

“At its best, technology can be a tremendously positive change agent for the world,” Jackson said, in a prepared statement. “At its worst, it can hold on to old patterns that exclude people of color and women from opportunity and advancement. Silicon Valley and the tech industry must transform itself to mirror the America it depends upon for talent and customers.”

Staff diversity among tech companies has come under increasing scrutiny, with many critics decrying a “bro culture” that often tends to be white and male. Jackson and his Rainbow PUSH Coalition are trying to focus some of that attention on the lack of diversity in the tech world’s board rooms and C-suites.

They’ve had some small successes. Last week, Google announced it would release a report that includes race and gender statistics for its workforce.