Voices of change: Movement towards equality

How can we ever hope to get to a state of true equality when the bar continues to be raised against it? Much has changed. And yet, so little has truly changed.

There are no lack of grim statistics that speak to the plight of women and people of color throughout the globe. According to Oxfam, the world’s 2,153 billionaires have more wealth between them than 4.6 billion people: “If everyone were to sit on their own wealth piled up in $100 bills, a middle-class person in a rich country would be at the height of a chair, and the world’s two richest men would be sitting in outer space.”

Imagine that.

A year ago, women outnumbered men in the U.S. workforce. Now, they just accounted for 100% of the jobs lost in December, per a recent study from the National Women’s Law Center. Separately, according to Brookings, “400 richest billionaires have more total wealth than ALL 10 million Black American households.” And the wealth gap between the finances of black and white Americans remains as wide in 2020 as it was in 1968.

Now, imagine that.

So little has changed that needs to have changed; to make our society more equal, to make financial equality and the quality of life more balanced. We are so far from fair.

Especially now.

How will we remember the events from the past year — from Black Lives Matter to this moment of political chaos to the cruelty of this ongoing pandemic? What can we learn from the deep divisions that we face in society — from economic inequality to political divide? More importantly, how can we prioritize inclusion and equity, and build back better?

While COVID-19 did not create the inequality that we experience today, it has exacerbated it.

Privilege is invisible to those who have it.

Even though many of us have heavily relied on digital technologies in both our work and personal lives, such privilege is not available to everyone.

Nearly 1 in 3 American households had limited computer or internet access this fall, according to a report recently released by UCLA. As this tends to impact lower income households, students of color, as well as those who live in rural areas, growing academic gaps due to limited digital access will have a cumulative impact on the education attainment of the students, and eventually, their ability to secure well paying jobs and move up the economic ladder.

While there is a growing awareness of structural injustices in our society, more must be done to close the gaps that have existed for far too long. In addition to providing equipment and wifi access to schools and to students, we also need a more comprehensive plan for workforce development that matches both the financial needs of workers and the diverse skills needed by employers today.

How can we more effectively nurture and empower a global digital workforce, including — and especially — for those without traditional tech backgrounds? How do we provide for and encourage lifelong learning opportunities and upskill existing workers — so that they too can be ready for the future of work?

While we are encouraged by the efforts by various local communities such as Digital Charlotte, DigitalC, as well as by organizations including Microsoft/LinkedIn and HackerU, now is the time for private and public sectors to step up and leverage the economic downturn as an opportunity to invest in our collective future. It is through harnessing the power of technology — for a diverse talent pool from all walks of life — that we can create sustainable local ecosystems and provide opportunities and upward mobility for all.

As we have written before, the path toward broader inclusion starts with acknowledgement of structural impediments within our lives, our communities, and our cultures. Economic inequality is a human created problem that can be solved.

Let’s turn the moment into a movement towards true equality.

If not now, then when?

________

In this week’s episode of One Vision, Theo and Bradley host an inspirational episode with Dr. Sue Black and Dr. Simon Schofield, as we talk about diversity in tech, digital access, digital learning, AI, and their latest endeavour, TechUp Women, a UK-based training program that focuses on training individuals from minority groups into tech careers.

Listen in to this special episode on Apple Podcast and Spotify. Thank you for listening, please consider subscribing, and let us know what you think of the conversation.

________

Unconventional Ventures helps drive innovation to improve systematic financial wellness. We connect founders to funders, provide mentorship to entrepreneurs, strategic advisory services to a broad set of corporates, and broaden opportunities for diversity within the ecosystem. Our belief is that anyone with great ideas should have a chance to succeed and every voice should be heard. Visit unconventionalventures.com to learn how you can partner with us today.

More about Irish Tech News and Business Showcase here.

FYI the ROI for you is => Irish Tech News now gets over 1.5 million monthly views, and up to 900k monthly unique visitors, from over 160 countries. We have over 860,000 relevant followers on Twitter on our various accounts & were recently described as Ireland’s leading online tech news site and Ireland’s answer to TechCrunch, so we can offer you a good audience!

Since introducing desktop notifications a short time ago, which notify readers directly in their browser of new articles being published, over 50,000 people have now signed up to receive them ensuring they are instantly kept up to date on all our latest content. Desktop notifications offer a unique method of serving content directly to verified readers and bypass the issue of content getting lost in people’s crowded news feeds.

Drop us a line if you want to be featured, guest post, suggest a possible interview or just let us know what you would like to see more of in our future articles. We’re always open to new and interesting suggestions for informative and different articles.

If you would like to be featured in our podcast series drop us a line & don’t forget to sign up for notifications for our latest episodes and follow us on Twitter, Linkedin, SoundCloud, iTunes or your own favourite podcast platform.

Contact us, by email, twitter or whatever social media works for you and hopefully, we can share your story too and reach our global audience. We are agile, responsive, quick and talented, we look forward to working with you!

If you would like to have your company featured in the Irish Tech News Business Showcase, get in contact with us at Simon@IrishTechNews.ie or on Twitter: @SimonCocking