Tech on many levels is a white-dominated field. This is especially true when it comes to startup founders and software engineers. According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the majority of software developers and engineers are white, making up 54.7 percent of the workforce. Black employees, however, account for just 5.4 percent of these jobs. While there have been diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in the past, a new one backed by tennis superstar Serena Williams hopes to double the number of Black software engineers in the country.
Recently Karat, a Seattle-based startup that helps young professionals prepare for job interviews, announced that it received a new investment from Williams to expand its Brilliant Black Minds program.
“The technology industry is focused on solving some of the world’s biggest challenges. My focus is ensuring the solutions to those challenges are developed by all of us,” Williams said in a statement. “There has never been a shortage of brilliance in Black America, only limits to the access and opportunities extended to our community. That is why I am proud to team up with companies like Karat who are taking actionable steps to bring more diversity and equity to the industry, as well as call on others to be part of the change.”
The Brilliant Black Minds program was designed to help aspiring Black software engineers practice their interviewing skills before setting off to find jobs or internships. The program was founded after research revealed that job candidates with more interview experience have a significantly higher chance of securing a position. Karat had also found that Black job seekers didn’t have enough access to training and designed the program to accelerate hiring for Black engineers.
With William’s investment into Karat, the Brilliant Black Minds program will be accessible to all aspiring Black software engineers, according to a statement. Willams hopes that the program can add more than 100,000 Black engineers to the workforce over the next decade.
“We’re living in a world where engineering time grows more valuable every day, yet organizations are grappling with a multi-decade shortage of software engineers. The current approach is to source talent from the same talent pool over and over again, which reinforces the industry’s lack of diversity and makes it harder to find technical talent,” Mohit Bhende, co-founder and CEO of Karat, said in a statement. “The Brilliant Black Minds program helps solve this major business challenge by giving organizations access to a deeper, interview-ready talent pool. More engineers ultimately unlocks more engineering time, driving diverse and powerful innovations.”
Williams’ investment comes soon after her VC firm, Serena Ventures, raised a $111 million fund to invest in early-stage startups. Since then, the VC has been busy parsing out funds.
