A new diversity report by the Catalyze Tech initiative, a new initiative aimed at driving diversity, equity and inclusion in tech, was released on Thursday. The ACT report, which stands for Action to Catalyze Tech, contains a broad set of recommendations for how tech companies can address diversity, including approaches to leadership, program design, goal-setting and hiring.
"Tech is a microcosm of our country's broader dichotomy: America is a land of opportunity, yet continues to grapple with systemic racism," the report states. Although the tech industry may not be the cause of systemic racial inequities, as a monolithic force, it plays a large role in shifting this reality.
Signatories of the report, which include major tech players such as Google, Apple, Twitter and Netflix, have pledged to share data and publicly report progress towards diversity goals. Protocol's Diversity Tracker project has highlighted the problems with inconsistencies in the industry's self-reported diversity data.
The report also outlines why diversity efforts have failed in the past: from DEI teams lacking real authority, to "piecemeal diversity solutions," and encouraging assimilation rather than addressing structural biases. These examples are illustrative of the need for corporate systems "to be intentionally redesigned to root out bias and drive equity," the report states.
The report was developed over a number of months by the Catalyze Tech Working Group, which includes the Aspen Institute, Brookings and Harvard University and others. The report was also endorsed by organizations such as the NAACP and Colors of Change.