Authors:
Sonia Mañjon, Ph.D., LeaderSpring Center
Yulkendy Valdez, Forefront
Safi Jiroh, LeaderSpring Center
Mara Perez, Ph.D., Latino Futures Consulting & Think Tank Project

Policy Memo #9
DATE

Creating a Company Culture that Affirms and Supports Women of
Color in Tech
SUMMARY

The tech sector has long faced criticism for its lack of diversity but few
would probably guess that Black women comprise less than 1% of all
Four Foundational Pillars
tech employees, representing a 13% decrease over the last decade.
1) Personal Agency
Other Women of Color (WOC) are also underrepresented in tech
despite industry initiatives to attract and retain a more racially and
2) Mentorship & Sponsorship
ethnically inclusive workforce. Research has repeatedly shown bias and 3) Managing Bias
discrimination to be significant factors in the lack of progress WOC
4) Feedback & Communication Loop
face in both entering and advancing in the tech sector. A new
collaborative project by Leaderspring Center, Forefront, and Latino
Futures extends this research by examining the tech workplace experiences of 40 WOC across four U.S. cities.
The project team centered its inquiry around four foundational equity-building pillars and learned that WOC
experience gendered and racial/ethnic partiality across all four pillars that restricts their success and advancement
in the tech sector. These findings led the study team to create a roadmap of specific recommendations addressing
each pillar to advance and promote WOC in tech for industry leaders and organizations that seek to achieve
success for their company and all who work there.

COLLECTIVE EXPERIENCES OF WOC
IN TECH
Personal Agency:

• Dismissiveness
• Opinions matter less than those of male colleagues
• Constant urgency to prove themselves,
despite experience
• Disregarding and devaluing of contributions
• Inadequate project budgets and organizational support

Mentorship & Sponsorship:

• Sponsorship more valuable than mentorship
• WOC need to have executives in their network
of support
• Affinity groups are key
• Value of diversity must be taught & infused throughout
the workplace

Managing Bias:

• Challenging ideas can lead to being cast as difficult,
angry, or aggressive
• Limited understanding of privilege, racism, &
discrimination perpetuate unacceptable workplace
behaviors & practices
• Pipeline shortage provides excuse for tech leaders
to not seek WOC hires

Feedback & Communication Loop:
• Priorities & expectations are often unclear
• Feedback centered on personality rather than
performance
• Made to feel a need to document discussions & justify
actions
To view the full study containing a complete account of participant
experiences and project team recommendations, visit www.Leaderspring.org

SELECTED RECOMMENDATIONS FOR
CREATING INCLUSIVE CULTURE
Personal Agency:

• Give equal weight to everyone’s ideas
• Listen without interruption
• Incorporate equity as a guiding company principle
• Ensure WOC have appropriate resources in place to
successfully do their jobs

Mentorship & Sponsorship:

• Ensure WOC have access to mentors & sponsors
within the company
• Create venues for WOC to network & build
relationships with executives
• Ensure mentors & sponsors understand their roles

Managing Bias:

• Acknowledge that racism, bias, and discrimination
exist & provide training to eliminate these ills in the
workplace
• Ensure trainings use real-life examples to illustrate
issues
• Examine company’s hiring pipelines and ensure
strategies are in place to pursue the equitable hiring
of WOC

Feedback & Communication Loop:
• Ensure managers have proper training to effectively
communicate goals, priorities, and expectations with
employees
• Ensure managers have proper training to provide
non-biased, fact-based, ongoing, and actionable
feedback to employees
For questions or to learn about the next phase of this research, contact
info@leaderspring.org