Today at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Intel Corporation today announced a broad, new Diversity in Technology initiative, which includes a $300 million investment to encourage more diversity at Intel and within the technology industry at large. Brian Krzanich, Intel CEO, who made the announcement, acknowledged a recent confluence of events related to under-represented minorities and women, including meetings with Rev. Jesse Jackson of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition.
To support this initiative, Intel has set a bold new hiring and retention goal to achieve full representation of women and under-represented minorities at Intel by 2020. Full representation means Intel's U.S. workforce will be more representative of the talent available in America, including more balanced representation in senior leadership positions.
Intel also plans to invest $300 million to help build a pipeline of female and under-represented engineers and computer scientists; to actively support hiring and retaining more women and under-represented minorities; and to fund programs to support more positive representation within the technology and gaming industries.
"We're calling on our industry to again make the seemingly impossible possible by making a commitment to real change and clarity in our goals," said Krzanich. "Without a workforce that more closely mirrors the population, we are missing opportunities, including not understanding and designing for our own customers."
Intel plans to engage with several partners in the industry to support, enhance or create new programs for this initiative, including the International Game Developers Association, the E-Sports League, the National Center for Women in Technology, the CyberSmile Foundation, the Feminist Frequency, and Rainbow PUSH. The company also plans to deepen its engagement with primary education programs focused on underserved areas and expanding its collaborations with computer science and engineering programs at higher education institutions, including minority-serving institutions.
Reverend Jesse Jackson and the Rainbow PUSH Coalition applauded Intel's landmark diversity announcement. Intel's "Parity 2020" commitment is a game-changer with the potential to fundamentally transform the diversity and inclusion landscape in the technology industry." Last month, Rev. Jackson met personally with Intel's CEO Krzanich, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, and Apple Tim Cook.
"Today, Intel has defined unequivocally and measurably what it means to "do better," said Rev. Jackson. "They are definitively answering the question of 'where do we as tech companies and an industry want to be.' They have now set the standard by which all other companies will be measured; other companies will be invited to join the 'Parity 2020 Pledge,' including development of uniform workforce data reporting standards."
Krzanich and, former Microsoft chairman and owner of the NBA's Los Angeles Clippers, Steve Ballmer, will be among the speakers at the 18th Annual Rainbow PUSH Wall Street Project Economic Summit which will be held on Tuesday, Jan. 13 - Thursday, Jan. 15, 2015 at the Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel in New York, NY. The theme is "Where Wall Street, Main Street & Silicon Valley Converge."
Posted By: Will Moss
Wednesday, January 7th 2015 at 3:19PM
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