I’m sorry for letting you down

This apology is overdue. Last week, I wrote about the importance of elevating the voices of women and underrepresented minorities. But that response was days late, and I’d like to apologize for the tweets I posted in the interim.

I feel terrible about pain and embarrassment I have caused to some of my most dedicated followers in the wake of the 60 Minutes piece about Code.org, and I have spent the week sincerely reflecting on how this has affected the company, the people on our team, many of our external supporters and partners, and where I have room to grow. I want to apologize to all of you.

Last week, I was proud to see Code.org featured on 60 Minutes and to be given an opportunity to highlight the importance of computer science education for young women.

After the segment aired, Reshma Saujani posted an article criticizing 60 Minutes for leaving out the voice of women-led organizations in this space.

In the context of these concerns, I posted a series of tweets that failed to acknowledge the core issue that she was raising.

My first reaction was to tweet to highlight important women in CS education. Women had been overlooked by the editors, and I wanted to do my part to spotlight them.

In the ensuing Twitter discussion, I lost sight of the bigger picture and instead reacted defensively to what I thought was criticism of Code.org. I felt that the contributions of women at Code.org were being overlooked because I am the male spokesperson for our organization, and I wanted to highlight their work introducing an entire generation of young women to computer science.

So my next series of tweets was to highlight these women.

In retrospect, I did not consider the full impact of my tweets.

While my intent was to defend the women at Code.org from being overlooked, the impact was the opposite: I used women as a statistic to defend Code.org, and that is something I deeply regret since I know my voice speaks for an organization and partner network with tremendously hard-working and committed women. I have apologized to my own team and I want to apologize to partners, teachers, and supporters that I let down.

Moreover, the very fact that I didn’t immediately recognize and address the broader issue until a few days later shows that I have room for growth. I also failed to get advice from our Diversity Advisory Council at a time when I could have used it the most. The reality was the 60 Minutes narrative, despite great intentions, left voices out when addressing a complex problem. Reshma Saujani and Ayah Bdeir have published an excellent piece on this. I have publicly expressed my full support for the broader issue of elevating the voices of women and underrepresented minorities, and I recognize this is only a first step.

This has been a humbling experience. I let a lot of people down and hurt people, and I am sorry. I hope you can forgive me and trust my good intentions. I’m thankful to everybody who called me out and advised me on this. I have a lot of room to grow in how to be a more effective ally, and I am committed to that growth.

Hadi Partovi