Our Favorite Sources for D&I News and Advice
As part of my work with Aleria, it is vitally important that I know what is going on in the D&I space at large. And there is so much going on — new companies popping up with different solutions to tackle D&I, changes in corporate structures to create positions for D&I, reports and studies on what’s working or not and why, and more. Like many, I too have a number of Google Alerts set up and am subscribed to what has started to feel like a never-ending stream of mailing lists and newsletters. And I read most of them because so many of them are so good! But there are a few that I expectantly look forward to every single week (or day, depending on the publication).
The 7 Diversity and Inclusion news sources below are an excellent start for anyone engaged within this space, whether a practitioner, a corporate leader, an employee from an underrepresented community, or someone that cares deeply about the importance of a more inclusive world.
raceAhead
Ellen McGirt’s daily newsletter from Fortune, raceAhead, is likely one you’ve already heard of, but is absolutely worth mentioning again. Once a day she sends her readers a thoughtful reflection on the current state of Diversity and Inclusion in the corporate world, and society as a whole, along with a collection of key stories related to D&I that range from recent research, news, case studies, and more. Check out one of my favorite issues where she writes beautifully about her love for fly fishing, how race played a role in the American conservation movement, and what that means today. Its sister newsletter, Broadsheet, is worth checking out too.
Diversify Tech
Veni Kunche is an entrepreneur and web developer that has started two initiatives to support greater inclusion in the tech industry. One of them is Diversify Tech, a resource for underrepresented folks in the field. The Diversify Tech platform highlights opportunities catered to women and minority communities including scholarships to conferences, events, education scholarships, job listings, and a place where one can be featured when looking for a job. Veni has also recently started a blog component to the site that will dive deeper into certain topics. Most recently, she shared answers from when she asked the Twitterverse for their advice on how to fix the interview process in tech.
Inclusion Clearinghouse
Started by Cynthia Overton, Inclusion Clearinghouse is a wide-ranging resource for stakeholders in all aspects of the tech industry to promote inclusion. The site is broken down by Data (links to recent and relevant case studies, research papers, and other such analyses), Action (actionable tools and services offered by companies), Opportunities (programs that help individuals gain access to training and education), Organizations (entities specifically working to promote D&I), and Events (upcoming events related to D&I).
Women 2.0
Women 2.0 is a media and tech company focused on gender equality and inclusion in tech. Their platform provides commentary and analysis on relevant issues and news across the tech industry, and has a job portal, Lane, where vetted employers’ listings are posted with additional information about whether their policies include things such as maternity leave and remote work. They welcome pitches from guest writers that want to cover issues surrounding gender, diversity, inclusion and equity in the workplace, and other such topics.
Femstreet
Every Sunday Sarah Noeckel sends out the Femstreet newsletter, which provides the latest in news and commentary on women in tech, entrepreneurship, and D&I in venture capital. The articles are broken down by those most relevant to investors and founders in the fundraising process, and articles focused on guidance for entrepreneurs and operators. Femstreet has grown immensely since it first started, now having a large global community with a Slack channel where events, AMAs and other opportunities for more direct engagement are shared often.
ThePlug
Sherrell Dorsey founded ThePlug, a daily newsletter covering Black tech news, in 2016. It was the first initiative to focus exclusively on the Black community in the tech industry in order to analyze, understand, and share trends and insights. It recently formed a partnership with Vice News’ Motherboard channel and has doubled down on its emphasis on data analysis. As part of the partnership, thePlug conducted a study of patents granted at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, finding that while HBCU’s have generally trailed behind in this regard, in the last decade there has been a large increase in the number of patents awarded. They plan to do more such analyses and projects and I look forward to reading their findings.
Inclusion At Work
As the former Head of People at Lever who came on as hire #6, Jennifer Kim spent a lot of time thinking about and putting into action a Diversity & Inclusion strategy for a startup. After helping to grow the company to 150 people with culture and D&I as a core element, she has now been advising startups and advocating for inclusion in organizations. In her website Inclusion At Work, Jennifer provides accessible and actionable D&I advice for startups. Anyone can submit a question and have her respond with her suggestions. The posts cover a wide variety of topics including allyship, D&I as a career path, vulnerability, promotions and more.
The Aleria Newsletter
A shameless plug for Aleria’s very own weekly newsletter will round out this amazing (but definitely not exhaustive!) list. Each week I have the privilege of putting together our weekly roundup of D&I news that specifically focuses on three key things: its quantitative side (research studies, recent reports, and analyses that include an emphasis on data); the complexity of D&I (the hard conversations where there are no clear answers and unintended consequences abound); and D&I resources (lists, guides, job portals, and other tools to help you create a more inclusive workplace). We also include an ever-updating list of events, growth and funding opportunities, and D&I focused competitions that may be of interest to our readers. Take a look at recent issues and sign up here.
