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Blog/Our 2019 Year in Review

Our 2019 Year in Review

December 07, 2019

It's been a year since I launched Diversify Tech on Product Hunt!


Being a part-time solo-founder and a mom is hard. I have limited time and I have to make the most of it. This year I focused on growing the community and connecting them with resources that will help folks in their tech career. I also launched a job board and newsletter for businesses to learn about diversity and inclusion among other things.

There were times when I felt like I wasn't doing enough. I told myself to not compare myself to others. Their journey is different. I focused on what I could do with the time I had.

Slow progress is still progress. I am proud of what I have accomplished this year with the support of the community. I want to share with you some highlights!


The community grew to 3,805 members

We have 3,288 underrepresented people in tech, 579 folks who want to learn about diversity, equity, & inclusion, and hire diverse candidates and 775 allies. It is pretty incredible that the community grew organically. Current members helped spread the word for which I am very thankful for.

Our members got hired

Over 100 roles were shared with the community through our job board. I didn't have time to do outreach or promote it. Companies found about Diversify Tech through word of mouth which was pretty amazing.

I didn't want to connect the community to companies that act inclusive without actually being inclusive. I asked companies to share their actual team makeup, the number people of color on the team, the number of LGBTQIA+ individuals on the team, their interview process, the salary and their efforts at inclusion. It is like a cover letter where companies convince us why we should work for them. This filters out companies who may not be doing the work to be inclusive.

Though the job board has been growing slowly, the companies who want to be transparent have been sharing their roles with the community. That's what we need.



Our members went to conferences through scholarships

I initially started sharing scholarships that I heard about. Now we have regulars like the Lead Dev conference who share each one of their scholarships with the community.

Underrepresented people in tech should have equal access to networking and career opportunities. They need to be in rooms where large discussions around tech happen. It's been great to spread the word about these kinds of resources.



We raised over $1500 in travel scholarships

It's great that there are scholarships to conferences these days. However, the cost of travel and accommodation can make going prohibitive.

With generous contributions from the tech community, one of our members was able to attend the Wonder Women Tech conference. Another member was able to attend When Founder met Funder Workshop for Black Female Founders in San Francisco.


We launched the "Business Edition: Inclusion is more than a buzzword" newsletter

After I wrote a blog post on inclusive job interviews, folks started joining to learn from different perspectives. Every week, I share articles written by underrepresented folks in tech on how to make the tech industry inclusive for people like them. I also share diverse candidates who are looking for jobs. It's been growing organically.

There is so much that underrepresented people in tech can do. Individuals who shape the culture at companies need to learn and figure out how to be inclusive.


Speaking opportunities were added to the website and newsletter

I started sharing speaking opportunities in the newsletter. At first, it felt like members weren't that interested and so I stopped. I immediately got an email asking me to please add back that section. Even if they don't speak themselves, some members like to forward them to their friends and colleagues.

I love how folks use the newsletter to share opportunities with their own network. This is what I wanted to do; increase our access to resources.

We need underrepresented people on stage driving conversations in tech. I primarily share speaking opportunities that cover travel and accommodation expenses. I hope that this encourages more of us to speak.

Diversify Tech got a lot of love

Diversify Tech got DC's 50 on Fire award this year. We were featured on Product Hunt Radio, PC Magazine, and on Technical.ly.

Diversify Tech also has over 50 Patrons. I am still in disbelief that I have over 50 folks who have become regular patrons. It means a lot that folks believe in the work that I do and are supporting me financially. I am so grateful.

I am especially grateful to our community for their supportive emails and valuable feedback. Thank you all for spreading the word about Diversify Tech with your shares, re-tweets and tags. As a bootstrapped founder, this helps a lot.

I want to continue building bridges

With Diversify Tech, I am building bridges between different communities within the tech industry that are siloed.

I am connecting companies to diverse candidates and to diverse perspectives. I am connecting conferences to diverse speakers and attendees. I am connecting underrepresented folks in tech to opportunities that they may not be aware of. I want to keep doing the same in 2020 and reach more folks.

Join me as we go into 2020

If you are an underrepresented person in tech, join our newsletter! Once a week, we’ll send you scholarships, events, jobs, and speaking opportunities.

If you are responsible for hiring decisions at your company, we'll tell you about our amazing members who are looking for jobs. We'll also send you resources on diversity, equity and inclusion.

💌 Join our newsletter!

💼 Post your roles on the job board to reach diverse candidates.

🗣️ Submit your Call for Proposals to reach diverse speakers.

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Made with ❤️  by Veni Kunche.