Inside NC TECH’s diversity, inclusion summit – a call to action

Editor’s note: Tracy Sternberg is Director of Programs and Sponsorship of NC TECH.

RALEIGH – I joined NC TECH in May 2017 as the director of programs and sponsorship. At my first large event, the overwhelming number of white men in attendance really hit me like a ton of bricks. New in my role, I had the official list of items I needed to undertake, but I added diversity and inclusion to my personal list of things I wanted to tackle.

Over the next couple of years, we were able to execute several smaller diversity and inclusion events across the state, but I had visions of doing something larger and more impactful. During many conversations with members I sensed an appetite for this type of programming. This led NC TECH to assemble a planning committee made up of many influential leaders from across the state and develop the agenda for NC TECH’s first Diversity + Inclusion In Tech Summit. This event was originally scheduled for March, but due to COVID-19, it was postponed and eventually transitioned to a virtual event.

Tracy Sternberg

Given the tragic deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery and the reactions and protests that have followed, the timing of our Summit was even more important than ever. During the planning of the conference, the committee wanted to be very purposeful about building the appropriate audience and not have it be “just another” diversity and inclusion event.

We were very thoughtful about reaching out to IT leaders and their teams as well as HR and inclusion professionals and succeeded in having a great mix of over 400 participants, including tech executives and professionals at all levels within their organizations.

We were also very deliberate about assembling a great mix of nearly three dozen speakers and panelists who represented a wide variety of experiences, roles and insights.

Action items

If there was a thread that was woven into each of the keynotes and breakout session discussions, it was about allyship and how important it is to work to understand, be transparent and call out instances of bias, racism, and inequity. Each session had a chat feature and in watching the comments and questions asked, you could almost see the light bulbs going on in people’s heads as they realized how they could be impactful in their personal or professional lives to help make our community and state stronger and more cohesive.

At the Summit, we heard stories from female speakers about how male leaders have “taken a chance” on them to provide opportunities to prove themselves in a male dominated industry. We learned about the wide variety of biases and how they creep into every aspect of our lives. We now have a better understanding about how to proactively recruit people with disabilities into our tech workforce, as well as how to build better strategies to ensure we are effectively communicating with all audiences.

If every attendee was able to come away with one or two takeaways that they can put into action, the ripple effect across our state will be tremendous. The NC TECH team is very proud that we have been able to provide this opportunity, especially in light of recent events, to improve our state.

Our goal is that this is the starting point and something we can build from. We look forward to continuing to host this event each year and will seek to offer additional programming that may include smaller roundtable discussions, experiential learning opportunities, virtual communities or discussion platforms throughout the year. We are currently working on assembling many of the resources that were shared during the Summit and will make them available so we can all continue working to make our world a better place. NC TECH looks forward to the opportunity to continue to be a connector and convener so we can one day have a tech workforce that mirrors our state’s population.

These are big goals, but as I have learned at my time at NC TECH, this initiative is like an “agile” project where there is no real end; rather, it is a continual process. At least that is our hope, and we will continue to be diligent about doing our part.

For full access to the Summit’s complete content (including keynote presentations and panel discussions), registration is available at https://www.nctech.org/events/event/2020/diversity-inclusion-summit.html. For information about NC TECH, visit www.nctech.org

Tracy Sternberg joined NC TECH in May 2017. She is responsible for developing and executing content and programming, and securing sponsorships to support those efforts with the goal of ensuring that NC TECH members have meaningful and productive engagement with the organization and its members.