Tech Talk

Companies often face a severe reality check when they look at how white and male their workforce remains, in spite of their claims of proper efforts at diversity. The problem is so bad that one entrepreneur has developed a software tool directly aimed at giving them the lowdown on it, and an exact system for urgently and sustainably doing something about it. Katapult, a tool described as a ‘Salesforce meets LinkedIn LNKD +0.24%, meets diversity’, is the creation of businesswoman Andrea Hoffman, the founder of consultancy Culture Shift Labs. Asked which industries are struggling with employing a diverse workforce, Hoffman says “most” are. She cites the technology industry and banking as two of the most serious examples.

This morning at TechCrunch Disrupt NY, Walker & Co. founder Tristan Walker spoke about bringing more diversity to Silicon Valley and his plan to reach 5,000 black and Latina/o students this next year through his Code2040 program. The former Foursquare exec and co-founder of Code2040 also runs the aforementioned Walker & Co., a health and beauty startup with a focus on people of color. Its first product, Bevel is a razor targeted towards those with coarse or curly hair.

Intel will invest $5 million over the next five years in a new pilot program to teach computer science to high school students in the Oakland Unified School District. If successful, the program could become a national model for technology companies to groom the next generation of computer scientists, creating a new pathway for underrepresented minorities and women into the technology industry, Brian Krzanich told USA TODAY in an exclusive interview this week.