Today, we are pleased to announce Walmart, through the Walmart.org Center for Racial Equity, has made a grant supporting a new pilot program to work with companies on implementing policies and practices that are core to the recruitment and retention of Black, Latina, and Native American (BLNA) women in the computing workforce.
The pilot program is part of a research-backed effort to demonstrate the power of implementing effective corporate talent strategies and encourage industry-wide adoption. In August 2023, Reboot Representation published a new report called System Upgrade: Rebooting Corporate Policies for Impact, with research conducted by McKinsey & Company and in partnership with Pivotal Ventures. The report introduces a data-driven set of nine cornerstone policies and practices that companies can implement to retain BLNA women and their colleagues, including transparent salary ranges, expanded mental health benefits, accessible internal job boards, and professional development programs.
These nine policies are addressing a real issue in the technical workforce: there’s a new pipeline of technical talent ready to enter the workplace, and companies are leaving value on the table by failing to retain them. Half a decade after the initial Rebooting Representation report, Reboot Coalition members, including Walmart, have collectively pledged over $26 million to BLNA women in computing. That effort has had a meaningful impact. As of 2021, the number of computing degrees awarded to BLNA women over the previous five years nearly doubled. But between 2018 and 2022, the representation of BLNA women in tech fell more than 10%.
Through the pilot program, Reboot Representation leaders will work directly with three to five companies who are committed to implementing a subset of the nine cornerstone policies identified in the System Upgrade report. The pilot includes:
- Recruitment of companies to participate and individualized meetings to determine unique needs
- Creation of tailored plans for each company to guide implementation of new policies and/or refinement of existing policies
- Creation of a digital action toolbox in partnership with the tech advocacy organizations that compiles best-in-class research on key strategies and tactics for creating inclusive corporate cultures
- Ongoing tracking and evaluation of implementation and policy success
“This pilot program takes the System Upgrade report to the next level by making our recommendations tangible and real,” said Dwana Franklin-Davis, CEO of Reboot Representation. “With support made possible by Walmart, Reboot will be able to meaningfully partner with companies to work smarter, and not harder, when it comes to talent recruitment and retention – both for BLNA women and for their entire workforce. These companies will be setting an important example and opening the door for their peers to follow suit.”
The Reboot Coalition was founded in 2018 following a first-of-its-kind report to collect data directly from tech companies to understand how they approach philanthropic and corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives focused on closing the gender gap in tech. The report revealed that companies directed less than 0.1% (or $335,000) of their philanthropic giving to BLNA women. The Coalition, composed of 21 members and 6 partners, has now collectively increased that number by more than 7,000%.
Interested in learning more about the coalition? Click here to learn about the Coalition’s mission, meet our members, and explore our tools and resources.
Interested in learning more about the System Upgrade report? Click here to review key findings, learn about the nine policies, and download the report.
Interested in implementing the nine cornerstone policies at your own company? Contact us at impact@rebootrepresentation.org if you’re ready to act or to connect with someone from the Reboot Representation team.