Racial Equity Accelerator
Bringing together influential nonprofits, corporations, and technology innovators to develop a cloud based suite of AI-driven tools that optimize EDI within companies and advance racial equity.
Overview
Problem: Many mission-driven organizations are disconnected from today's advanced technologies (AI, data science, coding) that make it possible to approach big challenges with new solutions that were not possible just a few years ago, and organizations who do have access face challenges designing effective cross-sector and scale partnerships needed to sustainably apply advanced technology for social good.
Target users: It targets any employers and their employees, nonprofit organization and technology innovators
Goal: Creating access to new EDI-focused technology development while bringing value back to the collaborating nonprofit partners at the frontlines of EDI to sustain their impact as they continue to offer consulting to companies who are using our suite, and creating IP opportunities for all collaborating stakeholders to offer the suite as a product to more corporate ecosystems – all to advance racial equity in companies and society.
My Role: I worked with project manager, business development and marketing team from the initial stages, and collaborates in the secondary, strategic plan ideation to development of the Hi-Fi prototype. So far, I've been utilizing the following methods and tools:
-> Secondary research
-> Survey
-> Expert Interview
-> Affinity Map
-> Journey Map
-> Storyboard
-> User journey map
-> Illustrator
-> Miro
Solution
An accelerator program in which influential nonprofits, corporations, and technology innovators collaborate to generate new solutions for EDI. By applying advanced technology to fast-track the work of nonprofits who have been addressing a variety of EDI areas (i.e. education and workforce, civic engagement, healthcare access, housing equity, criminal justice reform, eradicating racism) in every region, while bringing input and data from corporations who have sustainable development plans and actionable data (e.g. WeWork), we will develop a suite of AI-driven tools to implement within corporations to holistically optimize their EDI – in any category or problem space where people of color have started at a disadvantage.
Format
The suite will be housed within a self-contained cloud base or library with ability to connect to other commonly used employee systems (e.g. Salesforce, Workday, Dayforce, ADP) for more accessibility. The tools may be used modularly or in a repeatable succession of: corporate training platform, civic engagement (to access additional resources connected to each training), diversity index (to check progress and identify needs), migrant rights and opportunities platform and pipeline for diversity in cloud-based engineering (to access the identified needs and talent). They can each work separately and have a point of intersection under one cloud base or resource package. We curated these five of our ten tools to be included in the pilot suite, and more may be added or substituted.
Tool Descriptions (Pilot Suite)
Tool #1 - Corporate EDI Training Platform
Training modules for employees
Description: An A-Z provision for Leadership, Bias Training, Racial Equity Training, Privilege Training, Equitable Hiring, Equitable Language. Including games and interactive surveys driven by basic psychology that determines subsequent prompts in real-time based on responses.
Nonprofit Partner: King Center or Race Forward
Secondary Research: Only 8% of CEO’s see L&D business impact (source).
Tool #2 - Civic Engagement App
Additional resources connected to the training
Description: Civic Engagement App based community where organizations and people can find relevant racial equity organizations and engagements that extend from the trainings and are based on employee interests
Nonprofit Partner: National Cares Mentoring Movement, BLM (National Cares collaborator)
Tool #3 - Diversity Index
Assessing progress and needs
Description: Diversity Index that generates metrics for monitoring EDI performance (may be your own company vs. other companies, in a competitive manner).
Nonprofit Partner: United Nations Alliance of Civilizations
Tool #4 - Migrant Rights & Opportunity Platform
Access points to fulfilling ongoing needs determined by Diversity Index.
Description: Migrant rights & opportunity platform to translate and update government policies in real-time and migrants get notified in the app; provided by companies as a resource, helps HR as an A-Z centralized point, and helps the people that they hired.
Nonprofit Partner: Migrants’ Rights Network
Secondary Research: 3.4 million EU citizens will become exposed to the UK immigration system, and as they have benefited from having rights derived from EU laws, they are less familiar with the 'hostile environment' policies. The information is complex, and companies aren’t involving their communities into the changes they’re making.
Pipeline for Diversity in Cloud Based Engineering
Access points to fulfilling ongoing needs determined by index
Description: Infuse cloud into a curriculum that connects schools of technology, journalism and business that helps get students certified and creates a pipeline for diversity in cloud based engineering through educational programs and databases (like a LinkedIn pool so that companies can access cross-disciplinary talent).
Nonprofit Partner: Hampton University (HBCU)
Secondary Research: Nationally, Blacks make up 3.9% of graduating undergraduate engineers. Furthermore, 65% of all Black physicians and half of all Black engineers graduate from Historically Black College Universities (HBCUs).
Service Blue print
This blueprint illustrates the structure of this service, including scenarios, user journey, front-end and back-end interactions as well as how the gathered info and insights of one tool would feed another one.
This is an ongoing project, currently ISM is negotiating with VCs in order to fund the project and moving forward to the next stage. Stay tuned as this project progresses.
