Innovators Closing Gaps in the Leaky Tech Pipeline

For the first article in my “Hacking Diversity” series I am focusing on the Kapor Center for Social Impact. While there are a number of organizations focusing on issues of access and equity within the tech sector, The Kapor Center for Social Impact is taking a unique approach to closing gaps in the leaky tech pipeline.

Founded by Mitch Kapor and Freada Kapor Klein, the Center is located in Downtown Oakland, CA and takes a multi-level approach to leveraging information technology for positive social impact.  In addition to creating programming that is working to diversify the sector, they also identify and support broader strategies that leverage the tech sector as a tool for closing gaps within traditionally marginalized communities.  This commitment to diversity and inclusion permeates every component of the organization and goes beyond their internal organizational culture.  In addition to hiring and nurturing a diverse staff, they are also committed to ensuring that all vendors, organizational partners, and projects that they fund also reflect the community that they serve. 

Over the past year, the Kapor Center has had three major areas of focus:

Educational Access

The Kapor Center partners with several long-standing initiatives: College Bound Brotherhood, The Level Playing Field Institute, and the Berkeley Science Network, in the support of under-represented students of color.  Through these partnerships they work to create “a more robust pipeline of contributors in the tech ecosystem”.

Diversifying Tech

Their work in this area focuses on increasing the presence and viability of underrepresented people of color in the tech sector as producers, entrepreneurs, financiers, and thought leaders.  In support of this work they sponsor events like Brothers Code and Vator Splash Oakland, support coding education organizations such as Black Girls Code and The Hidden Genius Project, and provide training to tech companies on hidden bias, contributing to the development of new strategies  for combating bias in the sector.

Tech for Social Impact

In this work area the focus is on understanding how the tech sector can be utilized as a positive force for social change, rather than as a means by which to further deepen existing inequalities. Their support of 2.Oakland and Open Oakland  display a commitment to fostering an equitable and inclusive tech sector in Oakland, their home base.

While the Kapor Center provides limited financial support to non-profits, their counterpart Kapor Capital invests in tech startups with a positive social impact, nearly half of which are founded by people of color and/or women. Between Kapor Capital and the Kapor Center, these sibling organizations initiate and support a range of work across numerous companies and organizations within the sector.  Because they focus on building partnerships and collaborating with existing organizations that are equally committed to diversity and equity; The Kapor Center for Social Impact acts as a kind of spoke or hub in the wheel of tech diversity efforts happening in the Bay Area.  Their work helps to form a connective tissue linking various non-profits, companies, leaders, funders, and researchers, thereby, amplifying the work of each organization for the greatest collective impact. 

In order to gain greater and insight into the organization I interviewed Cedric Brown,  Managing Partner for the Kapor Center.

Question: What do you feel is the Kapor Center’s greatest contribution?

The Kapor Center is uniquely positioned to make issues of diversity and inclusion within the tech sector more visible, and to actually provide resources to support diversity work that is happening in the technology sector through our start-up funding.  We also have people working within the organization who are well known and well respected in the tech community, which provides us with additional leverage and further legitimizes our efforts.

Question: How does the Kapor Center make diversity and equity integral to the way that you do business?

Diversity is a part of our organizational DNA, mission, and philosophy.  It is baked in and not sprinkled on; things that are sprinkled on can be scraped off. Diversity and inclusion are deeply woven into the substance of the organization.  Because there is diversity within our staff and leadership, having these different perspectives around the table influences how we develop internal ideas and strategies.  It also impacts who we choose to partner with.  We look for partners who also prioritize diversity and inclusion in their organizations as an integral part of their processes; from the governance of the organization to the product that gets produced.

Question: What distinguishes the Kapor Center from other organizations doing similar work?


We are part of a fairly large and varied ecosystem of organizations working to diversify the tech sector.  We play a unique role within this ecosystem because of the range of activities that we provide along the entire tech sector pipeline.  The Kapor Center works with students from school-age all the way through college-age to provide them with educational opportunities and experiences that can help to prepare them to pursue tech careers.  We work with entrepreneurs and start-ups that are creating positive social impact, providing them with critical resources and support. We also provide support to the ecosystem of tech founders and support companies in their diversification efforts.

The Kapor Center for Social Change exemplifies the kind of exciting and creative solutions that can arise when an organization takes diversity and equity seriously. Rather than detracting from or somehow denigrating excellence, the organization’s “baked in” approach to diversity undergirds their innovative approach to closing gaps in the tech pipeline.  Their multi-level and highly collaborative approach is impacting, not only the demographic composition of the tech sector, but also the kinds of technologies being produced and the ways that they are being produced.  Rather than simply trying to increase the number of under-represented people who are participating in the tech sector status quo, the Kapor Center is committed to changing that ecosystem.  Because of this commitment, organizations looking to partner with them and tech start-ups that come to seek their support are forced to think differently about the role that diversity can and will play in the development of new technologies.

I am closing this article with a Ted talk given by Freada Kapor Klein, entitled, “We Can Do Better”, because it both articulates The Kapor Center philosophy and serves as a beautifully crafted call to action.

For more information about the Kapor Center For Social Impact visit: www.kaporcenter.org