Atlanta's Diverse Tech Talent

When it comes to diversity in tech, Atlanta is the standard-bearer in the nation.

Metro Atlanta has 52% more minority technology workers and 27% more female technology workers than comparably-sized metros.

Spelman College produces more African-American women who complete Ph.D.s in STEM fields than any other college or university in the country, and Georgia Tech is the leading producer of female engineers in the country and is consistently above the national average for female enrollment in engineering. Georgia Tech is also ranked second for most engineering bachelor’s degrees awarded to African-American students.

A major initiative to encourage STEM education in underserved and underrepresented populations is Georgia Tech’s Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics, and Computing (CEISMC), which enhances preK-12 and post-secondary STEM education by utilizing the expertise and scholarly contributions of the Georgia Tech community.

Tech Talent Growth

Atlanta has four factors that set it apart from other cities in its ability to become a major source of diverse tech talent:

1. Its place as an international hub for multiple tech ecosystems, particularly FinTech, Cybersecurity, and Digital Media, fostering growth in the industry at every level from startups to Fortune 500 companies;
2. It is the home of three major research facilities, Georgia Tech, Emory University and Georgia State University, all of which are majority minority schools, in addition to three of the best historically black colleges and universities in the country, Morehouse College, Spelman College; and Clark Atlanta University;
3. Its population is already one of the most diverse in the country and is becoming increasingly so; and
4. Its deep and longstanding history as a civically engaged city and cultural center during and after the Civil Rights Movement.

Diverse Talent Providers (sampling)

• Per Scholas: Per Scholas was founded more than 20 years ago with a mission to open doors to transformative technology careers for individuals from often overlooked communities.
• TechBridge: TechBridge breaks the cycle of generational poverty through innovative use of technology to transform nonprofit and community impact. TechBridge also partners with Goodwill of North Georgia to deliver Techbridge Technology Career Program, which is a free part-time 16-week technology education program designed to prepare minority unemployed or underemployed adults for careers in technology.
• VECTR: Georgia VECTR Center serves as a gateway for veterans’ re-entry into Georgia’s public postsecondary educational systems and workforce. The center was established by the state and is designed to serve veterans and their families through career counseling, educational coaching, workforce training, and more.

Business Community Efforts Supporting Minorities in Tech

Atlanta benefits from having a number of incubators and tech communities in the region that are focused on serving minority populations. These groups play an important role in connecting resources and mentors to talent for these populations and helps keep entrepreneurial talent within the metro area while also bringing in venture capital investments from within and outside of the state.

digitalundivided (DID): Fosters economic growth through the development of high-potential, women of color entrepreneurs. DID developed one of the first programs in the U.S. dedicated to funding and developing startups founded by black and Latino women called the BIG Incubator, opening the BIG Innovation Center in Atlanta in 2016. The first cohort graduated in January 2017. To date, 52 companies have been built, and $25 million in investments were raised.

WEI (Women’s Entrepreneurship Initiative): WEI provides educational resources, access to funding and mentorship to foster business growth and sustainability for women entrepreneurs. Their model offers work space for business incubators, assistance in developing business plans, marketing and branding identification, strategic development, legal assistance, financial education and post-transition support.

#ItTakesAVillage: Atlanta Tech Village’s #ItTakesAVillage diversity and inclusion initiative emphasizes the importance of supporting diverse perspectives and inclusive work environments in technology. The Pre-Accelerator Program gives pre-seed startups led by women and people of color the opportunity to gain direct access to community, further education, mentorship, office space and capital.

Goodie Nation: This social impact pre-accelerator has set out to solve some of the world’s toughest problems and develop innovators through training and support. It also offers the Goodie Innovation Pre-accelerator for entrepreneurial training; the Goodie College Innovation lab providing mentors to college students for design-thinking courses; and the Goodie K-12 Innovation labs teaching underserved youth about app development.

Village Pathways: Village Capital Pathways will help underrepresented founders of high-growth companies in Atlanta become investment-ready and support the pipeline of diverse startups in these dynamic ecosystems. Priority will be given to companies in the agriculture, energy, education, FinTech and health sectors.

Atlanta Black Tech: A coalition of individuals, organizations, and companies working to define and organize the Black Tech community in Atlanta. Collectively we strive to improve the quality, quantity, and connections for people of African descent in the Atlanta Tech ecosystem.

Black Women in STEAM: Galvanizing the efforts of black women in science, technology, engineering, arts and math in Atlanta to build relationships, leverage networking, develop mentorship, create jobs and foster alliances in entrepreneurship and careers in STEAM.

Technologists of Color: Technologists of Color is a passionate collection of professionals from the information technology arena. The community is committed to building the African American tech community in Atlanta. Their primary goal is to connect tech.

TechSquare Labs BuiltxWomen Initiative: TechSquare Labs, an incubator with its own venture fund, has launched a mission to pair 100 minority women who can go to market with local developers in an effort to build technology products that solve the toughest problems that face industries in Atlanta.

Other incubators include CodeStart, CivicX, LaunchPad2X, TechStars Foundation, and StartUp Runway. Their work is paying dividends through the success of many minority and women owned tech startups in the Atlanta area.

Higher Education Programs Building Diversity in Tech

The makeup of the region’s higher education institutions and their historical commitment to diversity and inclusion is a key element of Atlanta’s work to support underrepresented minorities in tech. The metro Atlanta region’s colleges and universities, including Georgia State University, Georgia Tech, Emory, Morehouse College, and Spelman College, have initiatives that encourage African-American, Latino, Asian-American, women, LGBTQI, and other individuals from diverse backgrounds to engage with STEM fields.

The Georgia Institute of Technology is a top-ranked public college and one of the leading research universities in the U.S., providing a technologically focused education to more than 25,000 undergraduate and graduate students in fields ranging from engineering, computing and sciences to business, design, and liberal arts. Georgia Tech is leading the way in bringing more women and minorities to tech fields by engaging potential future students from an early age.

• #1 in engineering degrees awarded to women and African-Americans
• Majority minority institution

Georgia State University is also helping to lead the way in encouraging women and minorities to pursue careers in the technology arena. The university has a current enrollment of 52,000 students, with 73% of their student body being nonwhite or Hispanic. U.S. News & World Report ranks Georgia State’s undergraduate program in computer information systems among the top 10 in the nation.

• #1 in degrees awarded to African Americans
• GSU is the only university at which black, Hispanic, first-generation and low-income students graduate at rates at or above the rate of the student body overall
• In the past year, GSU conferred more bachelor’s degrees to Latinos, Asian Americans, Pell students and first-generation students than any university in Georgia.

The Atlanta University Center (AUC) is composed of four member Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) with a long history of educating African Americans in STEM – Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College, Morehouse School of Medicine and Spelman College. The AUC partners with Georgia Tech and other schools, such as Auburn, Columbia and the University of Southern California to provide a Dual Degree Engineering Program (DDEP). The current program leads students through a STEM degree at an AUC college or university followed by an engineering curriculum at Georgia Tech or one of other partnering engineering schools.

Spelman College is the oldest HBCU in the nation for women and the No. 1 HBCU in the country, according to U.S. News and World Report. On average, during the past five years, 34% of the college’s student body pursued majors in biology, chemistry, mathematics, computer science, physics, environmental science or engineering (Georgia Tech Dual Degree Program), and 25% of graduates received degrees in STEM disciplines.

Morehouse College is the fourth highest ranked HBCU in the country, according to U.S. News and World Report, and the only HBCU that is all male. The Culturally Relevant Computer Lab at Morehouse, established in 2011, is the #1 producer of black male Ph.D. students in Computer Science.

Morehouse is also directly impacting future STEM students in the greater Atlanta community through the SMASH Morehouse (Summer Math and Science Honors Academy) initiative, which focuses on creating a pipeline to get more underrepresented and low-income minorities into STEM careers.

The Morehouse College Entrepreneurship Center, in partnership with JPMorgan Chase & Co. and TechSquare Labs, has launched Ascend2020 Atlanta, a technology startup and small business support ecosystem for minority-led companies throughout metro Atlanta.

The Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) trains physicians, biomedical scientists and public health practitioners to improve the health and well-being of people of color and the underserved urban and rural populations in Georgia and the nation. It is among the nation’s leading educators of primary care physicians and recognized as the top institution in its social mission.

Clark Atlanta University houses several research centers and projects in STEM fields. Clark Atlanta’s total enrollment includes 3,800 students, with about 800 in graduate programs. The University is home to the Center for Cancer Research and Therapeutic Development, America’s largest, most comprehensive academic prostate cancer research enterprise, responsible for breakthrough investigations resulting in five patents.