Our Economy's Secret Weapon
I'm thrilled to be joining the esteemed group pictured here on a panel at the Milken Global Conference in Los Angeles on Monday April 28.
The panel is convened by Van Jones' organization YesWeCode, entitled Training NextGen Technologists. Chris Tucker, Mitch Kapor, Joi Ito, Van Jones, Trabian Shorters, and I will speak about the importance of educating our youth -- particularly youth of color -- in 21st century skills like coding and entrepreneurship.
I'll be representing CODE2040, talking about our perspective on the future. We, for one, are optimistic. And that's because we believe that our country has a secret weapon that will drive our economic growth moving forward.
There are two major trends in our country currently.
The first is economic: job growth today is driven by technology, with STEM (science, tech, engineering and math) fields leading the way and over 70% of those jobs involving computing. Yet we are currently unable to fill these jobs, with 1,000,000 tech jobs projected to be left open by 2020 at the current rate we're graduating qualified grads.
The second is demographic: the year 2040 is the year when people of color will collectively be the majority in the US; 42% of the population will be Black and Latino/a. Today, over 90% of population growth comes from minority communities.
The fact that only 9% of the tech workforce is Black or Latino/a today, leaving a large portion of the population out of this economic growth, is a problem -- but it is also an opportunity. If we can engage this growing portion of the population in this growing segment of the economy, we have the opportunity to not only fill these open jobs but activate a new group of leaders that can drive innovation in our country forward.
I'm looking forward to exploring this opportunity at Milken this week! If you're there, I'd love to connect.
I teach Buyers how to close their 1st deal | We’re the quickest path to your 1st deal
8 年Anthony Hylick
CEO and Founder of iGlowTech?
10 年Reality Check, please, use this information as you want. And if you think it is close to the truth and can make a difference... please share. "Yet I warn you, you might not be happy with what you see or ever again." https://iglowforyou.weebly.com
Sustainable economies researcher, entrepreneur, idea maker, and connector
10 年Just noticed the date... so, how did it go?
Sustainable economies researcher, entrepreneur, idea maker, and connector
10 年I'm sure they are just baiting us at this point, but seriously, not one woman on that panel?
Consulting
10 年This entire article concentrate on a single problem @ a specific geography...US; On the other hand, we have an enormous pool of highly qualified people with no job.... no signs in near future too....So why dont we extend/stretch beyond our search & fill this demand - supply gap? rather keeping demand open & working hard(which may not successful also) to increase supply.... When we'll think as global citizens? Please remember...the natural resources of the world are fast depleting & demand is growing more...The present manufacturer - customer OR master - slave mode may not last longer unless the customer is looked/converted as a partner/stake-holder....whatever may be the business....