Diversity and inclusion are critical underpinnings to our evolving culture at Microsoft and powerful bridges to the marketplace. They can be determining factors in whether or not talented people come to work for us, and whether people buy our products. Through our investment in diverse partnerships on a broad range of opportunities, we continue to work to increase the pipeline of diverse talent, increase retention and match talent to job opportunities that are vital to our success in the future. This month, we are honored to feature the voices of local leaders who represent our commitment to diversity and use their drive to help the community in which they serve.
At the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Peninsula, we serve 1,800 students each year who experience a different Silicon Valley than the one that is celebrated around the world today.
Historically, youth in our neighborhoods have been on the outside looking in. Chartered buses drive through their neighborhoods every day as tech workers commute to and from their jobs, but too many members of our community have never set foot on the corporate campuses to which these buses travel.
In the neighborhoods we serve about 40% of youth are homeless or in foster care. Only 7% have a parent who attended college. Only 65% of youth graduate from high school. While the incomes of whites in Silicon Valley have increased by 4% in recent years, incomes for Latinos and blacks have fallen by 18% – 21%. Our families are facing challenges, and our youth are focusing their time and energy on immediate needs. In many cases, dropping out of high school to secure a low-skilled job is an unfortunate necessity for teens, with a fast-rising cost of living driving the need for short term solutions. With so many families struggling simply to keep a roof over their head, social stratification continues to increase.
I’m continually inspired by the youth we serve. Each day, I witness kids who face seemingly insurmountable odds. These are kids who are undocumented, have parents who are incarcerated, or face pressure from a lack of mentoring and skill building at home.
I imagine what these kids could create if their time, talents, and energy could be focused not on survival, but on innovation. Living in Silicon Valley’s backyard, what if these kids could start their career path with the end point being tech and STEM jobs, fully harnessing the prosperity that Silicon Valley presents?
The challenge, however, is that many kids in Silicon Valley don’t have the social capital necessary to realize their potential. How can you achieve your goal of becoming an engineer if you don’t know any engineers, or anyone who can guide you on the path to reach your dream?
We must help these youth gain a true understanding of the plentiful opportunities in Silicon Valley. We must deconstruct the myths and realities that exist about tech and level the playing field, especially for the young women of color we serve. Technology is in itself an innovative and beneficial tool that we can use to transform the communities we live in. 
What can you do?
Be a mentor. Spend time with our kids. Help them understand your path and your story. It’s incredible what young people are able to accomplish when they are exposed to someone who has been where they want to go. Be a tutor. Help kids develop the foundational skills they need to graduate from high school and succeed in college, and beyond.
Share your passion. Kids need to meet computer engineers and programmers, data scientists, analysts, and UX researchers. Kids need to understand that their love of visual art could turn into a career as a digital artist. They need to know that an interest in storytelling could lead to a career marketing the next ground-breaking tech solution.
Give your time. Spend time with our kids, help them understand the opportunities in tech. Allow them to meet and learn from an engineer, a data analyst, a programmer, or an IT help desk operator. It helps when we sit a young person in front of a computer, but it is even more helpful to teach them to maximize that experience with skills like coding and design.
Partner with us. At BGCP we’re partnering with schools, families, corporations, and like-minded nonprofit organizations in an effort to close the opportunity gap that is affecting our youth. Our elementary school students take basic game design classes, our middle school students are learning robotics programing, and our high school students take video editing electives. We partner with Camp Galileo, a highly regarded summer camp program, to provide STEM education for youth at our Summer Academies. We partner with Hack the Hood, with Microsoft on Girls’ Day (exposing middle school girls to STEM), and with Google to teach coding in our clubhouses. By partnering with BGCP, you can help make great connections happen for local youth, and provide them with opportunities they need and deserve to reach their dreams.
