Today, we continue to process the outcome of our election. We feel anger, pain, despair, and sadness. We see a divided nation. We are ashamed. We see people voting out of fear and anger. We see people who feel unheard, ignored; people who want change. We feel scared of what the future brings.
We need to take some time to honor and process these feelings – individually and together. This week in our office we grieve and support one another. We allow each other to take the space needed to process what’s happening on our national stage and how it may impact our local communities.
As a staff, we look inwardly and ask ourselves what we can do moving forward as now, oppression has a louder voice. We joined Ada because we want to champion the underrepresented and support them in making a career change – and making a difference in our society, with the technology they will one day build.
We joined Ada because we want the tech industry to include those of us who have been excluded historically. We believe that technology can change lives and improve society – but only if it is built by teams who represent the population it serves, with all its diversity in gender, race, culture, age, sexual orientation, religion, and more.
We must be fearless in pursuing this goal. What happened last night and today makes us more defiant, and determined to double down on the change we’re after. We each look inward and ask ourselves what we can do individually – and as a team – to combat oppression, speak up against it, and support other organizations who champion equity. We want to be a better ally and champion for our present and future Adies. We want to help them have a stronger voice, so they can maximize their impact. We feel more compelled to work with our supporters – our companies, volunteers – to make tech a more inclusive profession, career, and industry. We want to inspire and help the many budding allies that are part of the community to take action and advocate for others around them. There is no place for neutrality, complacency, or silence. As a community, we want to move through this historical moment with solidarity, agency, activism, and pride.
While we ask ourselves what we can do better, how we can double-down and be more fearless about supporting diversity and inclusion as an organization, we also ask our company partners – especially our tech leaders who are in a position to change things – how can you double down? How can we help you do that?
We’ll end with some words from Hillary Clinton: “This loss hurts. But please never stop believing that fighting for what’s right is worth it…Let us not grow weary, let us not lose heart, for there are more seasons to come. And there is more work to do.”