Technology

Docker Foundation: Working to Promote Diversity in Tech

The organisation is using the 1-1-1 pledge to give back to those in need

09.05.2019 | by Reve Fisher
Photo by NESA by Makers
Photo by NESA by Makers

Docker Foundation, the non-profit launched by the Docker enterprise container platform, is dedicated to increasing workplace diversity in the tech scene. The organisation aims to increase access to educational and employment opportunities for underrepresented populations to help them “meaningfully participate in the digital economy.”

“Our commitment of innovation isn’t just about technology,” Steve Singh, then-chairman and CEO of Docker, said in a press release. “It’s one of building a better world through technology. And the innovation of our future depends on the inclusiveness and diversity of those building it. We pledge to lower barriers to education and create opportunities for others. Together, we can expand the community of developers who will be building our tomorrow.”

Docker Foundation is going to join the Pledge 1%, a global program that encourages individuals and companies to give back. The pledge uses the 1-1-1 model of corporate philanthropy, donating 1% of profits, products, and time for the benefit of others.

In Docker’s case, that would consist of providing financial support to organisations empowering minorities in tech, donating time through volunteering, educating, and enabling others, and offering the company’s ground-breaking technology to generate opportunities in diversity and inclusion.

Docker plans to use its own resources to help break barriers by supporting platforms that are working to empower others. Some of these include Black Girls Code, which offers coding classes and teaches coding skills to African-American youth; Holberton School, which offers alternative schooling in software engineering; and CodePath, which provides support, tools, and connections to students in computer science.

Michael Ellison, CEO and founder of CodePath, explained that his organisation was started to offer industry-relevant training opportunities to undeserved populations. However, much more is needed to further close the gap.

Students learning at CodePath.org

“We started CodePath because we realized that there is a huge wealth of minority tech talent that has been largely overlooked,” Ellison explained. “They have the potential to succeed, but they need computer science programs that are designed to work with them, giving students who did not have access to prior training opportunities to succeed and teaching the industry-relevant skills employers are looking for.

“It’ll take path-breaking companies like Docker, which are willing to step up and invest in overlooked talent, to change the status quo for minority engineers and close the tech skills gap. We look forward to working with Docker as we redesign computer science education to cultivate a new generation of innovative, creative, inclusive programmers.”

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