Oakland’s Kapors spend $40 million to help diversify tech world #makerbusiness

NewImage

Via SFGate

Oakland technology entrepreneurs and philanthropists Mitch Kapor and Freada Kapor Klein will spend $40 million over the next three years to help make Silicon Valley more diverse and inclusive, giving specifically to companies with leaders from underrepresented communities.

Mitch Kapor, a Silicon Valley pioneer who invented Lotus, and his wife, Freada, have spent much of the past decade at the forefront of expanding opportunities in the tech world for women, African Americans, Latinos and other minorities. The couple oversee a family of organizations in the philanthropic and socially conscious investment world — Kapor Capital, the Kapor Center for Social Impact and Level Playing Field Institute — all trying to increase diversity in Silicon Valley, whose leading companies are overwhelmingly male, white and Asian.

The organizations will officially announce plans Tuesday at the first White House Demo Day, which Mitch Kapor is scheduled to attend in Washington.

“Genius is evenly distributed across ZIP codes. Access and opportunity are not,” said Mitch Kapor. “With this investment, we’re doubling down on tech diversity because it’s good for individuals, communities and the economy as a whole.”

“A commitment to diversity and inclusion is nothing new for us, but we’ve often felt largely alone pursuing these initiatives,” he added. “We’re delighted now to have so many fellow travelers — including kids from low-income communities of color who are interested in careers in tech, entrepreneurs from all backgrounds building real businesses that solve real problems, and investors who are recognizing that some of the best financial returns can go hand in hand with diverse entrepreneurs and impact businesses.”

Read more.


Adafruit publishes a wide range of writing and video content, including interviews and reporting on the maker market and the wider technology world. Our standards page is intended as a guide to best practices that Adafruit uses, as well as an outline of the ethical standards Adafruit aspires to. While Adafruit is not an independent journalistic institution, Adafruit strives to be a fair, informative, and positive voice within the community – check it out here: adafruit.com/editorialstandards

Join Adafruit on Mastodon

Adafruit is on Mastodon, join in! adafruit.com/mastodon

Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.

Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.

Join us every Wednesday night at 8pm ET for Ask an Engineer!

Join over 36,000+ makers on Adafruit’s Discord channels and be part of the community! http://adafru.it/discord

CircuitPython – The easiest way to program microcontrollers – CircuitPython.org


Maker Business — “Packaging” chips in the US

Wearables — Enclosures help fight body humidity in costumes

Electronics — Transformers: More than meets the eye!

Python for Microcontrollers — Python on Microcontrollers Newsletter: Silicon Labs introduces CircuitPython support, and more! #CircuitPython #Python #micropython @ThePSF @Raspberry_Pi

Adafruit IoT Monthly — Guardian Robot, Weather-wise Umbrella Stand, and more!

Microsoft MakeCode — MakeCode Thank You!

EYE on NPI — Maxim’s Himalaya uSLIC Step-Down Power Module #EyeOnNPI @maximintegrated @digikey

New Products – Adafruit Industries – Makers, hackers, artists, designers and engineers! — #NewProds 7/19/23 Feat. Adafruit Matrix Portal S3 CircuitPython Powered Internet Display!

Get the only spam-free daily newsletter about wearables, running a "maker business", electronic tips and more! Subscribe at AdafruitDaily.com !



No Comments

No comments yet.

Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.