- The world has gone through many stages of what we'd call a tech boom, from the light bulb to the iPhone, both of which are necessities in my book.

But technology's taken on a life of its own in the past few years with artificial intelligence.

Things like Chat GPT, or even the work from home moves so many of us made during the pandemic.

I'm Kylie Ambu, this is Mutually Inclusive, and today we'll chat about the emerging tech landscape and the growing call for diversity within it.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) With a growing tech landscape comes an influx of jobs and there are plans to make Grand Rapids the next tech hub of the Midwest, but we'll get to that later.

Right now let's focus on who those jobs have historically gone to.

Data shows disparity with race and gender, with White and later, Asian men making up the majority.

But when we look to the top, it's a different story.

A 2023 study by the Business of Tech shows almost 90% of IT industry leaders are White men.

Take a look at this 2021 report by the Pew Research Center where women make up only 25% of computer science related jobs.

And when looking at the pay scale of overall STEM jobs, there's a serious income disparity for Black and Hispanic employees.

While men sit far below their White counterparts, these women of color are taking away the smallest earnings.

Now, believe it or not, this is actually a big improvement compared to reports from let's say 2014, but there's still a big diversity gap in the tech space and is largely impacting women and Black and Brown communities.

Here's the cool thing.

Groups in our neighborhood are working to create more equitable access to the tech space and today we'll learn all about them.

Let's start with WMCAT, the West Michigan Center for Arts and Technology, and its tuition free training program.

- When I think about WMCAT, I first think about the landscape here in West Michigan, right?

So we tend to make a lot of lists.

We are the fastest growing economy.

We are one of the best places to live, one of the best places to retire, Beer City USA.

We're also a city that's living in tension.

- [Kylie] In Grand Rapids, Michigan, nearly half of the families within the city limit are at or below what's called the ALICE Threshold, the minimum income level necessary for survival.

In other words, people are working but not earning enough to take care of themselves or their families.

It's a similar story in areas like Cedar Springs, Kentwood, Wyoming, Lowell, and a handful of others in Kent County.

That's something Jamon Alexander and his team at WMCAT have set out to shake up.

- The WMCAT model was inspired by a gentleman out of Pittsburgh.

He started an organization called Manchester Bidwell and that was inspired by his own personal experience.

It was a metaphor for how it helped to shape his life.

And then recognized that young people were going home to families that also had emerging needs.

So we replicated this model in 2005 and we started with arts and tech programming and medical coding, again, as a response to some of these like racial and economic disparities that continue to persist.

- [Kylie] With tuition free programs, The West Michigan Center for Arts and Technology wants to equip Kent County residents with the skillset needed to achieve their career and life goals.

- When I started this program, honestly I didn't think I was gonna make it.

Let's just start there.

I didn't think I was gonna make it.

I was a young mom, just the typical mom going to work, working in the factory, doing what I needed to do to get by.

I would say WMCAT changed my life drastically, because it wasn't just a program and it didn't just change me to say, I'm Rashika and I am a certified medical coder.

I am now Rashika who can do anything.

- [Kylie] Historically working to pave pathways in the healthcare industry, WMCAT recently shifted its focus to tech training.

- We're excited to launch this cybersecurity and what's called a GRC pathway.

In short, it is an entry point into information and cybersecurity, connects individuals and families to thriving wages and connecting families to the digital economy.

- [Kylie] Careers in tech have cannon balled onto the West Michigan scene, with economic development agencies, like The Right Place, setting out to make Grand Rapids the next tech hub of the Midwest.

- Even in this area, we started to understand, okay, cloud is emerging, all of these spaces, the security side of it is also emerging.

And so I've seen rapid growth to be the issue for why we have such a gap in resources and individuals that are trained in cybersecurity.

We can't hire and train people fast enough to get them in the industry.

- [Kylie] The shift was a strategic move by WMCAT to capitalize on tech emergence in West Michigan.

And the pay scale might show you why.

- Where folks are moving to is positions that, you know, according to West Michigan Works, on average is like $64,000 up to $77,000 to start.

Wages, that could again, start to close that income gap that again, that continues to persist here in West Michigan.

Demand for these positions not only exist today, but also the projection is that it's gonna grow by like 18% over the course of the next few years.

- The earning potential is, I'll even use the term astronomical right now.

It is so difficult to get individuals hired in this area.

You have the same companies fighting for the same people and when you do that, the big fish wins.

Now you've got these big programs that can spend big dollars to bring in the talent.

- [Kylie] The tech pathway program is open to any adult in Kent County experiencing unemployment or underemployment, with WMCAT, encouraging members of the BIPOC community and women to apply.

- 'Cause These are the groups that have historically been left out of the, you know, the digital economy.

And we wanna make sure that we can connect people to where the future's headed and frankly to design our future.

- What has been difficult, I would say, IT in general is not very diverse.

I've been called a unicorn of locations because it's like, oh, you're a Black African American person that can do cybersecurity, wow.

There's teams of people, hundreds of people, and I'll be the one African American, Hispanic in that space and that's an everyday thing.

If I jump on a meeting, I'm not expecting to see another that looks like me, but it's happening more and more now.

- [Kylie] Shaped by WMCAT's previous healthcare tracks, enrollees won't just get tuition free learning.

There's also a stipend to support families during training, as well as organizational assistance.

- It was a whole support system, from transportation to financial assistance to emotional and mental support.

When they didn't have daycare, we brought babies to school, we're passing babies around the class, so mom can take her test or you know, they supply everything for us to help us, you know, make it to our end game.

- [Kylie] Upon graduation, WMCAT also partners with organizations who are eager to take on new talent.

- The narrative right now in the employer community is, we can't find talent or people don't want to work.

And I think the question should be, what can we do to curate environments that make it easier for people to say yes to work?

We assume that work works for everybody.

Work historically has not worked as well for parents, Black and Brown people, for women.

Our employer partners, the request and the expectation is that the environments are supportive.

- Tech is certainly an emerging industry, not just in West Michigan but around the world.

Alexander says now it's important all our neighbors have access to it.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music) Some very cool opportunities there.

And something to note, at the time that that interview was first recorded, WMCAT's first ever tech program was just starting to take applications.

But this year, that cohort officially graduated and may be well on its way to new high paying tech careers.

Where might these grads land?

Well, WGVU's Jennifer Moss, talks with Tarita Johnson, from Economic Development Center, The Right Place, about her plans to bring tech jobs to Grand Rapids.

(upbeat music) - Tarita Johnson, Senior Vice President of Talent and Diversity with The Right Place, thank you so much for joining us today.

- Thank you for having me.

I'm excited to be here.

- And we are excited to have you.

So you are very busy working at The Right Place and beyond to try to level that playing field in the tech industry.

At the end of Kylie's piece on WMCAT she noted that as tech continues to emerge, it's important that all communities have access to those jobs and that's one of the things you're seeking to do at The Right Place, correct?

- Absolutely.

We have a huge initiative that in the next 10 years, we'd like to be able to create 20,000 jobs in tech, and that's for everybody.

So the inclusion piece is extremely important.

- Okay and you're working on that.

You have some stats that tell us and or show us, that by 2045 the racial minority population's going to increase 142%, Hispanic populations by about 130%.

Blacks show a 42% increase.

Now as the tech industry continues to grow by leaps and bounds, what are some of the plans or the ideas to level that, again, that playing field for persons of color?

Is it education or in some cases, is it just awareness that there needs to be diversity in the employment gaps in that field?

- Honestly, it's all of it and it's really creating both a short and long-term talent strategy and looking at everyone K-12, looking at our community colleges, our four year institutions, as well as our communities and folks that are currently in the workplace and making sure that we upscale talent.

All of it is important.

Making sure that each of those different populations have awareness of the type of jobs, have the education, and have the accessibility to those opportunities.

- So what are some of the things you all are doing?

Are you going into the schools?

What are we doing?

You mention education, what part of that or how are we making that happen?

Are we going into schools, colleges, K-12?

Tell me about that.

- A little bit of all.

I think one of the things that The Right Place is really good at is being a convener.

So this isn't, this is where everybody kind of, it takes a village.

So really convening a lot of our strategic partners across all of those different entities.

Not just education, but also our employers and our community-based organizations as well as our workforce organizations.

And coming together to really create strategy.

So for instance, one of the things that The Right Place we created, was My Talent 360, it's a talent assessment.

This is for employers to look at their employer brand, is it inclusive for everyone?

As well as how they source and recruit talent, as well as how they retain talent.

We partnered with Talent First to create this assessment, as well as with several other economic development organizations throughout the regions and even a partnership with our workforce development orgs, like West Michigan Works and so many others, to really help organizations assess where they are in these areas, but also provide best practices and resources for them.

- And again, that retention piece is huge.

I've read a number of articles talking about, you know, Michigan wants to be a tech hub, right?

I mean at some point like really the place to be, the place to go, but we need to not only access and get the information out to pull in persons of color, but also to retain them.

Correct?

- Absolutely.

And there's so many different strategies around retention, but it really takes organizations taking a hard look within and saying, is this inclusive?

Do we have policies and procedures that everybody could adhere to?

Do we have compositional diversity, or really not just composition, diversity throughout?

So from your board, from your leadership, every level so that folks can see themselves within these organizations or are you trying to do it?

Do we have policies and practices that are accommodating for folks that maybe they've had a child or they're reentering the workflow.

So there's so many different areas and that's why the assessment really helps them to take a laser focus at it and give them best practices, so they can start wherever they are to build an inclusive and environment that is for really everyone.

- And as you look at that, what have you found thus far as it relates to potential numbers of those who are employed in the tech field in West Michigan or in Grand Rapids?

- Honestly, the numbers from a racial diversity perspective are bleak.

You know, when we look at Hispanic talent, I would say right now about 4%, anywhere from 4-6% in tech fields.

Our Black talent is right around that 4%.

Our Asian demographic is a little bit higher, about 8%.

And then our other ethnic groups, even lower than 1%.

So we have work to do and I think it really comes from educating and awareness, making sure that we're really addressing these pipelines in the right way.

- Because I mean, when you look at those numbers, I mean the term you use is bleak.

What are some of the things that we can do to make people, maybe even want to be in the tech field?

Because if they know the numbers are bleak, a lot of times that information kind of puts people aside, like, eh, that's not for me.

- Right, well.

- And I'm not gonna look in that field because I have less chance of being hired.

- They've gotta see themselves, right?

And there's some folks in the community that's doing really great work.

So when I think of STEM Greenhouse for instance, Dr. Kelly Christopher is really training young talent in the STEM fields and she's basing that training in math and science and technology, but also rooting it in identity.

So she's hitting a lot of these populations.

So I think being able to scale her program and get her into more schools and increase her summer programs and afterschool programs.

When I think of organizations such as WMCAT, same thing.

Let's scale what they're doing.

They have a cybersecurity program, we know that there's gonna be a big need in cybersecurity.

There's so many other organizations, you know, that I'm even a part of like West Michigan Tech Talent, that is really looking at these access and barriers and how do we remove barriers, really I think we have so many wonderful organizations here, but how do we connect them?

And we all play together in the sandbox to make sure that everybody is getting the information, the resources, and the training that they need.

Like our community-based organizations, we have wonderful groups like our Urban League, our Hispanic center, our Hispanic Chamber, that have opportunities to train right on site.

Just yesterday I was at the Women's Resource Center, they work with over 600 women a year and they have a computer lab and a learning management system to upscale them in technology.

What about expanding those type of programs, are employers really working with organizations, such as those to like amplify what they're doing throughout the community.

- And those things are key and those are the things that will make it a success.

All the things that The Right Place is trying to do, but you're also trying to facilitate those conversations, correct?

- Absolutely.

- I mean that's the biggest thing is to, like you said, kind of connect the dots, so that everyone plays together.

- Right I think, you know, when we look at our institutions, like we work a lot with our community colleges.

We have great facilities at our Grand Rapids Community College and all of the others in the region.

But think about here, even GVSU, when I think of the HBCU and HSI Consortium, you have students that are actually coming here from schools that have a diversity majority.

We need to keep that talent here.

So we need more employers to participate, like in your Talent Link program, we need other institutions to have programs such as that, where they're paying scholarship funds as well as wage and having them actually work on site from their first year all the way throughout until they graduate.

It's really about relationships.

Last week I was at another event for Calvin University.

They are putting a campus in the 49507 district.

So that, and it's gonna be almost free for students to be a part of that.

So when we have institutions like Grand Valley and Ferris and so many others around in Calvin that are doing things to really impact the community, how do we tie these things together?

And that's where I think The Right Place can really help to bridge the gap and bring these entities together.

- Wrapping that thought, 3, 5, 10 years, what would you like to see?

- Oh my gosh.

I would love the tech sector to be reflective of the community.

And I would like us to have a global perspective on that.

So we see everybody, if you're a little girl or a little boy or whoever you are, you can see yourself reflected in the tech sector in all levels, all the way up to board levels and C-suite.

That would be, you know, my dream.

- Good last word, Tarita Johnson with The Right Place.

Thanks so much for joining us today.

We appreciate it.

- Thank you.

- Thank you.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music) - So we're anticipating jobs coming to Grand Rapids.

There are some footholds in place to train our community members.

Things sound pretty good, right?

Well the Midwest Tech Project in Kent County says, we're missing an important population, returning citizens.

The Bureau of Justice Statistics claim around 60% of formerly incarcerated individuals struggle with unemployment.

A study released by the Bureau in 2021 followed 50,000 individuals who were released from prison in 2010.

It found that at any time during a four year period, only 40% of individuals were employed.

Now this can be due to a myriad of reasons, lack of employability skills, limited job opportunities, stigma.

The Midwest Tech Project says it's a serious issue, especially among our juvenile offenders, that can lead to recidivism and a cycle of poverty.

Let's learn more about this tech innovation hub and its latest mission to help ex-offenders.

In an age of rapid growth within the tech industry, opportunities are vast, yet diversity within these walls, specifically in Black and Brown communities, is underwhelming.

Enter AJ Hills and Jonathan Jelks, both natives of the vibrant southeast side of Grand Rapids, who connected on a common goal.

- When we think about diversity in tech, you know, career pathways to tech, West Michigan has a ton of resources for startups and tech-based ventures, but it was predominantly White male dominated.

And we wanted to, you know, shake things up, democratize information for the industry.

- [Kylie] In building the Midwest Tech Project, Hills and Jelks first looked at vital areas for growth within neighborhoods, finding sustainable ways to address racial and gender disparities, attempting to shape the future.

- West Michigan, there was an article that came out in Forbes Magazine in 2015 and it stated that Grand Rapids, our beloved hometown, you know, which we're both natives of the southeast side of the community, is the worst place economically, second worst place economically for African Americans.

And so we wanted to take a look jointly, at where there are growth opportunities, what industries can most impact in a positive way, the communities that we come from, and so.

- We knew that technology would be around for the next a hundred years.

And when we think about a tool that could really be a catalyst to move the needle for unemployment and poverty in West Michigan, we felt that it was absolutely necessary for us to lead the charge because no one was doing it right.

- [Kylie] And just like that, the Midwest Tech Project was born, drawing inspiration from successful tech hubs in Silicon Valley, Boston, and New York.

This initiative combined to the power of a think tank with advocacy, mentorship, and training, to connect people of color in West Michigan with opportunities in the world of technology.

- What we found is that, you know, there are a plethora of different companies that are in the West Michigan tech ecosystem, but there's just no connectedness to central hubs like Grand Rapids Public Schools.

And there's no connectedness to some of the community centers that we have here in the city.

And so we were extremely strategic in creating those partnerships, 'cause not only are Black and Brown people not in the industry enough, but there's not enough representation from women in the industry.

- [Kylie] Fast forward to today, and the group has taken its mission a step further.

Its latest program, Tech X, partners with Kent County's juvenile detention center to mentor ex-offenders seeking to reenter the workforce.

- One of our friends actually came home from prison and he, you know, had an idea about, you know, getting people into the industry.

You know, 'cause when you're in prison or you're in jail, you lose time, and so you're not caught up with, you know, everything, you're not, you know, necessarily having technology integrated in your life.

It really, you know, affects people as far as being able to use even their phone or like the new programming.

And to be employable is something that's major, right?

- [Kylie] Tech X takes place on the first Friday of each month at the Baxter Community Center.

The program not only provides tech training, but also welcomes industry leaders to engage directly with residents.

- Well, prior to us, they didn't have any technology exposure or access inside their program.

And so for us it was just a natural fit.

When we think about students who go through that program or, you know, go through that center and as they return home, what are their options, how do they connect with community?

Especially in the space of technology.

- The key thing is, we have to start getting people into high paying jobs.

You know, that's where the opportunities are.

That's when we'll see communities be able to come even more self-sufficient.

And you know, I mean, dealing with that population who has been adversely affected by the criminal justice system is extremely important.

- [Kylie] While Tech X is currently a pilot program, its potential impact goes beyond financial growth.

Hills and Jelks say it has the power to redefine how the younger generation engages with technology.

- The young folks, they use technology every day, and by far their favorite app is Snapchat, right?

And so they are already, are so much more advanced in future generations when it comes to technology.

So for us, we just want to flip the switch of the consumption aspect to more of the production aspect, but then also equip them with the resources and the mentorship to actually make it a reality.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music) - Well, all I can say is that we have some amazing people doing some amazing things in the world of technology here in West Michigan.

- Right here in West Michigan, including The Right Place, talking with Tarita Johnson, that was just a very interesting conversation and finding out all of the things that The Right Place is doing to try to become more inclusive and diversify, I should say, the tech field and starting with education and moving in through, you know, just pulling people in and letting them know these fields are out here, this is something you might wanna consider.

Starting with the education piece.

And then also wanting to create 20,000 new jobs, within the next 10 years, that's huge.

- Yeah, that threw me for a loop, but in a good way.

And I think when you talk about, you know, diversifying this industry, that's something I thought was so interesting in talking with WMCAT, because they look at diversity almost as a spectrum.

So there's, you know, people of color, there's gender with women, you know, being on, I think the lower end of this industry right now.

And that is all important.

But they're saying, let's take it a step further.

What about single moms?

What about single dads?

What are some other identifiers in our community that people need to be represented in?

- Absolutely.

And I think one of the key things is that I think a lot of times we think of diversity as black and white and it includes so much more.

And then having these conversations and as just the topic of our show, Mutually Inclusive, bringing everyone in to those playing fields, whatever it may be, that's key.

And that's important, especially as we talk about things like the tech field.

- [Kylie] Right, absolutely, and you are absolutely right.

A lot of the time we talk about gender and we talk about race, but it's important stuff.

And so I'm really glad we're able to do that today.

- [Jennifer] Absolutely.

Put it all on the table.

- [Kylie] Yes, and we know that there was a lot of info and a lot of statistics to follow.

That is why throughout the show we wanted to make sure that we provided you with resources for more information.

- [Jennifer] Absolutely.

And you can find those resources and a lot more on our website at wgvu.org/mutuallyinclusive.

But you don't wanna forget to follow us, of course on WGVU, our Facebook page and YouTube as well, to stay up to date with everything happening here in West Michigan.

- Absolutely.

It is always so hard to say goodbye.

But we are excited to tackle more important topics next week.

So thank you so much for watching and for helping us be Mutually Inclusive.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music)