Leadership and Executive Development for women of all races, cultures and backgrounds
Issue link: https://diversitywoman.epubxp.com/i/632328
d i v e r s i t y w o m a n . c o m W i n t e r 2 0 1 6 D I V E R S I T Y W O M A N 15 W hen Kathryn Finney was young, she saw frsthand how immersion in technology could transform a life. Finney's father didn't get his high school diploma until he was 30, but only a few years later, af- ter taking a local workforce development course, he landed a job as an engineer. He eventually went to work for Micro- soft, receiving stock as a component of his compensation. "Tis changed my family's fnancial status dramatically," Small-screen Successes Versus T wenty years ago, three of the most prominent female characters on US television were a cocktail waitress, a travel agent, and a detective. Today, it's easier to fnd popular shows featuring strong women in high-profle careers, such as Julia Louis-Dreyfus as the US vice president on Veep and Kerry Washington as the head of a Washington, DC–based crisis management frm on Scandal. Still, says Madeline Di Nonno, CEO of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, television has a way to go before female characters are given their due. She cites recent institute research that examined 275 prime-time broadcast and cable shows and found that only 38.9 per- cent of speaking roles were female. And overall, men were more likely than women to be shown working at all. Finney says. "It made us realize how important it is, from an economic stand- point, to get more African Americans into the beginning stages of start-ups." Finney has dedicated herself to creating opportunities for women of color at tech start-ups. Her own involvement began more than a decade ago, after she started one of the frst lifestyle blogs, Te Budget Fashionista. At tech-related events, how- ever, she noticed that she was often the only woman and the only black person. She went on to found digitalundivided in 2012, whose mission is to support and encourage diverse urban communities in building technology companies. Te need is great: fewer than 1 percent of the start-ups funded by technology investors were founded by black entrepreneurs. Te organization sponsors the FOCUS Fellowship, an eight- to ten-week pro- gram that gives black women founders of tech businesses the tools they need to develop their companies and raise money. So far, more than one-third of the women in the fellowship program have raised at least $50,000 in venture or angel investor funding, and 10 per- cent have raised more than $500,000. Trough digitalundivided, Finney wants to increase the visibility of black women tech entrepreneurs. She hopes to help them to connect with venture and angel funders, with each other, and with young women who have similar aspira- tions. Also, digitalundivided is working on a flm, Rewrite Te Code, which fo- cuses on black women founders of tech companies. Look for it in 2016. "Tech is changing slowly but surely," she says. "Tere are now bigger, more honest conversations around women of color in tech." Young Entrepreneur: Kathryn Finney Next Bridging the Tech Gap Upfront > 1986 2015–16 Shelley Long as waitress Diane Chambers, Cheers Julia Louis-Dreyfus as vice president Selina Meyer, Veep Angela Lansbury as detective Jessica Fletcher, Murder, She Wrote Kerry Washington as crisis manager Olivia Pope, Scandal Susan Saint James as travel agent Kate McCardle, Kate & Allie Julianna Margulies as lawyer Alicia Florrick, The Good Wife Linda Gray as wealthy wife Sue Ellen Ewing, Dallas Tracee Ellis Ross as surgeon "Bow" Johnson, Black-ish Phylicia Rashad as lawyer Clair Huxtable, The Cosby Show Claire Danes as CIA agent Carrie Mathison, Homeland