Embracing a Legacy of Diversity

A little over a year ago, when I was about to join IBM, I came across an excerpt of a letter by IBM’s first CEO Thomas Watson: “It is the policy of this organization to hire people who have the personality, talent and background necessary to fill a given job, regardless of race, color or creed.”  I literally paused as it made me reflect on how long IBM’s legacy of diversity actually is.

 Now, an IBMer for over a year, I have witnessed first-hand how engrained diversity is in the very fabric of what we do, how we operate, and conduct business. 

 This also rang true in everything we did, and are still doing, to address the racial disparities and social unrest we faced last year. We support the Black community in progressing lasting change against discrimination and racism. With our initiatives around new collar jobs such as the P-TECH education model and support of the OneTen Initiative, we remain committed to creating economic opportunities for the Black community. We continue to invest in Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), expanding our IBM Quantum education initiative to additional HBCUs. This initiative will create a diverse quantum workforce and offer tech opportunities for Black students.

 Additionally, we have invited the more than 400,000 members of the developer community to join us in leveraging open source technology to combat systemic racism with the Call for Code for Racial Justice. Technology alone will not undo more than four centuries of racism; however, we can empower individual developers, innovators, engineers and social justice advocates to make an impact on a global scale.

 The start of this month made me pause again. February is Black History Month in the United States, a time for reflection and celebration of Black heritage. At IBM, our theme for this year’s Black History Month is Honoring Our Legacy, Paving a Path Forward. We will spotlight the careers and contributions of Black IBMers whose accomplishments have impacted society and the world at large. Promoting diversity at IBM is a key facet of our business and essential to our success. Black history is a vital part of IBM’s overall history. I will take the necessary time to listen, learn and understand the role Black Americans play in our own history not just in February but every day.