Slack Co-Founder Champions Hiring Diversity at White House's First South by South Lawn

At the inaugural South by South Lawn: A White House Festival of Ideas, Art and Action on Monday, Slack co-founder Stewart Butterfield explained that it's easier to implement diversity in hiring practices when companies are small, and by doing so, companies are more likely to be aware of a broader array of problems that it can try to fix.  Hiring practices are "much harder to change when you have thousands versus dozens of employees," explained Butterfield during the festival's Fixing Real Change panel. Moderator Jenna Wortham, staff writer at The New York Times magazine, had asked Butterfield why he champions diversity in hiring and what the messaging app has done to make sure it is hiring women and people of color at a time when "Silicon Valley has been hostile to diversity" and maintained "wealth disparity [that is] still very racially disparate." "There are arguments that diverse teams will have better business results, and that seems plausible, but that's not why we do it," said Butterfield, arguing that there are more benefits to diverse teams than a company's bottom line.  He also noted that when companies do hire women and people of color that they need to "double down on ensuring we don't fail them when they get to the company." Butterfield added that: "Tech lives inside a society with systemic racism. Is it exacerbated? Maybe it is exacerbated by people who only care about money." If companies and executives only care about making money, they may end... Continue reading at 'AdWeek'

[ AdWeek | 2016-10-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #staff writer #messaging app #silicon valley #wealth disparity #racially disparate #diverse teams #business results #bottom line #hire women #systemic racism

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Uber Debuts Taxi App in South Korea, but Is It Legal?

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[ AdWeek | 2014-10-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hosseini, Lahiri and Shamsie on longlist for DSC South Asian literature Prize

Khaled Hosseini, Jhumpa Lahiri and Kamila Shamsie are among the 10 authors longlisted for the $50,000 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2015. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-10-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'PW' Panel Warns Industry, Lack of Diversity Threatens Publishing

At a panel about the lack of diversity in the book publishing industry, hosted by PW, a number of publishing warned that the overwhlemingly white makeup of the industry threatens its longterm viability. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-10-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Diversity and Pop Culture Reign at New York Comic Con

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-10-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Barney Added to Diversity Panel

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-10-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishing houses are throwing book deals at YouTube 'stars'

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[ Engadget | 2014-10-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Diverse UK children's books recognised

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[ BBC News | 2014-10-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-10-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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SESA: A New Publishing Collective from Southeast and South Asia

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[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-10-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Crains New York | 2014-10-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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PW Sets Panel Discussion on Diversity

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-10-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Random House Offers 2-Day Transit for the Holidays

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-09-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-09-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Obituary: George Blagowidow, Hippocrene Books Founder

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-09-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-09-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ PC World | 2014-09-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2014-09-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Advertising Age | 2014-09-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Advertising Age | 2014-09-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-09-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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