The digital age has crept upon us, filling our everyday lives with some facet of technology, science, math, and engineering. With the rise of STEM-based needs comes STEM-based jobs preceded by the demand for an increase in job creation. While talk of tech startups and the growth of STEM companies are rampant in the news, America, as a country, is surprisingly falling behind in this area in relation to the world. With the STEM workforce overwhelming comprised of white and asian males, educators and leaders from Rev. Jesse Jackson to President Obama advocate STEM paths for youth from varying backgrounds nationwide. Schools like P-TECH and BTech are creating programs for students that allow them to not only graduate with a high school diploma but also STEM certifications and degrees. Entrepreneurs like Regina Agyare, founder of Soronko Solutions, started #techneedsgirls to train young women and girls in tech skills. While these programs will do much for the workforce in the future, the lack of diversity and growing the techforce is a problem now.
Diversity in tech is important because it allows those from different backgrounds and experiences to come together to solve problems in novel, exciting ways. By widening the pool of talent, the world will undoubtedly benefit in more ways than one.
Kathryn Finney saw this and acted on it by creating Digitaundivided, a company that connects investors with entrepreneurs from differing backgrounds. Her company has helped founders collectively raise over $10 million since 2012. She also put together Focus 100, a conference aimed at bringing employers and investors into the same space as Black female techies, Â understanding that while gender discrimination is a problem, using that differentiating factor can be a selling point to open doors to employment and funding opportunities. She herself entered the working world as an epidemiologist but crossed over to tech and is relentless in helping WOC transition into STEM fields and prepare a way that, perhaps, these children will smoothly follow in the coming decades.
Earlier this year she launched Project Diane, a documentary aimed at âexploring the role of the intersectionality of gender and race in tech through black woman founders of tech companies,â to not only show employers the value in hiring Black women but also providing a glimmer of hope for women eager to venture into these fields.
We caught up with her to ask for her advice for women who want to get into STEM fields, crossing over into tech, and a little about herself.
SC: You have a degree in epidemiology. What gave you the most courage to change fields and what advice do you have for WOC who want to get into STEM fields but may not have any degrees or contacts in those areas?
KF: My late father, Robert Finney, went from being a brewery worker to a Senior Software Engineer at Microsoft in the span of 10 years. Seeing the opportunities tech has given my entire family (my brother is a Sales Executive with Oracle) had a huge impact on me. You donât need anyoneâs permission to enter tech, especially the startup world, as thereâs little to no barrier of entry. My advice to WOC of who want to get into STEM but may not have any degrees or contacts in the STEM is to first Think Big. As WOC, weâve been conditioned to think small, lest someone is offended by our ambition. You canât succeed in any area if you canât think it. Second is to Ask for help. The tech industry is collaborative by nature. Lastly, Just Do it. We have a tendency to âover thinkâ and âover plan.â Just start the damn thing.
SC: What do you think are the main elements that allowed you to maintain a relationship and change careers as well as continue to be a beacon of light for WOC finding their way into STEM fields?
KF: I really try and practice âto thine self be true.â People like to be with people who are standing in their truth and who look like theyâre enjoying life. I always try and stand in my truth because at the end of the day, Iâm left with myself.
SC: Iâve heard that you are an avid reader. What are your top 3 favorite authors and your top 5 favorite books? How does your reading influence your career, if at all?
 KF: Itâs soooo very hard for me to limit my favorite authors and books. Different books affect me differently depending on the period of my life. I read Gabriel Garcia Marquezâs â100 Years of Solitudeâ â absolutely my favorite book if I had to choose one â once a year. I read Toni Morrisonâs âBelovedâ as a teen and totally didnât understand it until I read it again in my thirties and loved it. Amy Tanâs âKitchen Godâs Wifeâ was given to me as a high school graduation gift and changed the way I thought about my relationship with my mother. Barbara Kingsolverâs âPoisonwood Bibleâ was given to me before I went to work in Ghana, West Africa, and definitely made me think twice about who was really benefiting (the community or myself) from my work in the country.
The digital age has crept upon us, filling our everyday lives with some facet of technology, science, math, and engineering. With the rise of STEM-based needs comes STEM-based jobs preceded by the demand for an increase in job creation. While talk of tech startups and the growth of STEM companies are rampant in the news, America, as a country, is surprisingly falling behind in this area in relation to the world. With the STEM workforce overwhelming comprised of white and asian males, educators and leaders from Rev. Jesse Jackson to President Obama advocate STEM paths for youth from varying backgrounds nationwide. Schools like P-TECH and BTech are creating programs for students that allow them to not only graduate with a high school diploma but also STEM certifications and degrees. Entrepreneurs like Regina Agyare, founder of Soronko Solutions, started #techneedsgirls to train young women and girls in tech skills. While these programs will do much for the workforce in the future, the lack of diversity and growing the techforce is a problem now.
Diversity in tech is important because it allows those from different backgrounds and experiences to come together to solve problems in novel, exciting ways. By widening the pool of talent, the world will undoubtedly benefit in more ways than one.
Kathryn Finney saw this and acted on it by creating Digitaundivided, a company that connects investors with entrepreneurs from differing backgrounds. Her company has helped founders collectively raise over $10 million since 2012. She also put together Focus 100, a conference aimed at bringing employers and investors into the same space as Black female techies, Â understanding that while gender discrimination is a problem, using that differentiating factor can be a selling point to open doors to employment and funding opportunities. She herself entered the working world as an epidemiologist but crossed over to tech and is relentless in helping WOC transition into STEM fields and prepare a way that, perhaps, these children will smoothly follow in the coming decades.
https://vimeo.com/126520613
Earlier this year she launched Project Diane, a documentary aimed at âexploring the role of the intersectionality of gender and race in tech through black woman founders of tech companies,â to not only show employers the value in hiring Black women but also providing a glimmer of hope for women eager to venture into these fields.
We caught up with her to ask for her advice for women who want to get into STEM fields, crossing over into tech, and a little about herself.
SC: You have a degree in epidemiology. What gave you the most courage to change fields and what advice do you have for WOC who want to get into STEM fields but may not have any degrees or contacts in those areas?
KF: My late father, Robert Finney, went from being a brewery worker to a Senior Software Engineer at Microsoft in the span of 10 years. Seeing the opportunities tech has given my entire family (my brother is a Sales Executive with Oracle) had a huge impact on me. You donât need anyoneâs permission to enter tech, especially the startup world, as thereâs little to no barrier of entry. My advice to WOC of who want to get into STEM but may not have any degrees or contacts in the STEM is to first Think Big. As WOC, weâve been conditioned to think small, lest someone is offended by our ambition. You canât succeed in any area if you canât think it. Second is to Ask for help. The tech industry is collaborative by nature. Lastly, Just Do it. We have a tendency to âover thinkâ and âover plan.â Just start the damn thing.
SC: What do you think are the main elements that allowed you to maintain a relationship and change careers as well as continue to be a beacon of light for WOC finding their way into STEM fields?
KF: I really try and practice âto thine self be true.â People like to be with people who are standing in their truth and who look like theyâre enjoying life. I always try and stand in my truth because at the end of the day, Iâm left with myself.
 SC: Iâve heard that you are an avid reader. What are your top 3 favorite authors and your top 5 favorite books? How does your reading influence your career, if at all?
 KF: Itâs soooo very hard for me to limit my favorite authors and books. Different books affect me differently depending on the period of my life. I read Gabriel Garcia Marquezâs â100 Years of Solitudeâ â absolutely my favorite book if I had to choose one â once a year. I read Toni Morrisonâs âBelovedâ as a teen and totally didnât understand it until I read it again in my thirties and loved it. Amy Tanâs âKitchen Godâs Wifeâ was given to me as a high school graduation gift and changed the way I thought about my relationship with my mother. Barbara Kingsolverâs âPoisonwood Bibleâ was given to me before I went to work in Ghana, West Africa, and definitely made me think twice about who was really benefiting (the community or myself) from my work in the country.
 SC: While STEM includes Science, Math, and Engineering, much of the push that we see is geared towards online-focused Technology when it comes to WOC entrepreneurs and startup advice. Why do you think that is and what is being done about including WOC in all facets of STEM fields?
KF: To be honest the only campaign to include women of color in tech is being led by digitalundivided through projects like #projectdiane. There is no larger campaign. That being said, thereâs nothing wrong with online platform startups. Uber is an online focused startup. So is Facebook. And Pinterest. These are all BILLION dollar companies and if we can get a few folks in our community to build this then we would be much better off. It takes less resources to build an online platform like Uber, than to purchase a fleet of black cars and while it takes less resources, that online platform is worth 1000x more than that fleet of cars.
âFocus on the people who love you. As a entrepreneurs your job is to build your company, not teach someone about race/gender relations. Focus on the people who believe in you and forget everyone else.â
SC: What would be your direct advice to women who want to enter STEM fields that are predominantly male-dominated and often expect women to adhere to their leads?
KF: My advice is that you wonât get very far in any space, including life, by making yourself âless than.â Really, itâs the other personâs problem, not yours. I usually tell up and coming women in this space:
Think big. Donât let anyone tell you otherwise. Some people can get easily offended by ambition.
Donât be afraid to fail. Failure is an opportunity to find out first-hand what works and what doesnât. Failing [is better than] pondering on what-ifs later on⊠or worse, watching someone else take your idea AND succeed!
Donât ask for permission. Opportunities are whizzing past you as you wait passively for something you shouldnât have to ask for. If digitalundivided waited for permission, we might never have gotten our plan off the ground!
Focus on the people who love you. As a entrepreneurs your job is to build your company, not teach someone about race/gender relations. Focus on the people who believe in you and forget everyone else.
Do cultivate relationships. Businesses can claim theyâre meritocratic and unbiased, but we know that like all things in life, the inner workings run on networks and who-you-knows. Reach out, build, and enrich relationships with people in your field. One step is to follow us at @digundiv.
  Digitalundivided is in the final stage of Project Diane, with a Kickstarter campaign that you can follow at #rewritethecode.
Find out more about her and Digitalundividedâs projects at www.digitalundivided.com
Breaking Down Digital Doors With Kathryn Finney (@kathrynfinney) #digitaundivided #stereochampions #technology #stem The digital age has crept upon us, filling our everyday lives with some facet of technology, science, math, and engineering.
