WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.070 My passion has always been in diversity and inclusion, 2 00:00:03.070 --> 00:00:06.547 and bringing Black voices to the table, 3 00:00:06.547 --> 00:00:08.520 where the big decisions are being made. 4 00:00:08.520 --> 00:00:11.750 I am the co-founder and president of Black Product Managers, 5 00:00:11.750 --> 00:00:15.788 which was founded in 2017, 6 00:00:15.788 --> 00:00:18.880 as an organization to promote black representation 7 00:00:18.880 --> 00:00:19.860 in product management. 8 00:00:19.860 --> 00:00:23.010 Our main focus is partnering with larger organizations 9 00:00:23.010 --> 00:00:26.400 to help prepare these folks for interviews 10 00:00:26.400 --> 00:00:29.580 and really high-impact roles in tech. 11 00:00:29.580 --> 00:00:32.550 We actually had a member that was previously homeless 12 00:00:32.550 --> 00:00:33.720 a few years ago, 13 00:00:33.720 --> 00:00:38.565 really hit a hard professional spell, 14 00:00:38.565 --> 00:00:43.565 and recently got his dream job in product management, 15 00:00:43.596 --> 00:00:46.600 at a fantastic company, 16 00:00:46.600 --> 00:00:48.920 getting paid salaries 17 00:00:48.920 --> 00:00:52.220 of the top tier in corporate America. 18 00:00:52.220 --> 00:00:55.257 That was a huge standout for me 19 00:00:55.257 --> 00:00:57.930 as I think about the 20 00:00:57.930 --> 00:00:59.760 divide that we're seeing right now 21 00:00:59.760 --> 00:01:02.905 between the haves and the have-nots, 22 00:01:02.905 --> 00:01:06.680 and how it is possible to 23 00:01:06.680 --> 00:01:09.580 close a pretty massive gap 24 00:01:09.580 --> 00:01:11.270 that we're seeing in 25 00:01:11.270 --> 00:01:14.290 the professional world. 26 00:01:14.290 --> 00:01:15.740 And I think this, 27 00:01:15.740 --> 00:01:18.650 person is just a grade A shining example of that. 28 00:01:18.650 --> 00:01:21.520 Four years ago, people were 29 00:01:21.520 --> 00:01:23.980 quite hard-pressed to set explicit goals, 30 00:01:23.980 --> 00:01:26.540 specifically around Black talent, 31 00:01:26.540 --> 00:01:27.870 not just in tech, 32 00:01:27.870 --> 00:01:29.770 but just throughout corporate America. 33 00:01:29.770 --> 00:01:30.690 I think, 34 00:01:30.690 --> 00:01:34.840 now we're seeing a lot more organizations explicitly saying, 35 00:01:34.840 --> 00:01:36.830 no we've identified a gap. 36 00:01:36.830 --> 00:01:38.120 There aren't enough Black folks here, 37 00:01:38.120 --> 00:01:39.700 we have to figure out a way to fill that gap 38 00:01:39.700 --> 00:01:42.383 and measure ourselves against it. At the end of the day, 39 00:01:42.383 --> 00:01:43.880 I think these organizations want 40 00:01:43.880 --> 00:01:45.470 great talent, 41 00:01:45.470 --> 00:01:49.130 and we're really here to tell the story 42 00:01:49.130 --> 00:01:50.940 about why Black talent is special, 43 00:01:50.940 --> 00:01:53.880 and why Black talent should be in your organizations, 44 00:01:53.880 --> 00:01:56.300 and why traditional practices for 45 00:01:56.300 --> 00:01:59.410 hiring and recruiting are flawed. 46 00:01:59.410 --> 00:02:02.520 It's only gotten you thus far and there are other ways 47 00:02:02.520 --> 00:02:05.650 to think about bringing in great people 48 00:02:05.650 --> 00:02:06.980 into your organization. 49 00:02:06.980 --> 00:02:08.940 I would think more radically about 50 00:02:08.940 --> 00:02:11.870 what you really need to do the types of roles 51 00:02:11.870 --> 00:02:15.200 that you have in your organization. 52 00:02:15.200 --> 00:02:18.280 Really just scrap frankly some of the job descriptions 53 00:02:18.280 --> 00:02:21.777 you've been using to date and change them 54 00:02:21.777 --> 00:02:24.710 to be more all encompassing, 55 00:02:24.710 --> 00:02:26.257 to bring in different types of talent. 56 00:02:26.257 --> 00:02:28.730 BCG Digital Ventures taught me a ton 57 00:02:28.730 --> 00:02:30.890 about how to build businesses. 58 00:02:30.890 --> 00:02:33.820 It's why I was attracted to the role to start. 59 00:02:33.820 --> 00:02:36.677 BCG taught me a ton about stakeholder management 60 00:02:36.677 --> 00:02:39.010 and the power of influence, 61 00:02:39.010 --> 00:02:41.380 which, really, I channeled directly 62 00:02:41.380 --> 00:02:44.753 into building out Black Product Managers as an org.