This Week On Bullish: Designing Diversity

Hello, comrades, and welcome back to another episode of Bullish, TechCrunch’s first talk show.

This time we’re talking about diversity in tech. We have all seen the data: Tech companies, large and small, are notably not diverse. The recurring joke about white male engineers, of course, did not spring out of the void.

However, we are taking a slightly different tack today. The conversation regarding diversity in technology often centers around engineers, or talent that is generally called technical. Our guest, Melanie Araujo, is trying to bolster diversity through design. That’s to say that Araujo thinks that building a more diverse company only through engineering talent is not a full effort.

Call it diversity through design, by design.

Araujo is part of Front & Center, a group that, in its own words, works to create an “alternative pathway” for “underrepresented communities ” to learn design, and enter the technology field. As Araujo points out in our chat, there are endless bootcamps to help people get into coding, and through that skill, technology shops. But when it comes to design, options narrow. She aims to change that.

It’s a fresh take on an old problem. A quick scan of the group’s website shows a lot of sold-out classes, so the idea appears to have resonated.

Diversity matters. How we become more diverse matters. And having more diverse routes to engendering diversity is notable and worthy. Noteworthy, if you will.