WEBVTT - Smart Talks with IBM: Coding Together for Racial Equality 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:03.920 To make a real difference in the world. Today's episode 0:00:04.480 --> 0:00:08.800 is a powerful one, and I am fortunate to participate 0:00:08.880 --> 0:00:13.680 in this important discussion. I think there is no way 0:00:13.720 --> 0:00:18.480 to express how tumultuous twenty twenty has been that hasn't 0:00:18.560 --> 0:00:22.200 already been said a million times by this point. The 0:00:22.280 --> 0:00:26.400 United States and the world at large continue to grapple 0:00:26.520 --> 0:00:31.680 with enormous problems, ranging from the COVID nineteen pandemic to 0:00:31.920 --> 0:00:37.200 economic recessions to climate change. But one issue that really 0:00:37.640 --> 0:00:40.639 ties into all of those when you look into it, 0:00:40.920 --> 0:00:45.320 and frankly has for centuries, has been the need for 0:00:45.479 --> 0:00:50.040 racial justice in the United States. The stories of George Floyd, 0:00:50.320 --> 0:00:55.680 Brianna Taylor, Eric Garner, and so many more have prompted 0:00:55.720 --> 0:01:00.000 crowds to protest in the streets and call for systemic change. 0:01:00.360 --> 0:01:03.920 And it's not that the underlying issues of systemic racism 0:01:04.000 --> 0:01:07.840 are new. In fact, what makes them systemic is that 0:01:07.920 --> 0:01:12.520 these issues are woven into the policies and social structures 0:01:12.560 --> 0:01:16.400 of the United States. Rather, it is that they are 0:01:16.560 --> 0:01:21.560 undeniable and we have a responsibility to address that. To 0:01:21.720 --> 0:01:25.560 that end, within IBM, a group of employees began to 0:01:25.640 --> 0:01:29.720 formulate a means to lean on the company's enormous spectrum 0:01:29.760 --> 0:01:34.240 of technologies towards the goal of attaining true racial justice. 0:01:34.760 --> 0:01:38.120 The company's history of programs and initiatives that aim to 0:01:38.160 --> 0:01:41.240 make the world a better place served as a sort 0:01:41.240 --> 0:01:45.640 of launching ground for the call for Code for Racial Justice. 0:01:46.360 --> 0:01:50.400 Today you'll hear a conversation I had with three important 0:01:50.480 --> 0:01:54.559 members of that initiative. Dale Davis Jones is a Vice 0:01:54.600 --> 0:01:58.440 president and Distinguished Engineer at IBM and the leader of 0:01:58.520 --> 0:02:03.080 IBM s gts are cotect Community. Lisa Banks is a 0:02:03.120 --> 0:02:07.200 distinguished engineer working within the CTO office of the IBM 0:02:07.240 --> 0:02:12.040 Cloud Engagement Hub. And Brittany Lonesome is a creative architect 0:02:12.240 --> 0:02:16.640 with a deep experience in cloud systems. Listen to their 0:02:16.680 --> 0:02:19.840 stories and how they and other IBM r s were 0:02:19.880 --> 0:02:23.680 able to take the incredible emotional response to the racial 0:02:23.800 --> 0:02:28.320 justice crisis and turn it into actions that anyone can 0:02:28.400 --> 0:02:32.560 contribute to. We have a lot to cover today. We've 0:02:32.600 --> 0:02:35.480 got a really big and important topic. But before we 0:02:35.560 --> 0:02:38.200 jump into that, I would love to get a little 0:02:38.200 --> 0:02:42.280 more information about my guests today and to learn about 0:02:42.280 --> 0:02:46.960 your professional background and what brought you into the jobs 0:02:46.960 --> 0:02:49.840 that you you currently hold and what you find exciting 0:02:49.880 --> 0:02:53.200 about it and why it matters to you and really 0:02:53.520 --> 0:02:56.560 to the whole world. But let's start with you, Dale. 0:02:56.639 --> 0:02:59.000 Can you tell me a little bit about what it 0:02:59.080 --> 0:03:00.760 is you do and how you got to where you 0:03:00.760 --> 0:03:04.640 are today. Okay, so Hi, I'm Dale Davis Jones, and 0:03:05.280 --> 0:03:09.160 I'm in the Global Technology Services part of um IBM, 0:03:09.240 --> 0:03:13.960 where we serve more than four thousand clients in transforming 0:03:14.440 --> 0:03:18.720 their I T infrastructure, which means we look at what 0:03:18.760 --> 0:03:21.400 they're doing to run the infrastructure to ensure that they 0:03:21.400 --> 0:03:26.880 are continuously evolving to meet the needs of the world today, 0:03:26.960 --> 0:03:30.360 and we help them on that journey with cloud, with AI, 0:03:30.480 --> 0:03:33.520 with automation. For for those of us who are not 0:03:33.600 --> 0:03:37.080 in it. UM you go to the store and you 0:03:37.120 --> 0:03:39.400 know the air condition works in your grocery, the food 0:03:39.440 --> 0:03:45.320 is um is not tainted, the hospitals are running with 0:03:45.400 --> 0:03:49.360 the right systems, and the patient records are in order. 0:03:49.800 --> 0:03:53.600 And UM I leave the architects who work with clients 0:03:53.680 --> 0:03:56.720 on these engagements, and I'm also the global leader for 0:03:56.720 --> 0:04:01.320 the architect team. My background really briefly is undergrad I 0:04:01.360 --> 0:04:05.920 was UM a math major with a minor and computer science. UM. 0:04:06.200 --> 0:04:12.640 I did graduate school in UM in Systems, UM and controls. 0:04:13.200 --> 0:04:16.120 And I've had I would say, a checkered career at IBM, 0:04:16.200 --> 0:04:19.320 and that I have had many rules in many different 0:04:19.320 --> 0:04:22.560 parts of the business, from the mainframe organization to consulting 0:04:23.080 --> 0:04:27.119 technology services and a standing corporate headquarters. UM. As someone 0:04:27.160 --> 0:04:30.560 from a small island, which is Trinidad and Tobago, it's 0:04:30.600 --> 0:04:33.240 really exciting to me to get up and know in 0:04:33.279 --> 0:04:35.880 a given day I can be talking to clients and 0:04:35.960 --> 0:04:39.200 IBM or is in UM, you know, almost any country 0:04:39.240 --> 0:04:42.000 in the world. Yeah, Lisa, can I hear a little 0:04:42.040 --> 0:04:45.799 bit about you? Sure? Absolutely so. I am a computer 0:04:45.920 --> 0:04:52.320 engineer and mathematician by degree. I've reinvented myself several times 0:04:52.880 --> 0:04:57.280 throughout my career and IBM. I started as a mainframe developer. 0:04:57.480 --> 0:05:01.240 I've worked in corporate technical strategy, where I had the 0:05:01.279 --> 0:05:03.719 privilege to meet and work with Dale. As a matter 0:05:03.720 --> 0:05:06.240 of fact, and one thing she did not tell you 0:05:06.279 --> 0:05:09.400 about her professional background is that she's actually the first 0:05:09.760 --> 0:05:15.840 black female distinguished engineer in IBM. Uh. She saw something 0:05:15.880 --> 0:05:20.159 in me, put her arm around me, mentored me, and 0:05:20.440 --> 0:05:23.640 I'm very happy to say that with her support, I 0:05:23.720 --> 0:05:28.359 became the second black female distinguished engineer and IBM. But 0:05:28.440 --> 0:05:31.240 as I mentioned, I've I've reinvented myself several times. So, 0:05:31.320 --> 0:05:35.160 like I said, starting the mainframe development, moving on to 0:05:35.279 --> 0:05:41.360 corporate technical strategy, I've worked as a industry solutions architect 0:05:41.680 --> 0:05:46.960 UM in cloud for IBM. I've helped IBM with several 0:05:47.000 --> 0:05:52.400 acquisitions including you Stream, Clearly, the Weather Company, and helped 0:05:52.400 --> 0:05:59.400 define a new business unit UM around those acquisitions. Within IBM, 0:05:59.440 --> 0:06:04.080 I've worked with teams to do DevOps transformations UM too 0:06:04.920 --> 0:06:10.160 adopt cloud technologies and architectures for legacy applications you know. 0:06:10.279 --> 0:06:13.000 Right now, I am on a team called our Cloud 0:06:13.000 --> 0:06:18.800 Engagement Hub where we guide and advise IBM's top clients 0:06:18.839 --> 0:06:22.680 on their journey to cloud UM, making sure that we're 0:06:22.720 --> 0:06:29.560 able to help them rethink, re engineer, reimagine their legacy 0:06:29.600 --> 0:06:33.760 application portfolios UH to leverage and take advantage of the 0:06:33.880 --> 0:06:36.920 values of some of the newer technologies that are out now. 0:06:37.400 --> 0:06:41.600 And I focus primarily right now on mainframe modernization and 0:06:41.640 --> 0:06:45.680 how we can bring a cloud native developer experience UH 0:06:45.720 --> 0:06:48.120 to the main frame. So it's really exciting to have 0:06:48.240 --> 0:06:52.080 a job that fuses both my my you know based 0:06:52.160 --> 0:06:56.400 fundamental experience and IBM and all of the newer things 0:06:56.400 --> 0:07:00.880 I've learned in some of my more recent roles. Wonderful 0:07:01.080 --> 0:07:03.920 and Brittany, Please, I would love to hear about your 0:07:03.960 --> 0:07:07.200 background as well. Sure, Sure, I wish I could say 0:07:07.240 --> 0:07:10.680 I was I was the third UH black female, but 0:07:11.600 --> 0:07:14.160 not the case. Were very very honor happy to be 0:07:14.480 --> 0:07:16.280 you know, to have worked within me in the company 0:07:16.360 --> 0:07:20.240 of of of Dal and Lisa. UM. I'm a I'm 0:07:20.280 --> 0:07:23.520 a gym, a boy engineer by trade actually, and I 0:07:23.720 --> 0:07:29.040 joined UM IBM after getting my UH Tech NBA from 0:07:29.160 --> 0:07:33.800 Johns Hopkins. I came in through the IBM Summit UH 0:07:33.880 --> 0:07:39.160 Sales Sales Organization UM, so I was a client pacient 0:07:39.360 --> 0:07:43.440 architect UM for stually most of my career. I started 0:07:43.600 --> 0:07:47.600 with the CAMPS portfolio back when it was Cloud and 0:07:47.680 --> 0:07:50.920 a Living to Mobile Social Security UM, and then moved 0:07:51.080 --> 0:07:55.520 UM solding into the cloud organization for UM the last 0:07:55.520 --> 0:08:00.360 six years of my career, SO I helped client with 0:08:00.440 --> 0:08:03.840 their cloud strategy. It's adopting cloud is being successful on 0:08:03.960 --> 0:08:07.320 the cloud and the organizations UM. Lisa and I actually 0:08:07.320 --> 0:08:10.200 did cross paths very briefly. UM. I think it was 0:08:10.240 --> 0:08:12.520 about five years ago when I was working on a 0:08:13.640 --> 0:08:17.480 first of a con project without being research. Um, it 0:08:17.560 --> 0:08:22.600 was a it was a a high gpustrating and cloud 0:08:22.600 --> 0:08:25.760 plant for for for various use cases and in the 0:08:25.840 --> 0:08:31.280 gaming and healthcare something some other industries. So yeah, I'm 0:08:31.280 --> 0:08:33.760 just really excited. It's happy to be here. UM. But 0:08:33.840 --> 0:08:37.960 the sectually about ib as well is the this is 0:08:38.320 --> 0:08:41.760 the flexibility and control that I've essentially had over over 0:08:41.840 --> 0:08:44.880 over my career. I was able to the previous roles 0:08:45.360 --> 0:08:49.120 kind of create my own roles while within IBM. So um, 0:08:49.120 --> 0:08:51.640 that's that's really what maybe treat not being over other 0:08:51.760 --> 0:08:54.640 of other companies with for was just being able to 0:08:54.679 --> 0:08:57.439 be in the droversy of of of your experience. You're 0:08:57.520 --> 0:09:02.199 just like, my next question is one I feel like 0:09:02.320 --> 0:09:06.320 the importance is sort of evident on the face of it, 0:09:06.360 --> 0:09:09.119 but I feel that this is one we need to address. 0:09:09.240 --> 0:09:13.240 So in your own words, can you explain why, since 0:09:13.280 --> 0:09:15.840 we're talking about call for code for racial justice, why 0:09:15.880 --> 0:09:19.719 everyone should care about racial justice? Why is this an 0:09:19.720 --> 0:09:23.440 issue for everybody? When you ask the question, why does 0:09:23.480 --> 0:09:26.600 it matter to everyone? I think we've I think the 0:09:26.640 --> 0:09:29.400 first thing is to understand what we mean when we 0:09:29.480 --> 0:09:36.840 say racial justice, UM, and what I have learned and 0:09:36.880 --> 0:09:40.080 read and believe is that racial justice is a systemic 0:09:40.640 --> 0:09:45.600 and um systemically fear treatment of people of any and 0:09:45.679 --> 0:09:51.440 all races that results in equal and equitable opportunities for 0:09:51.480 --> 0:09:55.840 all people as well as outcomes for them. And I 0:09:55.880 --> 0:09:59.080 think if we are clear on that, then it is 0:09:59.080 --> 0:10:03.960 not about black versus white, or um other you know, 0:10:04.120 --> 0:10:07.400 any race you know versus another, But it is a 0:10:07.440 --> 0:10:12.120 systemic fair treatment of all people. And if you think 0:10:12.160 --> 0:10:16.240 of this as we're all humans living in a civilized society, 0:10:17.040 --> 0:10:22.760 then it is incumbent on any human who wants to 0:10:22.840 --> 0:10:29.440 preserve a civil civilized society to understand that injustice for 0:10:29.640 --> 0:10:33.880 any race takes a tool on the society. Um. It 0:10:34.000 --> 0:10:40.880 leads to unrest. It affects um everything that we hold 0:10:41.080 --> 0:10:45.800 dear as human beings, a right to life, to a 0:10:45.880 --> 0:10:50.960 quality of life, an a right to good health, a 0:10:51.120 --> 0:10:55.760 right to justice and fair treatment, a right to education, 0:10:55.840 --> 0:11:00.480 a right to vote. And once you introduce where you know, 0:11:00.720 --> 0:11:06.640 um racism and racial bias into a system, you you 0:11:06.400 --> 0:11:11.800 you create an imbalance that really damages the fabric of 0:11:11.880 --> 0:11:19.880 how the that entire society functions and creates uh an 0:11:20.000 --> 0:11:26.040 environment where it is not possible for anyone who is 0:11:26.080 --> 0:11:29.960 a civilized human being to function um the way that 0:11:30.040 --> 0:11:33.480 they need to. And and and there's one other thing, right, 0:11:33.520 --> 0:11:40.319 It's not just a matter of not discriminating and not um, 0:11:40.400 --> 0:11:45.600 you know, promoting inequities. It's also being deliberate and ensuring 0:11:46.320 --> 0:11:51.800 that we support others and each other as human beings 0:11:52.360 --> 0:11:58.960 to achieve a sustained level of racial equity, UM, to 0:11:59.160 --> 0:12:03.880 achieve the rights that a civilized society expects UM as 0:12:03.880 --> 0:12:06.440 a human being. And when we get rid of that, 0:12:07.160 --> 0:12:11.160 when we devalue or we don't value each other as 0:12:11.240 --> 0:12:17.280 human beings equally, we create an instability that has a 0:12:17.320 --> 0:12:21.680 long lasting impact on our health, our safety, our well 0:12:21.760 --> 0:12:25.160 being as human beings. That's my view. Well, I think 0:12:25.240 --> 0:12:28.880 that's a good segue for us to talk about Call 0:12:29.000 --> 0:12:31.600 for Code for Racial Justice. Can you tell us a 0:12:31.600 --> 0:12:35.760 little bit about what that is and how it even 0:12:35.800 --> 0:12:37.679 how it even came to be, and how each of 0:12:37.720 --> 0:12:42.520 you became involved with this project. So UM that we 0:12:42.880 --> 0:12:46.640 of the George Floyd in our protests, which again came 0:12:46.679 --> 0:12:50.960 about via video. UM, that's when the conversations really you know, 0:12:51.080 --> 0:12:54.280 started to come to come into the workplace, you know, finally, 0:12:54.320 --> 0:12:59.120 after after many years. And so the way I got 0:12:59.120 --> 0:13:02.800 involved in in a in the project that that first week, UM, 0:13:02.880 --> 0:13:05.400 we you know, we had a lot of talent call 0:13:05.720 --> 0:13:09.760 in talent hall discussions, asked me anythings, UM, just various 0:13:09.800 --> 0:13:14.800 discussions across ib with the black communities, Allied communities, UM, 0:13:14.840 --> 0:13:17.520 not just in the US, but but literally across the world. 0:13:17.760 --> 0:13:21.480 And UM and and as part of those discussions, UM, 0:13:21.520 --> 0:13:25.280 you know, the black community asked for you know, a 0:13:25.280 --> 0:13:28.960 call for code, you know, an initiative to apply technology. 0:13:28.960 --> 0:13:32.120 Can can we you know, put our heads together, our 0:13:32.160 --> 0:13:36.760 expertise together to to to UM to find technology to 0:13:36.800 --> 0:13:41.280 this issue. So UM and and do and much who 0:13:41.360 --> 0:13:46.000 is also UM one of our leaders for this initiative UM. 0:13:46.040 --> 0:13:48.000 I worked with him on D on the Cloud Advisor 0:13:48.559 --> 0:13:53.720 UM team. So he called myself, Lisa dell um and 0:13:53.800 --> 0:13:56.400 asked us to be you know, a part of this 0:13:56.480 --> 0:13:59.040 initiative and just and to build it and to build 0:13:59.080 --> 0:14:02.320 us into what you know the program is today. So 0:14:02.920 --> 0:14:05.040 when he called it, it was a no, it was 0:14:05.040 --> 0:14:06.800 a no brain and there wasn't even I thought it 0:14:06.840 --> 0:14:09.480 was like, of course, this is a lived experience. We're 0:14:09.480 --> 0:14:11.800 black in the office, were black outside of it. So 0:14:12.440 --> 0:14:14.679 it was something we couldn't we we could couldn't pass. 0:14:15.360 --> 0:14:18.440 You know, Brittany's right, right, I feel there there was 0:14:18.480 --> 0:14:25.320 a sense of anger, of pain, of frustration, of just 0:14:25.320 --> 0:14:29.080 just so much emotion right from the black IBM community 0:14:29.600 --> 0:14:34.600 in the wake of recent events George Floyd, Brianna Taylor, 0:14:34.920 --> 0:14:39.680 countless others. Things kind of came to a head and 0:14:39.720 --> 0:14:43.880 the Black community spoke up and IBAM listened, you know, 0:14:44.000 --> 0:14:47.360 And and I have to stop and say that I'm 0:14:47.400 --> 0:14:52.920 incredibly proud of what IBM's response has been. Within two 0:14:53.000 --> 0:15:03.160 weeks of George floyd murder, IBM was taking action and responding. 0:15:03.640 --> 0:15:08.800 They were listening. There were a series of town halls, 0:15:09.000 --> 0:15:16.960 of small round tables, fireside chats, discussions, in in team meetings, 0:15:17.000 --> 0:15:23.880 in slack and email. IBM wanted to understand. And the 0:15:24.000 --> 0:15:30.120 Black community spoke up and IBM heard the pain. IBM 0:15:30.200 --> 0:15:35.359 listened to the frustrations. We took all of that information, 0:15:35.520 --> 0:15:39.280 all of that feedback, and we synthesized it. And when 0:15:39.280 --> 0:15:42.080 I say we, I mean a group of black IBM 0:15:42.160 --> 0:15:46.880 rs uh in concert uh you know, with the you know, 0:15:47.000 --> 0:15:50.880 senior executive sponsor of the Black Community and IBM. We 0:15:51.040 --> 0:15:55.920 worked together. We synthesized it. We used design thinking to 0:15:56.080 --> 0:15:59.640 really understand what are the common themes, the common threads, 0:16:00.560 --> 0:16:04.640 and we found some, right, I think we found maybe 0:16:04.720 --> 0:16:06.960 you know, Brittany can keep me honest here, she's been 0:16:07.000 --> 0:16:10.000 in this since to start with me. Um, you know 0:16:10.160 --> 0:16:16.280 several themes maybe ten fifteen different common central themes around 0:16:17.000 --> 0:16:23.360 systemic racism in our society and how we wanted to 0:16:23.400 --> 0:16:28.040 combat those. Uh. We distilled them down. We put them 0:16:28.080 --> 0:16:31.960 to a vote to the Black community and IBM and said, look, 0:16:32.000 --> 0:16:34.760 we listened, we heard. Let us play back to you 0:16:34.880 --> 0:16:37.960 what we heard. Are these the right things or these 0:16:38.080 --> 0:16:42.520 the the activities the initiatives that matter to you? Are 0:16:42.560 --> 0:16:45.520 these the problems you want to see us as an 0:16:45.560 --> 0:16:49.800 IBM community as a whole tackle. And we put them 0:16:49.800 --> 0:16:52.280 to a vote because we know that we can't do 0:16:52.560 --> 0:16:55.440 everything as much as we might want to. But if 0:16:55.480 --> 0:16:59.480 we bring focus to a few things that we can 0:16:59.600 --> 0:17:03.080 move the needle, we can apply our technology are best 0:17:03.120 --> 0:17:06.560 and brightest to try to solve some subset of the 0:17:06.600 --> 0:17:10.320 problems that we face as a society. Uh. We put 0:17:10.359 --> 0:17:13.320 them to a vote. They voted, and those are the 0:17:13.359 --> 0:17:17.920 three themes that we have UH externalized as part of 0:17:18.000 --> 0:17:23.480 Call for Code for Racial Justice, Diverse Representation, UH police 0:17:24.640 --> 0:17:31.639 and judicial reform, and policy and legislation reform. Dale, you 0:17:31.680 --> 0:17:36.520 want to share yours, as Lisa and Brittany shared, and 0:17:36.600 --> 0:17:41.600 dow mch Um IBM fellow pulled me into our Call 0:17:41.720 --> 0:17:46.000 for Code Challenge team and I started to say, Wow, 0:17:46.400 --> 0:17:49.560 I have you know this other project. I'm running this 0:17:49.640 --> 0:17:55.520 other initiative and it's it's morather than just IBM. And 0:17:55.560 --> 0:17:58.680 then I had a really hard talking too with myself 0:17:58.760 --> 0:18:04.000 and said, IBM is listening as Lisa's said, right, um, 0:18:04.040 --> 0:18:08.359 we have IBMS attention. The world is looking for help, 0:18:08.560 --> 0:18:11.840 the US is looking for help. I could choose my 0:18:12.000 --> 0:18:16.080 choose to loose sleep over the fear I'm feeling, the 0:18:16.119 --> 0:18:21.440 frustration I'm feeling, or I can channel my energy right 0:18:21.720 --> 0:18:26.240 um and my waking hours to doing something. So I said, Okay, 0:18:26.320 --> 0:18:29.040 I'm gonna jump in and I'm going to help. And 0:18:29.400 --> 0:18:34.680 it worked out that and had some challenges that took 0:18:34.760 --> 0:18:37.200 him away from this right at the end of August, 0:18:37.720 --> 0:18:41.600 and I ended up having to manage both of these. 0:18:41.640 --> 0:18:45.480 But Jonathan, I will tell you this, right I sat 0:18:45.520 --> 0:18:47.440 at the beginning that one of the best things in 0:18:47.560 --> 0:18:50.280 IBM is waking up every morning and knowing I can 0:18:50.320 --> 0:18:54.920 talk to people in many countries of the world and clients. 0:18:54.960 --> 0:18:57.040 But one of the things I didn't say is that 0:18:57.160 --> 0:19:02.000 the people in IBM from all of life came together 0:19:02.760 --> 0:19:07.840 to help me and and do and Lisa with both 0:19:07.920 --> 0:19:10.760 of those initiatives. Right, I have a team of sixty 0:19:10.840 --> 0:19:14.560 people who have been working with me on the I 0:19:14.680 --> 0:19:20.159 T Language initiative, and the passion and the drive is 0:19:21.040 --> 0:19:26.159 unbelievable that they bring to the table, all volunteering to help. 0:19:26.720 --> 0:19:30.600 We have more than five hundred people from IBM plus 0:19:30.680 --> 0:19:34.640 Red Hats who have come together to work on the 0:19:34.760 --> 0:19:38.879 Call for Code initiative. And for me, it was cathartic. 0:19:38.920 --> 0:19:41.879 It felt like I was able to do something I 0:19:42.359 --> 0:19:44.680 I was. I was going around, I would almost say, 0:19:44.680 --> 0:19:47.800 in a daze, and I turned on me my turned 0:19:47.800 --> 0:19:51.120 my emotions on and off for survival. And we got 0:19:51.200 --> 0:19:54.760 people from you know, all ages, right um, all different 0:19:54.800 --> 0:19:57.440 parts of the company, all different kinds of skills coming 0:19:57.480 --> 0:20:01.600 together to build this out. I think was cathartic for 0:20:01.640 --> 0:20:04.920 all of us, and it helped us to channel what 0:20:04.960 --> 0:20:11.840 we're doing, what our frustration, our numbness, our exhaustion, um 0:20:11.880 --> 0:20:14.840 and our fear. But I will say for me, Call 0:20:14.960 --> 0:20:19.200 for Code really helped me to feel that I could 0:20:19.280 --> 0:20:23.280 contribute in a tangible way and bring others along. And 0:20:23.359 --> 0:20:27.200 everyone who's been working with us on this has been 0:20:28.280 --> 0:20:34.680 really touched by the power of our technology, the support 0:20:34.720 --> 0:20:38.520 of our leadership Bob Lord, Aravin Krishna or SeeU to 0:20:38.640 --> 0:20:41.480 create a space for us to make this happen. And 0:20:41.520 --> 0:20:43.200 I know it's a long answer, but I really want 0:20:43.200 --> 0:20:46.440 to do to understand, you know what what it meant 0:20:46.480 --> 0:20:50.080 for me, right because I was shutting down, literally shutting 0:20:50.080 --> 0:20:53.240 down and operating in you know, sort of an automatic 0:20:53.320 --> 0:20:57.520 mode just for you know, my my personal and mental 0:20:58.000 --> 0:21:02.560 and emotional survival, and Call for Code for Racial Justice 0:21:02.720 --> 0:21:06.800 allowed me to feel and then channel those feelings into 0:21:06.880 --> 0:21:14.000 helping the team. I'm really really incredibly impressed with what 0:21:14.160 --> 0:21:17.840 I'm hearing, not just by you know, knowing that this 0:21:17.880 --> 0:21:21.360 is such a critical topic in the first place. I mean, 0:21:21.359 --> 0:21:26.760 that's the fact that we have IBM ers dedicating precious 0:21:26.840 --> 0:21:31.360 time to really tackling this. That really speaks to how 0:21:31.400 --> 0:21:34.040 critical an issue it is. It also speaks highly of 0:21:34.119 --> 0:21:36.879 the character of you and all the other ib M 0:21:36.960 --> 0:21:40.720 r s who have uh participated in the Call for 0:21:40.800 --> 0:21:46.480 Code for Racial Justice and I'm I'm humbled again to 0:21:46.720 --> 0:21:50.720 be part of this conversation. Can you talk a little 0:21:50.720 --> 0:21:53.399 bit about some of the actual work that you have 0:21:53.520 --> 0:21:57.040 created with Call for Code for Racial Justice so far? Sure? 0:21:57.119 --> 0:21:59.159 So at least I mentioned and in betid out of 0:21:59.160 --> 0:22:03.040 the podcast, we synthesized UM, you know, input from the 0:22:03.040 --> 0:22:06.600 black communities down to three themes and their police and 0:22:06.680 --> 0:22:11.959 judicial reform and accountability, policy and legislative reform, and UM 0:22:12.040 --> 0:22:16.760 diverse representation. So for police and judicial reform, we're looking 0:22:16.760 --> 0:22:20.040 at how can we use technology UM to better analyze 0:22:20.080 --> 0:22:24.800 broad data, provide insights, and make recommendations that will drive 0:22:25.280 --> 0:22:30.280 racial equality and reform across criminal justice and public safety. 0:22:30.760 --> 0:22:34.840 For policy and legislation reform, it's the question is how 0:22:34.840 --> 0:22:39.760 can we use technology to analyze, inform and develop policy 0:22:40.240 --> 0:22:45.520 to reform the workplace products, public safety, just legislation and 0:22:46.000 --> 0:22:49.639 society at large. And then for diverse representation, we're looking 0:22:49.680 --> 0:22:54.000 at the prevention, detection and the remediation of bias and 0:22:54.080 --> 0:22:58.520 misrepresentation in workplace UM products in society. And like we've 0:22:58.520 --> 0:23:01.159 been saying before, you know, full corporations and for the 0:23:01.280 --> 0:23:03.760 you know, for the world to succeed if it's critical 0:23:04.200 --> 0:23:08.280 to have light representation at every level. UM. So within 0:23:08.400 --> 0:23:13.719 the Police in Judicial Reform theme where we're gonna release 0:23:14.080 --> 0:23:18.520 a couple of solutions. One looks like the capabilities for contribution, 0:23:19.200 --> 0:23:23.040 management and analysis of categories of trust and information about 0:23:23.080 --> 0:23:27.000 incidents for both the police and their stakeholders. So for 0:23:27.160 --> 0:23:30.919 Police in Judicial Reform and accountability, one solution UM is 0:23:30.920 --> 0:23:33.840 a web bag that allows the defense attorney or public 0:23:33.920 --> 0:23:38.760 defender to upload information about a case and and they're defendant, 0:23:39.160 --> 0:23:42.080 and we'll send this data to a bias detection engine 0:23:42.400 --> 0:23:45.080 and using the results from that, we can create a 0:23:45.160 --> 0:23:49.240 report outline and possible charges, the range of possible sentence, 0:23:49.320 --> 0:23:54.960 peach charge, evidence of passed bias UM indeed biased recommendations 0:23:54.960 --> 0:23:59.919 for police bargaining sentences. So again, how can we trans 0:24:00.080 --> 0:24:03.600 form the process when someone is going to trial. We 0:24:03.680 --> 0:24:08.200 also have another solution that predicts how likely UM a 0:24:08.280 --> 0:24:12.000 charge the sentence sentencing will be very different if the 0:24:12.040 --> 0:24:16.240 convicted person was of a different race. FIRD solution for 0:24:16.840 --> 0:24:20.679 Police in Judicial Reform is a content management application that 0:24:20.720 --> 0:24:25.800 will allow civilians to contribute uh statements and evidence to 0:24:25.920 --> 0:24:29.800 police Internet reports and create a tamper proof record with 0:24:29.880 --> 0:24:34.000 all accounts of the Internet. For policy and legislative reform, 0:24:34.280 --> 0:24:37.800 we have a web advocation to enable and empower black 0:24:37.880 --> 0:24:40.960 people to exercise their right to vote by assuring that 0:24:41.000 --> 0:24:43.200 their voice is heard. It's a it's a virtual one 0:24:43.240 --> 0:24:46.560 stop shop for but voters to assist them with all 0:24:46.560 --> 0:24:50.199 of their their voting needs. And another solution for policy 0:24:50.280 --> 0:24:54.120 legislative reform is a web based application to help advocates 0:24:54.119 --> 0:24:57.840 find legislation of interest based on the advocates preferences for 0:24:58.040 --> 0:25:03.639 impact areas and geographical location. UMAN. Finally, UH, we have 0:25:03.720 --> 0:25:09.360 a platform as capable of story curated PRNL information as 0:25:09.359 --> 0:25:12.560 a termined by the community. It provides a mobile friendly 0:25:12.600 --> 0:25:16.240 way for users to examine that information, increasing their legal 0:25:16.280 --> 0:25:19.680 awareness UM and to allow them to communicate their reactions 0:25:19.680 --> 0:25:23.199 and thoughts via the recording of video testimonials to be 0:25:23.240 --> 0:25:25.840 shared with the community and that people responsible for the 0:25:26.040 --> 0:25:29.439 creation of that And for diverse representation, I'll turn it 0:25:29.440 --> 0:25:31.040 over to them to talk about the work that we're 0:25:31.040 --> 0:25:37.520 doing there. So diverse representation UM is a theme that 0:25:37.600 --> 0:25:41.040 really cuts across all of the three themes. And if 0:25:41.080 --> 0:25:45.480 you think about racial intstice and bias UM. If you 0:25:46.080 --> 0:25:54.320 don't have a society that UM is diverse and UH 0:25:54.520 --> 0:25:59.560 those uh and and you don't have a way of 0:26:00.560 --> 0:26:07.160 eliminating both explicit and implicit bias from your society, then 0:26:07.160 --> 0:26:10.280 you run into some of the challenges we see where 0:26:10.359 --> 0:26:18.000 policy and legislative reform or police UM legislation and reform 0:26:18.040 --> 0:26:23.840 accountability isn't UM isn't performed in an equitable way. So 0:26:23.960 --> 0:26:27.800 for the but for the diverse rich representation solution, what 0:26:27.840 --> 0:26:32.600 we really have focused on is providing a means for 0:26:32.720 --> 0:26:43.800 us to detect bias and content that promotes negative stereotypes 0:26:44.160 --> 0:26:51.680 about the black community that UM promotes both in an 0:26:51.680 --> 0:27:01.320 avert and a subtle way UH, racial language and themes 0:27:01.320 --> 0:27:09.800 that continue to reinforce the perception of one race, in 0:27:09.840 --> 0:27:15.280 this case blocks as lesser than or less value than 0:27:16.280 --> 0:27:21.639 another race or other races. And also to provide a 0:27:21.680 --> 0:27:27.960 way for the community to come together two work on 0:27:28.280 --> 0:27:35.040 this issue, which is a lot less UM a lot 0:27:35.480 --> 0:27:40.600 more difficult to tackle than overt racism in many ways 0:27:40.760 --> 0:27:47.639 because it gets into the UM language we've accepted as 0:27:48.600 --> 0:27:52.439 part of the norm for a very long time. Can 0:27:52.600 --> 0:27:56.000 people get involved in build upon the work that you 0:27:56.560 --> 0:27:59.879 are doing with Call for Code for Racial Justice, So 0:28:00.720 --> 0:28:06.680 we will be announcing the solutions next week. UM. We 0:28:06.760 --> 0:28:11.240 have a Call for Code for UM Racial Justice site 0:28:11.840 --> 0:28:16.240 where if you're a developer, you can register, you can 0:28:16.280 --> 0:28:21.199 get involved UM, you can start contributing code ideas UM. 0:28:22.000 --> 0:28:27.320 If you are a on GEO or private sector company 0:28:27.480 --> 0:28:34.240 or other interested community entities like community governments, you can 0:28:34.960 --> 0:28:39.720 UM engage and share that you are interested in partnering 0:28:39.760 --> 0:28:42.680 with us, maybe as a tester, maybe as an end user, 0:28:42.720 --> 0:28:45.560 a deployer, or someone who wants to take what we're 0:28:45.560 --> 0:28:48.880 doing and build a community around it to implement with 0:28:49.040 --> 0:28:52.560