The Congressional Black Caucus is pressing telecom and technology associations, including some of those representing wireless companies, to address diversity within those organizations and their member companies.
In a letter to CTIA, USTelecom, the Internet Association and the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, CBC leaders expressed “their concerns with the diversity recruitment efforts of the member companies within your associations,” reported The Hill. The CBC’s letter comes amid a larger push to boost diversity at tech companies and among Washington, D.C. lobbying groups in general.
It is common knowledge within the African-American community that “African-Americans over-index [meaning outspent White households] on all facets of communications from television ownership to smartphone usage,” wrote CBC Chair Cedric Richmond (D-LA), Member-At-Large Yvette Clarke (D-NY), and Diversity Task Force Co-Chairs G.K. Butterfield (D-NC) and Barbara Lee (D-CA). That’s why, they explain, it’s imperative that “the communications workforce reflect its consumers who drive the industry.”
The CBC asks the presidents of the lobbying organizations to say how many African-Americans are on their boards, both for the association and its member companies and the recruitment process. They also want to know how many African-Americans work at the senior executive level of the associations and member companies and in other capacities such as lobbyists or lawyers.
The CBC requested information on how many African-American-owned vendors the associations do business with, including how much money is spent on those contracts. Twenty other CBC members also signed the February 22 letter.
March 15, 2018
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