Apple donates $50m to increase diversity in the technology industry

It’s no secret that the technology industry has a diversity problem, especially when it comes to gender and race. To address its own issues on this front, Apple has announced that it will donate US$50-million to non-profits that focus on getting more women, minorities and veterans into the technology industry. The company is working with organisations like the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and National Center for Women & Information Technology.

The news, announced on an exclusive interview with Fortune, comes in the wake of Apple’s long awaited watch launch. In the interview, Denise Young Smith, Apple’s human resources chief, said “We wanted to create opportunities for minority candidates to get their first job at Apple. We are dogged about the fact that we can’t innovate without being diverse and inclusive.”

In a bid to address racial diversity problems, the company is partnering with the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) to identify, develop and harness talent from the USA’s community of Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCUs). These schools include North Carolina A&T State University, Howard University, and Grambling State University.

Read more: Intel unveils aggressive plans to increase diversity and inclusion in tech with $300M initiative

The partnership will include Apple funding to build a talent database, giving internships to high achieving students, exposing the students to Apple’s campus and work environment, and funding of faculty innovation grants focused on developing successful ways to accelerate HBCU students into STEM environments. Apple and TMCF will also select students who have desires to build businesses using technology will have an opportunity to attend Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference and discover new pathways to successful entrepreneurship through developing new ideas and new apps.

“Education is in Apple’s DNA and by partnering with the Thurgood Marshall College Fund we have a unique opportunity to help inspire the next generation of diverse talent to love technology as much as we do,” said Denise Young Smith

“Our partnership with Apple is going to be a real game changer for HBCU students and faculty. Working with the most innovative company on the planet, we’re going to expose more African-American students to the possibilities of a career in technology and inspire them to become future tech innovators, entrepreneurs and leaders,” said Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., TMCF President and CEO.

To address the issue of gender diversity, Apple is partnering with the National Center for Women and Information Technology (NCWIT).

Apple has in the past admitted that it does have a diverse employment problem. When the company published statistics about the race and gender makeup of its company, Tim Cook wrote “As CEO, I’m not satisfied with the numbers on this page. They’re not new to us, and we’ve been working hard for quite some time to improve them. We are making progress, and we’re committed to being as innovative in advancing diversity as we are in developing our products.”

Apple, and the other companies that are addressing the diversity problem in tech will not reap the fruits of their efforts immediately, and a lot more still needs to be done but certainly the future looks promising.