Tech for Good by Serita Cox

So next up we have Serida Cox, who is going to come here and going to do a talk

And she's a true humanitarian, and she brings her personal experience with foster care

devoted commitment to a number of youth development initiatives and an over decade of experience

in executive level management in Silicon Valley, corporate strategy consulting, and non-profit strategy consulting, to her work

as the co-founder and CEO of her own company or organization. So, so happy to welcome her to the virtual stage

Welcome. Hi. Thank you so much. I am so thrilled to be here

I want to make sure my screen is being shared as well

Can you see? We don't see this. Not yet. But now we..

There we go. Excellent. All right. So I want to say hi to everybody

Thank you so much. I'm thrilled to be here. I actually live in a sunny Lake Tahoe, so I'm calling, I'm, I'm doing, I'm zooming in from Lake Tahoe, California

I used to live in the Bay Area back in the day when I was an executive in Silicon Valley

That was over 20 years ago. The, sorry, I'm having a little bit of difficulty with this

Hang on. Well, today I'm going to talk to you about doing good with tech

Now, I just want to make it really clear, having been an executive in Silicon Valley

that women in tech is actually a really, really good thing. And it's very good for the industry

It's good for society. But seriously, technology itself has so much power for doing good

and we clearly aren't exploiting it. Doing good is not something you need to give your career up on

You don't need to have a cataclysmic event like I did to make the decision to do good

to leverage your technology and all of your talents for good. So for me

for me, it was the dot-com bust. that's what got me into using tech for good

I remember the exact day I realized I needed to make a change

I was a vice president running a $550 million line of business

I was the youngest and only female executive at Three Com Corporation, and I was riding high

I was jetting between offices in Silicon Valley in Singapore and making deals

I was doing pre-IPO parties every single night. Life was great. And then the whole thing came crashing down

It just completely busted. Personally, I rift 12,000 people. That is reduction in force

That's a nice way of saying fired, 12,000 people. A lot of them were H-1Bs

who only had 10 days to find another job or they had to leave the country

stock options became worthless. People lost their jobs, their cars, their homes

It was horrible. But honestly, it didn't really feel real to me because 3Com, we were so flush with cash

We were essentially a bank. I had led the spin of Palm from 3Com, which at the time was the largest IPO in history

And we had oodles of money, but it was all sitting in the Cayman Islands. We just didn't want to bail out the U.S. operations

because bringing the money back in would be a taxable event. Note, when it really, really hit me was when I got called out

It was at our quarterly all-staff meeting with employees video conferencing in from around the world

I sat on the stage with BP's while our president announced our second round of riffs

Suddenly, this guy jumps up in the middle of the room and starts yelling and demanding to know why we were axing his

friend's department entirely. Why we were just throwing away great IP, years of blood, sweat, and

tears. He called us at each out by name. As he yelled at us, I realized who he was, or rather what

department he must be in and that he, his whole department, was on the chopping block next

We had already planned our next quarter cuts so that we could make our quarterly projections

He was going to be gone. His entire department gone That was my wake call Honestly what the hell was I doing Why did I care more about my career than helping people That was the day I quit What did I do I did a full 180 I went on and reinvented

myself in the nonprofit sector. My focus, the most disenfranchised, the most vulnerable kids in all of

America, foster kids. There are nearly half a million foster youth in the U.S. removed from their

parents for their own safety because of abuse, neglect, and violence. Their outcomes are the worst

outcomes of any kids in the entire country. At the age of 18, 19, or 20, when they age out

50% will be homeless. 50% will be unemployed. Those employed will only be earning $7,500 a

year. And less than 8% will ever earn a college degree. I fundamentally changed my course

of my career. And I don't regret that for a minute. What I do

regret, and I hope you never regret, is that while I was conquering the corporate world

I didn't think about also helping those who need it most. And that's doubly damning for me

As you heard, I myself had one of those disenfranchised. I grew up in foster care. I

emancipated, as they call it, from the system at 16. I was on my own. But thank goodness

there were people around who weren't so wrapped up in their corporate career

that they couldn't stop to give me a helping hand. So I urge you, don't wait for the next bust to realize that your talents, your businesses

your daily activities can do so much good. Social justice, inequality, human suffering, tech can solve these

And you can start right now and infuse every code you write, every product you develop

and every deal, business deal you do with this focus. And if you're not sure where to start, I've got three big ideas for you that I fundamentally

believe can make the world a more equal and just place. So the first one is the digital divide

In 2016, the UN declared that the internet was a basic human right

It's 2020. 50% of the world is disconnected. They're not online. I was actually on a call yesterday with the state of California. And someone said, this is the new halves and have not divide. They're absolutely right. Now more than ever, if you aren't connected, you're not part of society, you aren't moving ahead, and you're not able to succeed. In California, the very birthplace of Silicon Valley

6.5 million middle school and high school students do not have access to tech

And they need it for distance learning. And there's no solution that's going to meet that need

Sure, tech giants have donated about 23,000 tablets and 100,000 hotspots during this pandemic

But we haven't seen them yet, but this is what they say they're donating. and what are we supposed to do with that

Host a Hunger Games tournament to see which of our 6.5 million students

deserve to learn this fall? We at I Foster, we're taking this heads on

Now we're not dealing with 6.5 million students. We're only dealing with a foster youth

It's about 25,000 foster youth, K through 12 and college in California

But if in 15 weeks since the COVID crisis has hit here, and schools have closed down and gone online, we've managed to ensure 9,000

college and high school foster youth have gotten a laptop and internet access so they don't

fail school. Us little tiny I foster, then surely the entire tech industry can solve this

for all disenfranchised students. Fall is coming and distance learning is a reality once again

not just in this country, but worldwide. Here, we're going to ensure that

every California foster youth returns to school with the tech they need to succeed

The other 6,475,000 disconnected students in California? Well, I guess may the odds ever be in their favor

But seriously, let's talk about what you can actually do. all, access for all. There's really only two problems to solve. One is cheap device connectivity

and the other is the connectivity. Moore's law would suggest that we should be getting cheaper and

cheaper devices. Sure, there's like rock bottom price devices like $50 tablets and $150 Chromebooks

but seriously, they don't work. Raspberry Pi has proven that you can actually have a computer

but how many kids can get a pie and know how to put it together so that they can do their homework

We can do better. But honestly, the bigger issue is connectivity. 50% of the world is not online

Back in my day, 20 years ago, we were talking WiMAX and mesh networks

that would blanket the city with high internet I even remember San Francisco was going to be a pilot It only seven miles by seven miles How hard could that be

20 years later, we're still talking. And no San Francisco does not have ubiquitous high-speed internet for anyone

Internet is not for all. And we, in tech, have nicely created a new form of disenfranchisement and elitism

The haves are online and the have-nots are not. So next time you write a line of code, design your next awesome app

or launch your next great tech company, think about the 50% of the world who can't benefit from your creation

How will you serve them? I like to think, quite frankly, about Frankie

I'm going to show you a couple of pictures of Frankie, these are Frankie's

this is who I think about when I think about how we serve everybody

these are pictures of kids living in the Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia

these pictures were taken within the last six months you know they don't even have

a great internet service in in West Virginia even in the big cities

they're on dial-up these kids have nothing but they do have big hopes and dreams

If only they could get connected to the rest of the world. Imagine what they could do, what they could achieve, who they could become

Each of you have a Frankie in your country, in your home state, and maybe even in your own city and town

How will you get them access to the incredible world that you're creating

So access, number one thing you can work on. Number two is community

So once you get access, then what? Our last speaker, Monica, actually talked about community

Community is hugely important. Getting connected is the first step to equality

but once you get connected, what's out there for them? What can help them with their particular needs

One of the greatest things about the internet is that it brings people together

However, big broad platforms like Facebook and Twitter, nothing wrong with them, but they don't really foster the community

They're really great for loud mass screaming in the wind, as we're seeing here in the U.S. right now

But what people need is a community that is for them, that has utility for them, and makes them feel comfortable with who you are

I'll give you a case example. C-sharp corner. perfect community for developers

Global community of 3 million software developers and check out your gather

This is your gathering spot, honestly. Your hub kind of hurts my eyes

but it is perfect for developers. It is a virtual hub for learning, sharing, and career growth

where even OGs like Mahash Chan hang out and help the next generation

become great programmers. Every community needs a space like this, especially our most vulnerable citizens

Take our foster youth. They're too often alone ostracized from society. Foster youth don't even know each other

For their own safety and security, they're hidden away. So how do they even know that there are other people

like them out there, going through the same things they are? Where would they meet older peers that can help them out

and show them in the way. Not in the physical world, but in the virtual world

we can make that happen. And that's exactly what Mahesh and I did

We created I Foster. It is built off C-Shark Corner and it is designed for foster youth

The I-Foster portal is the hub for foster kids, their caregivers, agencies that support them

It is the online community for foster care here in the United States

While its guts our C-sharp corner, the portal, as you can see, looks totally different

and acts differently because our community has different needs, obviously, than C-sharp developers

First and foremost among our needs are resources. We have hundreds of different resources, everything from laptops as we've talked about

eyeglasses, tutoring, grocery discounts, everything that foster youth need. It's all available like shopping at Amazon, except it's free

And like C-sharp developers, our kids need to learn. Not the latest cool tips for a C-sharp coding test, but much more simple how-do I's

on the basics of becoming an adult. If you don't have parents teaching you how to cook or clean

or open a bank account or apply for college scholarship and financial aid, how would you even know

that that stuff even exists? That's why only 9% of California foster youth

get a California grant to go to college, even though 100% of them are eligible

They simply don't know. And finally, our I Foster portal, Bill Talks, the C-Sharp platform, is a safe place

It's where youth can find themselves and feel comfortable asking for help

There's no judgment here. We all have similar experiences. And I foster we hire older foster youth who can be peer navigators to mentor and support the young ones And it a safe place for our kids to keep their stuff Because our kids move around so much they need a safe place to store their personal

belongings, their birth certificate, their photos, the report cards. So it's all stored in their

personal place in the I foster portal. The I foster portal is the virtual hub for foster care

for resources, learning, and family. Our youth say, I am I foster

because I foster is their family, and there is nothing more powerful than creating family

If C-sharp Corner can power I-Foster, what other communities could it, or other forums that you design, help create

And how many other disenfranchised young, lonely people out there can you bring together

How many others can you nurture and empower? And then finally, the last piece of the equation

piece of the equation is education. So once we've got them online, connected, built a community that they feel comfortable in

then it's all about education. It is the last piece in building the most disenfranchised to become positive contributing citizens

And I firmly believe now is the time to democratize education, to free knowledge so that anyone

anywhere can learn. This fall, K through 12 schools, colleges and universities around the world

will be moving to online classrooms. So you don't need to sit at Harvard. This is a picture of

Harvard to hear a Harvard professor. You can be anywhere and you can be anyone. And those Frankies

out there, they could even sit on a log outside their shack and learn physics or biology or

art history. The key is that this shouldn't just be learning for fun or self-development or

improvement, but it should be for accreditation and a degree. To truly free knowledge from the

confines of the classroom, we need to think differently. While YouTube is really great

has some great videos. They also have some crappy videos, but they have some great videos

on how-toes and learning video learning, they're just bits and bites of information

There is no overall structure or code that is leading to something bigger, more holistic

What is needed is the Lego blocks of education. Small chunks of material that's easily digestible

in the breathing room of everyday life, yet they build upon each other

to achieve competence in mastery. And of course, it needs testing to measure mastery and to assign credit

To give you a case example at a very small level, you all can do something much bigger

is what I Foster is doing with our jobs program. So we have a 30-hours job skills training program that helps foster youth earn permanent employment online

We're not just talking, and we're moving it all online, and we're not just talking about doing it with talking heads, but it's interactive learning modules that take no more than 15 minutes each

They build on each other. And there are quizzes to measure mastery and attain certification

Our I Foster Jobs Program certificate is recognized by employers like Starbucks, CBS pharmacy, state, and county governments

So while a job training center is nowhere near where our Frankies live in the woods of West Virginia

I guarantee you there's probably a Starbucks. So we can prepare them through our online curriculum

They can get proper interview clothes from us through our I Foster portal

They can do mock interviews with our peer navigators through the portal

They can walk in, ace their interview, then text us immediately to let us know

so we can cheer them on. And they can do it all from one of these tiny little devices

which, of course, we provide them all with free through the I Foster Resource Portal

So now imagine if you could reach out to teach and lift up every Frankie out there

Wouldn't the world be a better place? You can make it happen

Improve access, build communities, and help push education, truly democratize education, and allow knowledge to flow to the most disenfranchised

Thanks so much. I truly enjoyed being here, and I really hope all of you take to heart

that tech can do a lot of good. Thank you. Wonderful. Thank you so much, Sarita

for being with us today, and especially what you said about community

people, we need community, bringing people together. So yeah, thank you so much for sharing that story

And of course, for all the efforts you are doing with IFoster, it's very, very impressive

Thank you. Thank you very much. And thank you for having me. And I'm just so pleased that there are women in tech conferences now

That's just phenomenal. Yeah. So do we. We're very happy to have this opportunity today to have this platform

to have like-minded female in tech, just like yourself as well, being with us today to share

knowledge with the community. So we appreciate it very, very much. Thank you

All right. Then stay safe. Stay healthy and we'll see you next time