Resolution declaring March 24 annually as Women of Color in Tech Day in the City of New York to recognize the contributions of women of color to the technology industry and to acknowledge the challenges they still face

Text

Res. No. 359-A ..Title Resolution declaring March 24 annually as Women of Color in Tech Day in the City of New York to recognize the contributions of women of color to the technology industry and to acknowledge the challenges they still face ..Body By Council Members Louis, Gutiérrez, Won, Stevens, Maloney, Hanks, Zhuang, Cabán, Brooks-Powers, Thomas-Henry, Williams, Banks, Brewer, Narcisse, Farías, Marte, Krishnan, De La Rosa and Riley Whereas, NPower, an organization established in 2000 and headquartered in Brooklyn, offers a training model for the technology (“tech”) workforce, reaching approximately 1,300 18- to 25-year-olds annually; and Whereas, NPower celebrated the first Women of Color in Tech Day on March 12, 2020, with a proclamation on the steps of Brooklyn Borough Hall; and Whereas, NPower noted that Women of Color in Tech Day was “designed to promote the importance of respect, dignity, fairness and equity in supporting Black and Latina women as they pursue tech careers”; and Whereas, Three years later in New York State (NYS), the NYS Senate adopted Resolution Number (NYS Senate Res. No.) 62 to designate March 12, 2023, as Women of Color in Tech Day in NYS; and Whereas, NYS Senate Res. No. 62 described Women of Color in Tech Day as “an annual day of information distribution, recruitment, training and job placement”; and Whereas, NYS Senate Res. No. 62 noted that the tech sector in NYS is getting larger and is adding high-paying jobs to the economy; and Whereas, NYS Senate Res. No. 62 noted that encouraging women of color to enter the tech industry is particularly important inasmuch as they might not have had traditional paths into the industry available to them; and Whereas, In 2025, United States (U.S.) Senator Jacky Rosen introduced bipartisan Senate Resolution (S.Res.) 132 to designate March 24, 2025, as National Women of Color in Tech Day; and Whereas, S.Res. 132 acknowledges the importance of women of color in tech in the U.S., including Katherine Johnson, an engineer at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration; Marie Van Brittan Brown, the inventor of home security systems; and Patricia Bath, the inventor of a tool to remove cataracts; and Whereas, S.Res. 132 acknowledges that women and girls of color too often face opportunity and achievement gaps in their education in the fields of science, engineering, and computer science and do not have the number of role models to look up to that they need in these fields; and Whereas, S.Res. 132 notes that “evidence suggests that structural and social barriers in tech education, tech workforce development, the tech workforce, and venture capital investment in tech can disproportionately and negatively affect women of color”; and Whereas, S.Res. 132 notes that the demand for a trained workforce in the tech industry will continue to grow significantly in the next decade; and Whereas, S.Res. 132resolves that the Senate “commits to working to eliminate barriers to entering the technology sector faced by women of color” and pledges to ensure that girls of color have access to the tech-related education they need to compete in a 21st century economy; and Whereas, March 24, 2024, is currently designated as National Women of Color in Tech Day; and Whereas, There are women of color in New York City (NYC) today excelling in the tech sector of the workforce, helping to address discrimination and inequality of opportunity in the tech sector, and serving as role models for younger girls of color; and Whereas, Designating a Women of Color in Tech Day in NYC would encourage New Yorkers to celebrate these important contributions; now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York declares March 24 annually as Women of Color in Tech Day in the City of New York to recognize the contributions of women of color to the technology industry and to acknowledge the challenges they still face. RHP LS #16063 Res. #0282-2024 12/30/2025 12:16 PM

Full text · NYC Council