03 Oct 2018

HudsonAlpha hosts Google Fiber team, receives surprise $10,000 pledge

Huntsville – On Tuesday, October 2, HudsonAlpha hosted Google Fiber’s Huntsville team on the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology campus to discuss diversity and inclusion in the workplace, and Google Fiber made a surprise pledge of $10,000 for science education programs at the Institute.

Google Fiber’s Head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Lynette Barksdale, gave an address on the challenges that the tech industry faces when it comes to diversity, and the importance of addressing those issues to ensure that the opportunity technology and the internet represents is available to everyone.

“We’ve found there are three ways to build a truly inclusive culture,” Barksdale said. “Being respectful, increasing emotional intelligence, and checking biases often. Ethnic and gender stereotypes and bias are a very real thing — whether intentional or unintentional.”

The Google Fiber team toured the HudsonAlpha Educational Outreach space and learned about the educational programs developed specifically for underserved students.

“HudsonAlpha’s existing STEM outreach and education programs have a phenomenal impact on the community. We’re proud to be able to support them in their work,” Barksdale concluded, announcing the gift from Google Fiber to HudsonAlpha to continue to develop STEM programs that serve students in Alabama and across the country.