Last month, the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) hosted a discussion in Washington, D.C. on the topic of diversity and inclusion in Silicon Valley. Over 500 attendees from federal agencies, non-profits, private companies, and HBCU presidents and all-star students attended the event. Kelly Minton, from the Office of the CIO (OCIO), represented eBay at the meetup, and shared eBay’s commitment to moving the needle in terms of diversity and inclusion.

In particular, Kelly discussed eBay’s search for a Chief Diversity Officer and Devin Wenig’s pledge to create a diverse, innovative, and supportive workplace culture. Additionally, Kelly shared the Year Up/eBay Partnership, which is viewed as a best practice in Silicon Valley. 

eBay’s partnership with Year Up has allowed eBay to help underserved communities, by lifting young, underserved adults (who are often minorities) out of poverty within one year. Click here to watch a 60 Minutes Video on Year Up.

This was the first time the White House Initiative on HBCUs invited Silicon Valley companies to participate and eBay was honored to partake in the initial discussion. Other panelists included the diversity leaders of Uber, Wal-Mart, and Pandora. We look forward to continuing our discussion with HBCUs going forward and have set up a site for them to communicate with us directly: www.ebaymainstreet.com/hbcu