For the last 15 months, you’ve been reading the handiwork of our program manager, Luanda Arai; this will sadly be the last community update she authors as she moves to a new job. Amidst the start of the pandemic Luanda created this newsletter to highlight the ways tech and the community collaborate together and has been the driving force since.
Many of you have written to us, sharing your appreciation for the value Luanda delivers to your inbox. Indeed, she is highly skilled. What I have appreciated about Luanda during her tenure is less obvious: the numerous impactful events she produced; how she built a program to support DEI efforts with our tech partners; and most importantly, her strategic thinking and our collegial relationship.
Luanda, I wish you well in your new role supporting local immigrants and refugees!
Nick
sea.citi CEO
Tech for Good Updates
- Amazon, Microsoft, and IBM are among the members of The Software Alliance, an organization calling for Congress to enact legislation that would require companies to assess and minimize bias in “high-risk” uses of artificial intelligence
- Contrib is a new digital fundraising platform started by former Seattle Sounder Brad Evans
- Google announced the recipients of its Black Founders Fund
- Microsoft is expanding its Airband Initiative to U.S. cities facing some of the largest broadband gaps among racial and ethnic minorities
- Microsoft released a progress report on its Racial Equity Initiative
- Tableau shared a conversation with The Urban Institute about how to do no harm with data
Individual Actions & Distractions
- Listen to Native American Youth advocates and other Native leaders about weaving social responsibility with Native values — these events are part of Seattle CityClub’s Civic Bootcamp
- Read about how Seattle mayoral candidates would address structural racism
- Learn the best engineering advice given by non-technical people
- Get outdoors on Saturday for National Get Outdoors Day
- Start an evening reflection ritual
- Visualize data breaches of the last decade
- Find shade anywhere in the world
Local News
- Mayor Durkan’s Equity Task Force released recommendations on how to spend millions on communities of color
- Seattle City Council voted to maintain some eviction bans
- Sound Transit is increasing the frequency of light rail
- If you’re vaccinated, you likely have already been entered into the state vaccination lottery
- Seattle music venues are starting to reopen