Tech Influencers To Meet in Silicon Valley to Advance Diversity and Inclusion

Published by Kunbi Tinuoye at April 12, 2017

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Tech Influencers To Meet in Silicon Valley to Advance Diversity and Inclusion

More than 200 diverse innovators and senior executives are set to meet in Silicon Valley for this month’s highly-anticipated Culture Shifting Weekend.

Now in its third year in Palo Alto, California, the invite-only event is an unprecedented opportunity for key influencers to advance strategies for inclusion. It brings together industry heavyweights and leading tech firms for high-level talks on the future of innovation, technology, and social impact.

Hosted at various venues throughout the valley, including Googleplex, the attendee list includes influential executives from Intel, Salesforce, Google, Twilio, LinkedIn, Vista Equity Partners, and other leading firms.

Organized by Andrea Hoffman, CEO of management consultancy firm Culture Shift Labs (CSL), the exclusive three-day symposium [April 21 to 23] is a unique chance for corporate brands and handpicked leaders to collaborate on ways to fix long-standing diversity issues – as well as make deals.

“We’re pleased to be hosting this important gathering of influencers of color for the eighth consecutive year, and the third year in Silicon Valley,” said Hoffman, a 20-year veteran of the D&I space and an authority on inclusion-driven revenue growth and product innovation.

Hoffman is on a mission to catalyze business growth for corporations by designing strategies that enable them to access and engage with diverse influencers, tech innovators, social impact leaders, inventors, and investors. It’s an untapped market that she says is estimated to be worth $840 billion.

2016 Culture Shifting Weekend at Silicon Valley

Hill Harper, Andrea Hoffman, and Denmark West at the 2016 Culture Shifting Weekend in Silicon Valley

“Given the current political environment and challenges to the American ideals of inclusion, we are seeing a doubling down of support from corporations and business leaders to address inclusion issues, while increasing revenue growth, and moving from conceptual thinking to measurable results: what I call ‘Inclusion 2.0.’ Culture Shifting Weekend is the only event of its kind in the nation and it’s an urgent call to action, with a laser- focus on generating even greater results, and getting deals done in real-time.”

The long weekend culminates with an exclusive awards event to honor African-American leaders and pioneers who embody this year’s theme: Building Bridges Not Walls, Leveraging Diversity and Partnership to Drive Innovation and Growth.

Honorees include Lloyd Carney, CEO of Brocade Communications Systems; Pamela Joyner, businesswoman, and art collector; Issac Vaughn, CEO of Ooyala; and Robin Washington, CFO of Gilead Sciences, Inc.

Award-winning actor, best-selling author, and philanthropist Hill Harper will serve as master of ceremonies. Harper is also known for founding the Manifest Your Destiny Foundation, which is dedicated to empowering underserved youth through mentorship, scholarship, and grant programs.

Sponsors include Ford, Salesforce, Vista Equity Partners, Brocade, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, Honeywell, Infor, Intel, The Joyner/Guiffrida Collection, Mercedes-Benz, Ooyala, RBC Royal Bank, Visa, The Williams Capital Group, Apple, Donnelley Financial Solutions, Google, Ernst & Young, HBO, SAP, Moët Hennessy USA, and Twilio.

Culture Shift Labs is a boutique consultancy firm that advises companies, senior leaders, and philanthropists on growth and innovation through inclusion. Taking clients from conceptual framework and intention to activation and measurable outcomes, CSL utilizes an integrated, results-oriented approach combining Consulting, Convenings, and Connections to improve business outcomes such as revenue growth, product innovation, and c-suite and board diversity. CSL is located in Silicon Valley and Silicon Alley. The Culture Shifting Weekend is an annual invite-only bicoastal event that takes place in Silicon Valley and Silicon Alley.

Andrea Hoffman is an entrepreneur, speaker, author, and the founder and CEO of Culture Shift Labs (CSL). Leveraging more than 20 years of strategy, business development, and advisory experience, she consults with senior leaders and C-suite executives across a wide range of industries on finding new growth opportunities. By helping clients see past long-held perceptions regarding the intersection of innovation, inclusion, and diversity, she guides them to insights that unlock growth.

Ms. Hoffman’s second book, 50 Billion Dollar Boss: African American Women Sharing Stories of Success in Entrepreneurship and Leadership (Palgrave Macmillan) was published in 2015 and nominated for a 2016 NAACP Image Award. She has been featured and quoted in a wide range of media outlets, from Bloomberg and the Christian Science Monitor to Fast Company and Ebony.

The video footage is from the Culture Shift Labs Brunch at Palo Alto in 2014. The bicoastal event takes place in the Hamptons and Silicon Valley.

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Kunbi Tinuoye

Kunbi Tinuoye is the founder and CEO of UrbanGeekz. Previously, she worked as a News Correspondent for NBC’s theGrio. Prior, she was a senior broadcast journalist for the BBC in London. Tinuoye currently sits on the SXSW Pitch Advisory Board and CES Conference Advisory Board. She is a key player in the Atlanta tech startup ecosystem and serves as a mentor for Comcast NBCUniversal’s The Farm Accelerator. Tinuoye has received several awards and accolades, including being honored with a Resolution from the Georgia Legislative.