A membership alliance body that cooperates with various stakeholders, the Inclusive Tech Alliance (ITA) commits to improving inclusion and diversity within the UK tech sector. Its efforts include membership services and recognition initiatives for diversity leaders and tech innovators from diverse groups. The campaign is operated by Inclusive Boards, an agency that supports organizations that are seeking to increase diversity at the board level.

This blog post reviews the ITA’s history and actions that celebrate UK tech leaders seeking to make the industry more diverse, as well as the alliance’s ITA Awards program and two of the awards.

Launched in November 2018

In partnership with the Financial Times’ House of Commons UK, Inclusive Boards launched the Inclusive Tech Alliance. The event was attended by more than 100 companies. As part of the ITA’s launch, the Financial Times published a special report regarding ethnic diversity in technology.

Spotlight on influential ethnic leaders

Each year, the Inclusive Tech Alliance publishes #IB100, an annual list that highlights the UK’s top 100 most influential black, Asian, and minority ethnic (BAME) tech leaders and their achievements.

For its members, the ITA presents thought leadership events, in addition to sharing critical research. Members are also able to access a network comprising over 60,000 professionals through the alliance’s diversity-recruitment service.

Founded by Samuel Kasumu

The CEO of ITA, Samuel Kasumu is an award-winning social entrepreneur who also serves as the managing director of Inclusive Boards. He is the chair of the African Caribbean Alumni Network and the UK Prime Minister’s Race Disparity Advisory Group’s youngest member. In addition to these roles, Kasumu serves as a trustee of OVO Energy’s OVO Charitable Foundation and Elevation Networks. The lattermost of these is a charity that tackles race and gender inequality in the workplace that Kasumu founded at 19.

Membership offerings encompass four key initiatives

The ITA delivers its membership services through four key initiatives: thought leadership, research, recruitment, and networking. In terms of thought leadership, the alliances stages thought leadership events each quarter, where attendees can listen to and deliver presentations on diversity and inclusion-related topics that they feel passionate about. Research initiatives involve publishing quarterly data-driven reports that focus on different aspects of diversity. Recruitment draws on the individuals within the ITA’s circle. With a professional network consisting of more than 60,000 members, the Inclusive Tech Alliance helps individuals and their organizations connect with top-tier job candidates. Network initiatives are broader. The ITA engages with over 1,000 businesses, providing members with the opportunity to interact and collaborate with each other.

Members include companies, organizations, and charities in the tech sector

These include Monzo Bank Limited, Clear Channel, Apps for Good, Totally, Eigen Technologies, and Trapeze Group. BenevolentAI, White October Events, Ricoh, the Good Things Foundation, Diversity VC, BiVictriX Therapeutics, and Black British Professionals in Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (BBSTEM) are also members.

Awards recognize diversity leaders

The Inclusive Tech Alliance’s ITA Awards celebrate inclusion and diversity within the UK’s tech industry by recognizing rising stars and forward-thinking diversity leaders, as well as organizations that help to make the tech industry more diverse. By nature, the tech sector is disruptive and focuses on expanding boundaries, overcoming obstacles, and creating a vision for the future that goes beyond established status quos. These qualities are the driving force in Inclusive Tech Alliance’s quest to honor diverse individuals and organizations that promote diversity, equality, and inclusion.

The awards program is free to enter, and the ITA welcomes self-nominations. Interested people and companies must complete an online nomination form, which can be found on the Inclusive Tech Alliance’s website.

The ITA Awards are comprised of individual and corporate awards categories. The former encompasses 10 categories, including Entrepreneur of the Year, Chief Technology Officer of the Year, Business Leader of the Year, Tech Evangelist of the Year, Software Developer of the Year, and Venture Capitalist of the Year. The group also includes Inventor of the Year and Tech Reporter of the Year, in addition to the Product Manager and Rising Star awards.

Corporate awards categories include Inclusive Digital Agency of the Year and Diversity and Inclusion Team of the Year, as well as four types of Best Diversity and Inclusion Initiative awards. These lattermost awards focus on areas such as disability, LGBTQ+, gender, and ethnicity. In addition, there is a special awards category for the diversity champion of the year.

A look at the Business Leader of the Year and Rising Star awards categories

The Business Leader of the Year Award, which recognizes outstanding business leadership, was created to recognize senior leaders in technology companies with personal accomplishments that included overcoming challenges, inspiring others, and serving as an influential presence in the wider sector.

The Rising Star award honors individuals who demonstrate the potential to advance the tech industry and accomplish great things. In selecting the winners, the judges examine candidates’ exceptional achievements and contributions to successful projects. They also look for examples of innovative thinking, as well as a demonstrated understanding of technology’s potential in creating business value. The Rising Star award is open to individuals working in the tech industry who are under the age of 35.