Bridging the Gap between Oakland and Silicon Valley

Oakland and Silicon Valley are geographically close to one another, yet few Oakland students end up working for Silicon Valley tech companies. How can we bridge this divide?

MSNBC’s Touré took his afternoon show The Cycle to Oakland for a live special aimed at connecting young people of color with the training they need to succeed in high-tech careers. Here he discusses job skills and pathways with Kwame Anku, Director of Strategic Development for #YesWeCode, Mohammed Abdulla, a Senior at Oakland Technical High School and Maxine Williams, Global Director of Diversity at Facebook.

“It’s extremely important to help steer young people into technology where there’s lots of jobs and opportunity,” said Touré, noting that Oakland presents a unique challenge for young people who live there. “They live so close to Silicon Valley and yet are so far from it unless they get a helping hand. #YesWeCode is trying to make that important bridge.”

#YesWeCode (via Green For All) is an Atlantic grantee.