Jesse Williams calls out fake diversity initiatives in tech industry

Actor Jesse Williams has called on tech industry bosses to diversify America's Silicon Valley.

The Grey's Anatomy star has put his name behind a number of businesses and charities in tech, including Ebroji, a multicultural interactive keyboard featuring emojis of all races, as well as BLeBRITY, a charades game celebrating African-American pop culture.

Jesse also serves on the board of Scholly, a mobile app that connects students to millions of dollars in scholarships annually, and as an active tech entrepreneur, he is appalled at the low numbers of black people working at major IT companies.

"Stop excluding black people," he tells USA Today, noting most diversity initiatives are full of hot air. "The con around this word diversity is that it's an additive thing. It's a burden. It's a new thing that you have to add. You are already doing the action. The action is excluding us (minorities). We all need chances, access and opportunity. So you can start there."

Jesse notes only three per cent of employees at Facebook are black, while Google's numbers are even lower, with just two per cent of African-Americans comprising the company's workforce.

He is committed to helping black people and other minorities get a fair chance at landing tech jobs through his software investments, gaming apps, and work with the Scholly organisation.

"Our team has noticed a real dearth in the market for black gaming in particular," he says. "We are about narrative. We are about culture. And we are about controlling our images in media."

Last week (ends11May18) Jesse received a Webby Special Achievement award for his tech work.