Our Issues - Byte Back

About Byte Back

Our Issues

Byte Back

We Are Advocates Who Byte Back

At Byte Back, our impact is felt beyond classrooms, beyond the organizations where alumni are employees, and even beyond our students’ futures. We are advocates and thought leaders, part of a nationwide movement for digital equity and to increase diversity in the tech sector.

Our name stemmed from the phrase “Fight Back,” and we continuously fight for equity for Byte Back students, alumni, their families, and thousands of people like them.

Byte Back Causes

We are advocates and thought leaders, part of a nationwide movement for digital equity and to increase diversity in the tech sector.

Digital
Equity

We need digital equity — equal access to digital skills training, broadband, and digital devices for people of all ages.

Diversity
in Tech

The tech sector should look more like its users. We need to think broadly about diverse pipelines to build an inclusive tech sector.

Living-Wage
Careers

Millions have the potential, but are they getting the paycheck? Workers in low-paying jobs deserve the opportunity for more.

Our Issues

Digital Equity & Racial Equity

 Byte Back envisions a future where every adult has an equal opportunity to gain digital skills and use their knowledge to build a successful future with economic security. 

While Byte Back programs directly support the equal opportunity to gain computer and IT skills, we support a range of digital equity measures, including the advancement of broadband internet for all and access to tech devices, particularly computers and laptops, which give users increased career opportunities.

The digital future is here, and we are committed to building more equitable communities. Our work is racial justice work. White supremacy is the reason 95% of our students are Black and Brown. It’s the reason that Byte Back needs to exist. And for us to truly change the world in the way we want, we all must recognize this, state it, and do everything in our power to change the structures of power in our communities.

Our Issues

Diversity in Tech

The tech sector is failing in diversity. It doesn’t look like its users. And the millions tech corporations spend on diversity initiatives are not changing the reality. 

We need to think broadly about diversity and our pipelines. Tech needs more people of color, more women, more employees without college degrees, more older people who are starting a second career. It needs a better strategy to achieve this. 

Programs like Byte Back are working as pipelines for a diverse workforce. But building a truly diverse and representative tech sector will take all of us — nonprofits, tech corporations, local tech startups, investors, and government.

Our Issues

Living-Wage Careers

You shouldn’t need a degree to be able to move into a living-wage career. Today, the American dream is failing so many as economic mobility seems to be an impossible achievement. We see the potential in people like Byte Back students and in millions of Americans. 

71 million Americans are STARs (Skilled Through Alternative Routes), according to Opportunity@Work. Millions of them have the skills, but not the salaries. Millions of others could move up with a small investment of time and money in training – like the training offered at Byte Back. 

Employers need to see the possibilities for these STARs and for their companies. They can gain skills and get hired. And they should be paid living wages.

For more information on Byte Back’s causes and our ongoing thought leadership work, visit our Thought Leadership or In the News pages.

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