Catherwood LibraryILR School

Citing minority representation among start-ups as well as major Silicon Valley firms, Reverend Jesse Jackson spoke out at a HP shareholder meeting. The civil rights and political leader referenced that there were zero African-Americans in the top executive roles, as leaders in medium and large IPO?s, and on the boards of large companies in Silicon Valley. Rev. Jackson called for Twitter, Google, HP, Facebook, Microsoft, and Apple to remedy this. Rev. Jackson is a founder and president of Rainbow/PUSH Coalition and pushed the organization?s ?digital inclusion initiative?. After the speech, HP?s CEO, Meg Whitman, said that she would continue the conversation with Rev. Jackson about possible actions which would perpetuate the company?s long history of support for equality and civil rights.