Leveraging Technology for Black Equity (Tequity)

As the technical advisor to the CTO at Microsoft, William A. Adams thinks he has a strange job. Instead of working full-time on technical initiatives, he works mostly on people problems. He’s on a mission to create something he calls Tequity for Black people: the idea that Black tech professionals need to have an ownership stake in technology creation. Join him to hear more about this idea and what it means for the future of equity in tech.

William A. Adams

Bridget Finkeldey

William A. Adams is a software engineering trailblazer, award-winning DEI innovator, and philanthropist. After rolling out critical XML code globally in many of Microsoft's core products, he was named the first Technical Advisor to the CTO, Kevin Scott. While leading and mentoring young developers, often as the only Black man in the room, William found that DEI hiring was always someone else’s problem – until he decided to make it his. Acting as an intrapreneur, William has founded and overseen global initiatives that revolutionize how underserved communities access jobs and launch careers at the company. He spent three years building the Engineering Excellence program in Hyderabad, India, designed to empower local engineers to succeed on a world stage.

Virgginnia Buccioni-Hillmann

Bridget Finkeldey

Virgginnia is a DEI and talent acquisition professional based in the Bay Area with a proven record of building and improving processes that help companies find the right talent when they need it as well as coaching candidates on career and interviewing best practices. Her journey has given her a well-rounded background in acquiring talent across many industries, including tech, non-profit, government relations, and international organizations while keeping a DEI lens and contributing towards an equitable workforce. Her current mission is to positively disrupt and improve startups’ strategies in hiring to make them streamlined and comprehensive, as well as including Diversity and Inclusion practices to empower companies with top-notch talent from underrepresented communities. This mission encouraged her to pursue many ventures from becoming a founding partner at a talent tech company, to being an advisor to Dreamers In Tech, to public speaking to empower under-represented groups, and especially women on getting to the salary they deserve, interview, and career coaching, as well as advising companies on the importance of under-represented communities and women in Tech. Virgginnia has a business administration and political science background, and in her free time she enjoys surfing, yoga, and hiking with her Goldendoodle puppy.