Anthony Mays is using his experience as a Black tech employee to help others through the door
The year after Anthony D. Mays joined Google as a software engineer in 2013, the company publicly released its diversity numbers for the first time. He knew the numbers were likely low, but he didn't realize just how low.
When he found out only 1% of technology roles included Black people, Mays made it his personal mission to help grow that number while working at Google. Now, after several years of seeing slow-moving progress within Google and the tech industry at large, Mays is branching out on his own, starting a consulting firm that aims to help both companies and employees reach more representation.
A key voice for DEI at Google
When Mays joined Google in 2013, he received a personal welcome call from the company's human resources chief at the time, Lazlo Bock. “That was pretty special,” Mays told CNBC in an interview.
The following year, the company became the first of many to release their diversity numbers, which showed a dismal 2% of full-time Google employees were Black and only 1% of technical roles were filled by Black employees. Shocked by the statistics, Mays felt a personal obligation to help those numbers grow.
To do that, began sharing his story of coming from an abusive home in Compton, California.
“Having come from the world of Compton to the world of Google and Silicon Valley for several years, it allows me the unique opportunity to build bridges in the way that others may not be able to.”
He first shared his story in a company email that ended up going viral. Then, in 2018, he shared his experiences in a Buzzfeed video called “My Unlikely Path To Becoming The 1% At Google,” which has racked up 5.3 million views. He also wrote an article, with Google's public relations team, he said, for Huffington Post called “Google Would Never Hire a Person Like Me,” explaining how his environment and self-doubt almost kept him from applying for a job at Google.
“I was getting emails from people in and outside of the company that I'd never met,” Mays said, adding that he was humbled by the response.
Many told Mays Many told Mays he inspired them and made them feel seen and heard, he said. Google recruiters told him his coaching work helped get diverse applicants in the door and succeed during interviews, he said.
But becoming a key voice for DEI also came with setbacks: He had to juggle DEI work with being a full-time software engineer and says he sacrificed promotions due to the time spent on those initiatives.
Mays said he also experienced imposter syndrome.
“People were telling me I'm doing well, but I'm also keenly aware that in some people's minds, I'm the diversity hire,” he said of is feelings early on. “So, early on, there was this sneaking suspicion that I have that I'm being treated differently because I'm a Black man working in tech. ”
Part of the motivation for continuing his work, he explained, was “survivors' guilt,” Mays said.
“I had a number of friends who were shot and killed when they were 18 and 19 years old,” he said. “When you see that kind of tragedy and be so close to it, you start asking what made me so different that I deserved to escape and they didn't?”
But most of the motivation, he said, came from his faith and hope for equity among underrepresented workers. He said he feels a responsibility and passion for giving people a chance at more opportunities.
Mays, whose authentic communication and candor draw people, says he tries to be honest when asked what it's like to be a Black man at Google.
“I talk about how I had a good experience, but there are no guarantees, and I want us to be honest about that,” he said. “There are people who've had horrible experiences, and I want to remind people that as much as I've enjoyed being at Google, things might go differently for you.”
He also acknowledges the challenges he sees companies face when trying to implement new programs dedicated to diversity and inclusion. At Google, he said, he saw impactful diversity and inclusion programs that were either put on hold or changed in different direction.
“I don't know many companies who are working harder than Google to effect change; however, one of the problems I've seen is the sustained commitment in any given direction,” Mays said. “What tends to happen is you have a program that works well for a year or two and then inexplicably goes into another direction or there's a shuffle or a reorg and it can be hard to see things through for the sustained long term.”
在 Anthony D. Mays 于 2013 年以软件工程师身份加入谷歌后的第二年，该公司首次公开发布了其多样性数据。他知道这个数字可能很低，但他没有意识到到底有多低。 当他发现只有 1% 的技术职位包括黑人时，梅斯将在谷歌工作期间帮助增加这一数字作为他的个人使命。现在，在看到谷歌和整个科技行业进展缓慢的几年之后，梅斯开始独立扩张，创办了一家旨在帮助公司和员工获得更多代表的咨询公司。
谷歌 DEI 的关键声音
当梅斯在 2013 年加入谷歌时，他接到了当时公司人力资源主管拉兹洛·博克 (Lazlo Bock) 的个人欢迎电话。 “那很特别，”梅斯在接受 CNBC 采访时说。
次年，该公司成为众多公布其多元化数据的第一家公司，这表明令人沮丧的 2% 的全职谷歌员工是黑人，只有 1% 的技术职位由黑人员工担任。对统计数据感到震惊，梅斯觉得自己有义务帮助这些数字增长。
为此，他开始分享他来自加利福尼亚康普顿的一个虐待家庭的故事。
“多年来，我从康普顿的世界来到谷歌和硅谷的世界，这让我有机会以其他人可能无法做到的方式搭建桥梁。”
他首先在一封公司电子邮件中分享了他的故事，该电子邮件最终成为病毒式传播。然后，在 2018 年，他在 Buzzfeed 视频中分享了他的经历，该视频名为“我不太可能成为谷歌 1% 的人”，该视频已获得 530 万次观看。他说，他还与谷歌的公关团队一起为赫芬顿邮报写了一篇名为“谷歌永远不会雇用像我这样的人”的文章，解释了他的环境和自我怀疑是如何让他几乎无法申请谷歌的工作的。
“我收到了来自公司内外的人的电子邮件，我从未见过，”梅斯说，并补充说他对回复感到谦卑。
许多人告诉梅斯 许多人告诉梅斯，他启发了他们，让他们感到被看到和听到，他说。他说，谷歌招聘人员告诉他，他的辅导工作帮助不同的应聘者上门，并在面试中取得成功。
但成为 DEI 的主要代言人也遇到了挫折：他不得不在 DEI 工作和全职软件工程师之间兼顾，并表示由于花在这些举措上的时间而牺牲了晋升。
梅斯说他也经历过冒名顶替综合症。
“人们告诉我我做得很好，但我也敏锐地意识到，在某些人的心目中，我是多元化的雇员，”他在早期谈到感情时说。 “所以，在早期，我有一种偷偷摸摸的怀疑，认为我受到了不同的对待，因为我是一名在科技行业工作的黑人。 ”
他解释说，继续工作的部分动机是“幸存者的内疚”，梅斯说。
“我有很多朋友在 18 岁和 19 岁时被枪杀，”他说。 “当你看到那种悲剧并如此接近它时，你开始问是什么让我如此与众不同以至于我应该逃脱而他们没有？”
但他说，大部分动力来自他对代表性不足的工人公平的信念和希望。他说，他感到有责任和热情，让人们有机会获得更多机会。
梅斯的真诚沟通和坦率吸引了人们，他说，当被问及在谷歌做一名黑人是什么感觉时，他尽量诚实。
他说：“我谈论我是如何获得良好体验的，但没有任何保证，我希望我们对此坦诚相待。” “有些人有过可怕的经历，我想提醒人们，尽管我很喜欢在谷歌工作，但对你来说事情可能会有所不同。”
他还承认他看到公司在尝试实施致力于多元化和包容性的新计划时面临的挑战。他说，在谷歌，他看到有影响力的多元化和包容性计划要么被搁置，要么朝着不同的方向改变。
“我不知道有多少公司比谷歌更努力地实现变革；然而，我看到的问题之一是在任何给定方向上的持续承诺，”梅斯说。 “往往会发生的情况是，你有一个项目在一两年内运行良好，然后莫名其妙地转向另一个方向，或者出现洗牌或重组，而且很难长期看透事情。”
