Bulletins

Apple pledges $100 million to improve racial equality

Apple announced a $100 million "Racial Equity and Justice Initiative" today that will see it support various initiatives at historically Black colleges and universities.

The funding includes $25 million for the Propel Center, a new learning space in Atlanta where students at local HBCUs will all be able to register for classes. "Experts from Apple will help develop curricula," according to the company's release. It's also funding a series of grants for engineering programs at HBCUs, including 100 new scholarships for students from underrepresented communities.

Apple is also launching a Developer Academy — a kind of yearlong coding bootcamp it's offered elsewhere in the world — in Detroit. It's further pledging $10 million to invest in founders from diverse backgrounds with New York's Harlem Capital over the next 20 years.

Apple has previously invested hundreds of millions of dollars in developers in China and about $1 billion into U.S.-based manufacturers. Today's investment equates to roughly 0.78% of Apple's fourth-quarter profits. The company's leadership is predominantly white, leading some to suggest Apple invest as heavily in its own offices as well as elsewhere.

Mike Murphy

Mike Murphy ( @mcwm) is the former director of special projects at Protocol, focusing on the industries being rapidly upended by technology and the companies disrupting incumbents. Previously, Mike was the technology editor at Quartz, where he frequently wrote on robotics, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics.

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Bulletins