Danielle Gaglioti Is Using Radical Inclusivity To Change The Tech Industry
Today, there are many frank conversations occurring around diversity, inclusivity, and how larger systems of oppression – i.e. sexism, racism, ageism, ableism, and others – can be dismantled. When it comes to diversity in the technology industry, more work needs to be done to foster inclusivity. Take for example Facebook’s 2020 diversity report, which found that 63% of their workforce is male (and 37% female) and no mention of LBGTQ+ individuals whatsoever. Their racial breakup consists of 41% White, 44.4% Asian, with only 3.9% Black individuals making up their workforce (up from 2% in 2014).
The larger social movement of Black Lives Matter (BLM) has recently made many companies reevaluate their internal structures and their overall public perception. While more companies are starting to look inward, others have engaged an inclusive framework from the ground up. Through supporting the LGBTQ+ community, women, and people of color — as well as empowering entrepreneurs and incubating young companies to realize their full potential — mentor and advocate Danielle Gaglioti has staked her career on engaging in inclusive practices since day one.
Gaglioti is one of the founding members of Upright, a New York City-based tech company that helps to foster small businesses. Gaglioti and her team help to build and design companies from the ground level when it comes to the tech sphere and take pride in doing so in a radically inclusive way. Of its founding members, half of Upright identify as being LGBTQ+, and as an openly queer person herself, Gaglioti’s background greatly informs how she approaches her job.
“My personal mission has always been inclusivity, and I’ve always pushed for inclusion in everything I do — from my work to my personal life — and what I mean by that is elevating people who have been typically marginalized, and that can be anything or anyone from LGBTQ+ folks and people of color to people with disabilities. I strongly support companies that are looking to build tech that elevates the voices and lives of these marginalized communities. For me it’s always been about — What is being done? How can we build unbiased technology that helps to do this?,” Gaglioti says.
This kind of radical inclusivity for Gaglioti and her team occurs on every level of their client and company development. Part of this means getting to know their clients on a very intimate level so that they are best situated to address their needs. Gaglioti’s background in design technology and media studies plays a large role in what she does, how she approaches projects, and how she runs her company.
Prior to co-founding Upright, Gaglioti held positions at various tech companies including the LGBTQ+ focused StartOUT as well as co-founding Akimbo, a human resource company focused on job placement with an emphasis on minority groups. These experiences helped paved the way for many of the things Gaglioti does today. Working with a wide range of clients, Gaglioti helps companies become more inclusive from the inside out; by designing apps with more gender expansive imagery, making things more accessible across the board for various communities, and putting an emphasis on social change.
Gaglioti already sees a greater push for inclusivity happening within health and social service technologies as well as within the financial tech sphere. Gaglioti notes that newer banking apps in particular are giving individuals who might have had issues getting savings and checking accounts in the past — whether due to bad credit, lack of credit, or other issues — the opportunity to apply digitally and in more innovative ways.
“We as independent people like to grow — from earning an income to building a business. You have your essentials, you found your place in the world, and getting a foot up on earning an income is always that last step and that’s where we want to help, where we want to elevate people. Giving people access to tech does not compare to the process of giving people access to capital,” Gaglioti says.
CreditDo, a company Gaglioti is currently working with, is helping to lead the charge in this area. The New York City-based nonprofit offers financial education classes to kids starting in middle and high school. In these classes, students learn the importance of spending, budgeting, and shopping within their community, as well as how to think about money in a longer term way, even going as far as helping these students to open savings accounts for their college education. Another client, Supberia, is helping to make strides for the LGBTQ+ community with their opening of the first queer credit union. Supurbia and similar companies are helping people to find their footing and empowering individuals through their financial choices. This also means creating products for and by the individuals within the communities they are serving.
Under Gaglioti and her team’s guidance, Vault Beauty, implemented a more inclusive rubric through their app’s interface. By designing avatars that have more gender expansive looks, the app has allowed the users to feel more comfortable in expressing their gender identity.
“I think that when I work with people or we’re building out technologies we just try to be inclusive of all individuals and all people and that includes anyone from any community, it includes people who identify however they identify, it includes all sexualities. If I’m building out a team and I’m putting together a network of talent and resources that are radically inclusive, members will know that they belong there,” Gaglioti says. “I’m also making sure we’re building products in the same way and that can be anything, like when you’re onboarding a user in an app, you need to make sure that you’re being mindful of the way you ask them their name or their gender.”
These kinds of modifications are essential for making apps open to everyone and helping to put other people’s experiences first. Tech is the way of the future and by anticipating these needs, Gaglioti is helping to build something for everyone.
