Ears, Say Hello to “Legacy Code”
Today, I’m launching a podcast called Legacy Code. Before I tell you about the podcast, let me take a step back and tell you about my work.
My name is Lisa Lee, and I lead diversity strategies at Pandora. Before that, I led diversity programs at Facebook. I also cofounded the positive body image site ThickDumplingSkin, was the former publisher of Hyphen magazine, and am a former 100 meter dash champion.
Anyway. My work. “Diversity.”
One of the most difficult parts about my line of work is that I constantly have to explain what it is that I do. Sometimes it makes for a delightful conversation. Sometimes, I get cornered by people who want to prove through words, “but my company is really diverse though.”
After all, what is “diversity?”
That’s something we’ll get into in the podcast (listen in above), but as a primer: if you’re thinking that “diversity” means “quotas of people,” think again. Leading “diversity strategies” means that every day, people like me are thinking about how to help their companies reflect the diversity of their listeners/users/customers and our increasingly more diverse, more global world.
Doing diversity work is complicated.
Every day you have to show up and represent everyone who has not yet been invited to sit at the table, and make the case of not only why they should be there, but why your job title even exists.
As Junot Diaz says, you have to first paint the cage in order for people to break out of the cage.
So, to my fellow diversity advocates — whether “diversity” is in your job description or not — I feel your pain.
All of this social responsibility can wear down on you, so it’s important to have a community of like-minded people who can support you, teach you a few things, and share a few laughs (or cries) along the way. My conversations thus far in Legacy Code have been that for me. Hopefully, they’ll be that for you too.
45 minute lectures, panels, the occasional news articles — those are nice, but they’re not enough. Diversity is not a trend — it should be part of our every day conversations. It’s time we had a space to talk, and get deep into these topics.
And no, you don’t need to be in Silicon Valley, Silicon Alley, or work in whatever tech hub. If you’re curious about how to make the future a more interesting one, you’ve got a home at Legacy Code.
So why the name “Legacy Code”?
If you’re a programmer, you know why they call it “legacy code” — it’s code left over from a previous generation or system. It might be buggy or inefficient, but it kinda sorta works, and you’re afraid to mess with it, because it might crash the whole thing. But the longer you put it off, the worse the problem gets.
On Legacy Code, I’ll be talking to the people who are upgrading the tech industry. The people making tech more creative, more innovative, and more exciting — by making it more diverse.
Let’s get to work.
Listen here, tweet here, and ask good questions at legacycodepodcast [at] gmail.com.
P.S. Many thanks to friends who gave me feedback along the way. You know who you are. And thanks to the podcast producer, dex digital.
