Jesse Jackson presses Uber for diversity data

Civil rights leader Jesse Jackson is urging Uber to disclose the racial and gender composition of its workforce, according to a letter obtained by USA Today.

Jackson called on the ride-hailing firm to make its diversity data available to the public by next month, urging CEO Travis Kalanick to join the fight to “change the face of technology.”

Jackson, who is president and founder of the Rainbow Push Coalition, is leading a charge to help make the tech industry more diverse. Larger tech companies like Google, Apple and Facebook have already released information about their employee demographics, according to USA Today.

“Silicon Valley and the tech industry, at your best, can be a tremendously positive change agent for the world,” Jackson wrote to Uber on Thursday. “At your worst, you can institutionalize old patterns of exclusion and de facto segregation.”

{mosads}Uber, which has become a major tech player in recent years, has hired Bernard C. Coleman III to lead the company’s diversity efforts. Coleman was chief diversity officer for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.

But Jackson still wants to know Uber’s diversity policies, inclusion practices, and the demographics of its board of directors and executives. He’s also seeking information about the percentage of Uber hires between 2014 and 2016 who were African-American or Latino.

“We appreciate the attention and focus Rev. Jackson brings to these issues and look forward to continuing our discussions with the RainbowPUSH Coalition,” Uber said in a statement to USA Today.