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Rev. May 14, 2021

The #BlackLivesMatter Movement: Balancing Stakeholders at TechTeen

The Situation

Alyssa Harris sighed as she read a text message at 9:00 p.m. on Wednesday. A board leader had updated
her: “30 min. conversation with Melanie—she’s clearly been thinking about this for a while, not sure we’ll
change her mind.”

As the CEO of a Washington, DC, nonprofit, TechTeen, Harris spent about 50% of her time managing
staff, 25% managing the advisory board, and 25% of her time in the community. Her relationship with the
advisory board was a complicated one because the board members volunteered their time, provided Harris with
valuable guidance, were significant financial contributors, and were responsible for hiring (and firing) the CEO.
TechTeen was about to lose Melanie Hobson as a board member, which presented a thorny problem.

Harris and Hobson had run into one another in a restaurant parking lot several weeks before, at which time
Hobson had expressed some concerns to Harris. On Monday, at the most recent executive committee meeting
of the board, Hobson had raised the same issues to that group. The executive committee was split over how to
manage her concerns, but Harris was not sure she could afford to lose Hobson, who had chaired five out of
six board committees during her years of service, helped staff overhaul financial reporting, and designed an
essential partnership with a local computer company. Deep down, Harris’s biggest question was how frank she
should be with Hobson, because if she was honest with herself, Harris didn’t agree with Hobson’s position. As
a person with Caribbean roots, Harris had grappled with identity and belonging for her whole life in the United
States.

History of Impact

TechTeen was a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit designed to serve 13-to-18-year-olds by empowering them to
seek careers in technology. Started in California’s Silicon Valley in 1998, the nonprofit targeted teenage kids
who did not have much exposure to technology, most often because their households had limited financial
means and therefore little educational opportunity outside of their school system. The organization became a
favorite of California tech giants, who contributed funding, hardware, and software, and supported an
internship program to provide the teens with employment mentorship. With the support of so many in the
community, TechTeen expanded over 10 years to such cities as Austin, Boston, Detroit, New Orleans, and
Washington, DC. Programming quickly grew to include a large college-counseling component, TechTeen
having recognized that secondary education was essential for its teens to attain secure, high-paying jobs in

This fictional case was prepared by Meghan Murray, Chief Operating Officer at the University of Virginia Miller Center of Public Affairs and Lecturer
at the Darden School of Business. It was written as a basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate effective or ineffective handling of an administrative
situation. Copyright  2021 by the University of Virginia Darden School Foundation, Charlottesville, VA. All rights reserved. To order copies, send an email
to sales@dardenbusinesspublishing.com. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by
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highest quality, so please submit any errata to editorial@dardenbusinesspublishing.com.

This document is authorized for use only by Mihaela-Andreea Hersom in DEVELOPING PROFESSIONAL HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PRACTICE(UNIVERSITY SQR) at University
of Bedfordshire, 2024.
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product management, computer coding, hardware design, and related fields. Many of the TechTeen kids were
the first in their family to attend college.

As the organization grew, the national headquarters remained in Palo Alto, California, providing guidance
to units in other cities. Each unit managed its own fundraising, annual budget, staff, and volunteer board, while
the headquarters provided personnel policies, logo guidelines, federal grant support, and advice for issues like
taxes and insurance. Units operated independently day-to-day, but used the national organization for consulting
support to take advantage of best practices. The model worked. Between 1998 and 2020, the company grew to
serve over 1,800 kids nationally each year. By 2020, it had helped guide almost 450 kids to technology education
in college.

Social Movement

Throughout US and world history, single incidents sparked public and private change. As one example,
during the American civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, activists in the South spoke out in support
of equal voting rights and were often met with mistreatment and violence. On March 7, 1965, peaceful
participants in Alabama marched from Selma to Montgomery to generate support for voting rights. Alabama
state troopers attacked the marchers with nightsticks, tear gas, and whips after they refused to retreat. The
bloody incident was captured on national television. In its wake, President Lyndon B. Johnson called for
comprehensive voting-rights legislation to prohibit racial discrimination in voting and protect the voting rights
enshrined in the 15th Amendment to the US Constitution. The Voting Rights Act was passed on May 26, 1965.1

In 2012, after George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer, fatally shot a 17-year-old African
American named Trayvon Martin from Miami Gardens, Florida, racial justice again began to gain momentum
across the United States, increasing awareness among special-interest groups and the public.2 One result was
the formation of an organization called Black Lives Matter in 2013.3

On May 25, 2020, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, George Floyd, a Black man, was killed by a white police
officer who used excessive force.4 The incident was recorded on video that was shared by the mainstream media
and across social media channels, and demands for justice gained traction as other incidents of police
misconduct against people of color were shared. That May 2020 event happened during the COVID-19
pandemic, so uncertainty and anxiety were already high, and choices about public safety had become political.

By June 2020, corporations, nonprofits, small businesses, and educational institutions had all begun
speaking out in support of racial justice. The Ben & Jerry’s ice cream brand, known for its outspoken support
of the movement since 2016, changed its homepage to read: “We must dismantle white supremacy” and
“Silence is NOT an option.”5 Other organizations backed the effort as well, with public statements, diversity
task forces, and financial support. Bank of America announced a $1 billion, four-year commitment to

1 “Voting Rights Act of 1965,” History.com, November 9, 2009, https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/voting-rights-act (accessed Feb. 2,

2021).
2 “This Day in History: February 26, 2012,” History.com, February 26, 2012, https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/florida-teen-trayvon-

martin-is-shot-and-killed (accessed Feb. 2, 2021).

3 “About,” Black Lives Matter website, https://blacklivesmatter.com/about/; and “Why Black Lives Matter,” Ben & Jerry’s website, October 6, 2016,

https://www.benjerry.com/whats-new/2016/why-black-lives-matter (both accessed Feb. 2, 2021).

4 Evan Hill, Ainara Tiefenthäler, Christiaan Triebert, Drew Jordan, Haley Willis, and Robin Stein, “How George Floyd Was Killed in Police Custody,”

New York Times, May 31, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/31/us/george-floyd-investigation.html (accessed Feb. 2, 2021).
5 “We Must Dismantle White Supremacy,” Ben & Jerry’s website, https://www.benjerry.com/about-us/media-center/dismantle-white-supremacy

(accessed Feb. 2, 2021).

This document is authorized for use only by Mihaela-Andreea Hersom in DEVELOPING PROFESSIONAL HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PRACTICE(UNIVERSITY SQR) at University
of Bedfordshire, 2024.
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strengthen economic opportunities in communities of color.6 Doctors Without Borders issued a statement
“standing in solidarity” with the Black community.7 Melissa Thomas-Hunt, head of global diversity and
belonging at Airbnb, explained, “We know that building a workforce that reflects the world and the local
environments is not just about who we invite into the company, but how we ensure that people of all
backgrounds, identities and experiences are able to thrive because they are made to feel respected, valued and
able to contribute at their highest level at our company.”8

TechTeen’s Support

Hobson, a Washington, DC, native, moved back to her childhood community in 2005, following a banking
career in India and the United Kingdom. A mutual friend quickly recruited her to join the TechTeen board,
knowing she had the financial resources and business acumen to support the organization. The child of
Honduran immigrants and the first in her family to attend college, Hobson was particularly drawn to the
TechTeen mission. Under the board leadership of Hobson and others, the Washington, DC, unit of TechTeen
thrived, expanding its physical service space, creating partnerships with the DC-based lobbying arms of
technology companies, and sourcing federal grants to grow the number of teens served.

During the first week of July 2020, Hobson and Harris ran into each other while picking up takeout at a
local restaurant in Harris’s neighborhood. Hobson asked Harris if she had a moment to talk, so they sat together
in a nearby park. Hobson explained that some of the activism she was seeing within TechTeen made her
uncomfortable. Because the organization had been created to serve kids by educating them and providing
opportunities, she continued, it didn’t seem right to get pulled into a charged discussion. Her international
banking experience had taught her to focus on business, not politics. Harris thanked Hobson for her input and
explained that, although the two of them had different political affiliations, she deeply respected Hobson’s
convictions and agreed they should focus on serving the teens they worked with.

Two weeks later, the executive committee held its monthly meeting on Monday, July 13. At the end of that
meeting, Hobson spoke up to raise a concern. She expressed dismay that the TechTeen headquarters had
recently issued a statement that it “strongly and resoundingly rejects hate, racism, violence, and bigotry of any
kind, and strongly supports the Black Lives Matter movement.”

Hobson explained that her particular Christian upbringing had reinforced the traditional idea of a nuclear
family as being essential to success. She then read aloud from the BlackLivesMatter.com website: “We make
our spaces family-friendly and enable parents to fully participate with their children. We dismantle the
patriarchal practice that requires mothers to work ‘double shifts’ so that they can mother in private even as they
participate in public justice work. We disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure requirement by
supporting each other as extended families and ‘villages’ that collectively care for one another, especially our
children, to the degree that mothers, parents, and children are comfortable.”9

6 “Bank of America Announces $1 Billion/4-Year Commitment to Support Economic Opportunity Initiatives,” Bank of America press release, June

2, 2020, https://newsroom.bankofamerica.com/press-releases/bank-america-announces-four-year-1-billion-commitment-supporting-economic
(accessed Feb. 2, 2021).
7 Africa Stewart, “Standing in Solidarity with Our Black Colleagues and the Black Community in the United States,” Doctors Without Borders, June

3, 2020, https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/what-we-do/news-stories/story/standing-solidarity-our-black-colleagues-and-black-community-
united (accessed Feb. 2, 2021).
8 Cat Zakrzewski, “The Technology 202: Uber and Airbnb Publicize Diversity Hiring Targets,” Washington Post, July 21, 2020,

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/07/21/technology-202-uber-airbnb-publicize-diversity-hiring-targets/ (accessed Feb. 2, 2021).

9 Tom Kertscher and Amy Sherman, “Ask PolitiFact: Does Black Lives Matter Aim to Destroy the Nuclear Family?,” PolitiFact, August 28, 2020,

https://www.politifact.com/article/2020/aug/28/ask-politifact-does-black-lives-matter-aim-destroy/ (accessed Feb. 2, 2021).

This document is authorized for use only by Mihaela-Andreea Hersom in DEVELOPING PROFESSIONAL HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PRACTICE(UNIVERSITY SQR) at University
of Bedfordshire, 2024.
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One executive committee member asked if Hobson had read that passage as a rejection of the nuclear
family, which Hobson confirmed was her understanding. Some board members argued that the statement
seemed to support all families, recognizing that a nuclear family may not be possible in all circumstances.
Hobson opined that of course, Black lives were important, but that the Black Lives Matter organization seemed
rooted in hatred of traditional family structures. Many on the executive committee spoke up on the topic after
that, and the meeting ended with members thanking each other for being honest and having a frank
conversation in a safe space.

Wednesday

The following morning, Hobson called Harris to say she felt the need to resign from the TechTeen board.
Harris immediately jumped to try to keep Hobson. She offered to schedule a call with TechTeen headquarters
in Palo Alto to learn more about its rationale for the statement in support of Black Lives Matter. Hobson
indicated she would like to participate in that call. Harris emailed several board members to ask for advice, then
contacted the TechTeen headquarters in Palo Alto, explaining that a longstanding volunteer relationship was
at risk.

On an emergency call with the three board members, one promised to call Hobson. The group also decided
to discuss the matter with a broader group than the board. Earlier at the June 2020 board meeting, racial justice
had been the theme. The board had committed to supporting staff and the teens it served at this historic time
in history, so staff input would be important.

As a result of the conversation with Harris, one board volunteer called TechTeen’s VP of fundraising,
asking him about his perceptions of the executive committee meeting the prior day. The VP explained that he
strongly disagreed with Hobson’s statement, but that as a Black man who had to deal with these issues regularly,
he had not had the energy to debate it in the moment. Throughout his career, he had been called on to speak
for all people of color, which was a personal burden. He and the board volunteer wondered together if staff
might believe the board was letting them down if it were to try hard to keep Hobson. The VP was clear that
staff knew and trusted Hobson, and that he would have no problem making the case that she was essential to
keep. The two also discussed the difference between the Black Lives Matter organization and the movement
for racial justice. The VP understood TechTeen’s headquarters to be supporting racial justice holistically, which
was different than becoming a member organization of Black Lives Matter, committed to a specific vision. The
VP was of the opinion that lots of people posted the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter on social media to support
that combination of three words, which wasn’t the same as belonging to a chapter of the Black Lives Matter
global network.

Decisions

Following a debrief from the staff perspective, Harris thought it was right to keep Hobson. But then the
other board member’s text arrived at 9:00 p.m.: Hobson wasn’t budging yet. Harris wondered if the distinction
between the Black Lives Matter’s specific principles and the racial justice movement mattered to Hobson. She
also wondered how best to remain true to her personal values if it turned out that Hobson was firmly opposed
to the idea that social justice should be an affirmative mission of TechTeen rather than simply a byproduct of
its good work. Harris needed a plan to make decisions and to communicate them clearly.

This document is authorized for use only by Mihaela-Andreea Hersom in DEVELOPING PROFESSIONAL HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PRACTICE(UNIVERSITY SQR) at University
of Bedfordshire, 2024.