Rethinking Who Belongs in Tech
Too often, the story of human trafficking ends at the rescue. The survivor leaders Laura Hackney worked with wanted something different: a job, stability, a career. So who gets to build the technology the rest of us use?
Laura is co-founder and CEO of AnnieCannons, a US nonprofit that trains survivors of human trafficking to become software and AI engineers. Students join a 12-month paid programme with health benefits and work on production code while they learn. Many don't arrive wanting to be coders. They arrive wanting a career that supports their family.
David and Laura discuss why financial independence is a critical part of the healing journey, and where the "rescue" narrative falls short. The biases companies bring about who "makes it" in tech, and how investor attitudes have shifted. How apprenticeships at growth-stage companies are converting at around 80% into full-time hires.
