The first step to winning a game is to be a participant in it. The consequences of a continued under-participation in tech careers by historically marginalized populations will lead to a furthering of economic stratification and inequity. More avenues for participation must be developed and more people must participate for collective economic empowerment at the community level to take place.
This is the time to find innovative ways to get students of all ages off the sidelines and into the game. Too many people are watching from the sidelines believing that they don’t have what it takes to be able to get out on the field. Limiting beliefs may prevent some from participating when they have the potential and capacity to flourish. 
Dr. Marcus Bright
Sometimes it just takes a spark, like an interest in building and designing things that can provide the motivation to move forward on taking additional steps like learning programming development platforms such as Python and Javascript.
There is a need for initial exposure to the multitude of roles within the tech economy and then for pathways to be created for interested students to delve deeper into their preferred area of interest. This will take both competent people and dedicated resources to provide some level of consistency and continuity.
It is important to note that everyone does not have to be directly involved in software development. There are various ways to participate in tech-related programming including robotics, gaming, graphic design, sales, and marketing among others. There are also transferrable skills that may have been cultivated in other industries that can be utilized within the universe of tech economy participation.
Getting people started and participating at some level puts them in a position where they can build momentum and gain skills that can qualify them to play at a higher level. Capacity can be increased after participation has begun. There will no doubt be gaps in the ability of people to play initially, but if they are given equitable facilities, instruction, and opportunities then their chances to be competitive in the tech marketplace are likely to increase dramatically.
