African American tech leaders in Triangle demand change – Global Data CEO William Spruill criticizes ‘inherent biases’

Editor’s note: This is part of a series of stories from WRAL TechWire focusing on the calls to action by African American executives in the Research Triangle technology sector following the death of George Floyd.

RALEIGH — William “Bill” Spruill, a well-known entity in the local Triangle ecosystem. He is founder and CEO of Global Data Consortium, a global identity verification platform which recently raised $3 million in equity.

He is an active angel investor as a member of Triangle Angel Partners, a $2.6 million early stage angel fund. He’s also a long-time board member on the Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED).

He, along with other African American business leaders in the community, are calling for lasting change after the death of George Floyd, a black man, at the hands of police last week.

Here’s what he had to say:

What is your view on the ground here in the Triangle?

I’m a downtowner. I lived in Oakwood for years and have operated multiple business concerns in downtown since they reopened Fayetteville Street to cars. The devastation wreaked was and is heart breaking. We are cannibalizing our businesses and our ecosystem as a function of our need to physically manifest the internal pain we are all feeling over what happened and what has been happening in the black experience in America.

We will heal but it will take time to do so. It hurts.

What can be done on a local level to affect change?

This is the second most often question I’ve been asked and my answer is keep it simple. We have to remove the biases that we infect our youth with. I think it is too late to change the inherent biases we all have as adults. I’m programmed to respond a certain way when I see a cop or when a woman clutches her purse tighter when I walk by. I see it in tech as well.

I had a banker once tell me they wouldn’t invest with my company unless I had a local angel like a Scott Moody or Scot Wingo [both white men] backing me. What he didn’t know is that I was friends with both of them and they saw me as a peer/equal. That bias isn’t going to go away anytime soon. It’s deeply rooted.

Do you feel this is a watershed moment? If so, why?

Nope. I’ve got the benefit of age. I remember Rodney King, I remember Ferguson. I remember so many countless situations that didn’t create any change.

Yeah we will stay mad and upset for a week or two but will we stay mad long enough to truly try and make a change? Habitual behaviors are difficult to change.

Where do we go from here?

Look at your kids, nieces, nephews cousins and think about the fact that if you change your biases you may help someone build the confidence and get the access such that they may find a cure for lupus or covid or they may simply lead a good life as a contributor to the social fabric of the world that your children and grandchildren will live in.

Changing your biases now and making sure your kids don’t develop those negative biases will over time tip the scales in a positive manner. That said for now we endure as African Americans have endured for generation after generation after generation.