As a 61-year-old with almost 50 years of programming experience who recently got a new job, I can testify how almost no one wants to hear from an old person. I program for fun, too, and could be doing that full-time if I weren't working.
I'm only employed now because I'm proficient in an older language (APL). Never mind my decades of experience in many other languages and extensive domain knowledge in finance, not that I'm bitter or anything.
I read a review of the book "Becoming Trader Joe" by Joe Coulombe who founded the Trader Joe's supermarket chain. One of the very smart things he did was understand how expensive turnover is, so he oriented the company around keeping his employees motivated to stay.
Maybe it's because you cannot separate things that neatly. I see people here complaining that it's not all about tech but what is tech without the world that we live in and our effect on that world?
Without context, tech alone is a very sterile discussion.
Considering how diverse California's demographic composition is, as opposed to say, Vermont, they deserve credit for doing better than the country as a whole.