Like any director working today, I started out when somebody took a shot at hiring me. It's how we all start out - male, female, white or minority.
As somebody who has been an executive producer on a television series, I can tell you that increasing director diversity is as simple as hiring more women and more people of color.
We often hear of a male director directing a great indie and immediately being offered the next huge comic book movie. Rarely, if ever, does this happen to a woman.