Introducing the union of HRTech & FinTech to operationalize the American Dream

The American Dream is alive. It lives and breathes within all of us. It is the source of inspiration that encourages us to aspire, to go to school, to establish stretch goals, to achieve and give back. It is the spirit that drives our Great Nation forward. Innovation forward. Our communities forward.

The American Dream is a journey. It starts much like mine. I grew up in a small town in Texas — a town that even most Texans have never heard of, with a mother whose kindness, love, and strength provided when financial means could not… Many of us share that story. And we are fortunate.

I have lived most of my life as an underdog, and it has given me an edge. I believe in the underdog. I know the spirit and fight and grit that lives within many — this is the essence of the American Dream. And with that inherent character, our discipline and hard work and focus generates momentum — sometimes momentum is realized as a 4.0+ GPA, as an artist or coder, or as grace on the field or when swinging a bat, or as a recognized leader within our communities. This momentum empowers us to create, achieve, and get into college. And then we must figure out how to finance this chosen path: 70% of us take out student loans as a bridge to a more prosperous future, and we are truly grateful for that bridge — without it, we would have no means to propel our collective future forward.

The American Dream is about struggle and then triumph. For 70% of us, that struggle becomes (1) student debt and then (2) triumph in the form of catching a lucky break to land those first few job opportunities.

(1) Student debt is the albatross that is accepted and rarely spoken about, at an individual level. The average student debt is just above $35,000 for an undergraduate degree alone, which is approximately $500+ in monthly student loan payments. This creates a wealth gap of $640,000 on average, at the time of retirement, as 401(k) contribution and home ownership is significantly delayed when benchmarked against debt-free peers.

We must confront the economic implications of the 17 to 20 years it takes, on average, to retire our student loans. When did this become normal? This is not good for anyone — it is not good for the individual; it is not good for economy; it is not good for our Great Nation; and it is crushing the American Dream.

So many have fallen through the cracks as a result of moving through the calculations of the cost of education. These individuals are stripped of the opportunity that is such an important life experience. This is an important factor when we consider the gap of 1,000,000 people in computer science within STEM alone. If, for example, we want greater STEM talent in the market (and we do), we must create a stronger market signal of possibility, reward, and access.

(2) Graduates and young professionals stumble through manual systems to catch that first lucky break — the introduction, the happenstance meeting, or the exchange with the hiring manager at the career fair who is present at precisely the right moment. Graduates and young professionals are confronted with a massive barrier to opportunity post education, due to inefficient, largely pre-internet-centric recruiting practices. And employers are stuck in the same system! Employers are struggling to find talent, specifically STEM talent, due to the shortage and overheated nature of the market, coupled with the inefficiencies that plague the emerging talent segment of our workforce.

Both (1) and (2) disadvantage aspiring Americans. The former prohibits many from pursuing education. The latter leaves opportunity to chance encounters and connections. Once young professionals begin to prepare for the workforce, many rely on manual processes and luck. Hope is not a strategy and I don’t like depending on chance encounters or serendipitous connections, as those who are underserved often do not have the luxury of either. We need a solution to help emerging professionals reduce their debt, simultaneously extending reach and access to employers through a systematic approach that is void of barriers such as location, personal connections, and luck. We need to operationalize the process. We need to operationalize the American Dream.