Join the movement to #Hack500
A look back, a look ahead for Hack.Diversity
Ever since we started designing Hack.Diversity back in January 2016, we knew that the challenges we intend to tackle — a shortage of tech talent and lack of diversity — are challenges that require the efforts of a village. In celebrating our first anniversary on October 24, 2017, hosted by our primary philanthropic donor The Boston Foundation, we wanted to highlight three things to our continuously expanding village: 1) the progress we’ve made over our inaugural year 2) how we’re continuing this momentum going into 2018 and 3) why you, as a private donor, should join our movement to Hack500 — a capital campaign to raise $500,000 by 2020 to ensure scalability and sustainability of the program’s success well into the next decade.
We were honored to have leaders across Boston’s philanthropic, civic, education and innovation sectors join us in sharing their perspectives on why the Hack.Diversity imperative is a collective benefit. On a macro-level, Paul Grogan (President, The Boston Foundation), John Barros (Chief of Economic Development, City of Boston), and Greg Shell (Managing Director, Bain Capital) all emphasized how bridging the opportunity gap between Black and Latino communities, and companies, is essential to Boston’s economic growth and its competitiveness as a desirable ecosystem to live in, work in, and grow a business in.
On a micro-level, Hack.Diversity deals with creating access — not only to a singular internship, but to networks, communities, and professional development toward building a long-term career in the innovation economy. For smart, motivated, determined students like German Martinez, who recently accepted a full-time offer from Wayfair through Hack.Diversity, that access makes all the difference:
“Of the 50+ companies I applied to during my last semester at UMass Boston, only 2 invited me to interview. When I was accepted into Hack.Diversity, I was happy but was doubting all my skills. The preparation I received through its programming — the career coaching, the mentorship, the events — was key to my receiving a full-time offer by the end of my internship.”
Testifying with her own trajectory of going from college drop-out to now the Executive Director of the New England Venture Capital Association (NEVCA), Jody Rose further exemplifies what an extraordinary difference it makes to have that opportunity access.
Our inaugural year served 16 Fellows from Massachusetts community, public, and small private colleges. Of those 16, 5 received full-time offers, 3 received internship extensions, 5 are continuing their education full-time, and 3 are leveraging their experiences and resources gained through Hack.Diversity for next opportunities. We couldn’t have created such an impact without our philanthropic partners at The Boston Foundation, Belden and Pamela Daniels and The Demond and Kia Martin Foundation. Nor would this program be possible without our 2017 partners: Akamai, Carbonite, DataXu, Flybridge Capital Partners, HubSpot, Rapid7, Tech Connection, _Underscore.vc, Vertex, Wayfair and YearUp,
The 2018 cycle is already off to an exciting start with The Boston Foundation renewing their support of $50,000 and DraftKings being the first new host company to sign on. In his remarks as to why he’s joining the Hack.Diversity movement, Jason Robins (Founder & CEO, DraftKings) asserts:
“A homogenous culture will not drive innovation and tech is an industry that requires innovation, that thrives on innovation, that exists due to innovation. Diversity isn’t just nice to say; it’s an essential ingredient to our success. Participating in Hack.Diversity is not only going to make our business stand out in attracting talent, but will also allow us to drive the next generation of people to think differently.”
Our growing list of 2018 partners also include Carbonite, Flybridge Capital Partners, HubSpot, Liberty Mutual, Resilient Coders, She Geeks Out, Startup Institute, Tech Connection, Vertex and YearUp, with more to come.
The buy-in from host companies and the NEVCA is crucial, but we need your help to take it further. As Pam Eddinger, (President, Bunker Hill Community College) underscores:
“We need to come up with 54,000 qualified workers to meet the current tech workforce gap. Some might say students are lucky to have you. I’m saying to you that you’re lucky to have these students.”
Please join the movement to help us #Hack500.
Your engagement as philanthropic and private donors is critical for us to serve increasingly larger cohorts of high-skilled Black and Latino talent and grow our operations nationally. Gifts of any size make a difference. Learn more and contribute at hackdiversity.com/hack500.
Questions about getting involved or becoming a Host Company? Contact us!: info@hackdiversity.com
