Rooney, president and CEO of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce: Here’s what some other folks in the community had to say about the program. “Through our success on a local level, we hope to build a national model that can be replicated in other innovation hubs around the country.” We will bring together a coalition of business, civic, and nonprofit leaders to systematically attack this critical issue in our community” says Jody Rose, a Hack.Diversity co-founder and Executive Director of the NEVCA. “Hack.Diversity will begin small, but our ambitions are large. Joining the founding underwriters are The Boston Foundation and SkillWorks: Partners for a Productive Workforce, who together have agreed to co-invest substantially in the program. Supporting both the students and companies throughout the process is a consortium of providers with deep expertise in diversity recruiting, hiring, and training, including the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, the Boston Private Industry Council (PIC), The Tech Connection, Year Up and YUPRO. Previously with Google, James helped develop the program’s dual approach - training and preparing the hiring companies as much as the hired students. Melissa James is a Hack.Diversity co-founder, and CEO of a diversity recruiting firm, The Tech Connection. In parallel, each intern is paired with a mid-level or senior executive within the Hack.Diversity Mentor Network - comprised of dozens of Black and Latino engineers and executives throughout the innovation community - who establish a one-on-one relationship and coach students through their professional journey. Companies receive diversity and inclusion training to enhance their hiring policies and ensure that the work environment is more welcoming to diverse candidates. Once they enter Hack.Diversity, both the students and the companies that hire them gain access to wrap-around support and services. “Organized in the right fashion, we have all the resources right here to address this market failure and social justice issue.” “Boston’s innovation community has two major, related issues right now - a massive talent crunch and a glaring lack of diversity, particularly amongst Black and Latino engineers” says Bussgang, who also serves as a member of the NEVCA Board of Directors. The program was co-founded by Jeff Bussgang of Flybridge Capital Partners and Harvard Business School. “We’re excited to collaborate with the New England Venture Capital Association, Hack.Diversity, Carbonite, DataXu and others to achieve these shared goals.” “At UMass Boston, we are intensely focused on expanding the opportunities for minorities in STEM careers, and on producing smart, prepared graduates to fill those roles” says UMass Boston Chancellor Keith Motley. A pipeline of additional employers and talent sources exists, and is expected to grow in the coming months. Inaugural participating companies include Carbonite, DataXu, HubSpot and Vertex Pharmaceuticals, while intern candidates in the first cohort come primarily from UMass Boston, Bunker Hill Community College, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute. But unlike TechGen, which grew out of schools like MIT and Harvard, Hack.Diversity aims to bridge the gap between the local innovation economy and typically-overlooked urban colleges, universities, and two-year institutions. Like TechGen, another NEVCA-led student engagement program, Hack.Diversity attacks talent inefficiency at its source, in higher education. “As Boston celebrates continued growth within the high technology industry, Hack.Diversity is a welcome resource to ensure more of our residents have access to the industry’s career opportunities.” “I applaud our entrepreneurial industry and academic leaders for launching Hack.Diversity, connecting our promising, diverse talent to the city’s growing innovation economy” says Boston Mayor Martin J. The New England Venture Capital Association (NEVCA) today announced the launch of Hack.Diversity, a public-private partnership designed to tackle the underrepresentation of Black and Latino employees in Boston’s innovation economy. Boston Innovation Leaders Align to Launch Diversity Initiative
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