City of Philadelphia Awards $750,000 to Organizations Working to Make the Tech Sector More Equitable
Summary
We believe that we have the talent here, she said.The City of Philadelphia seeks to become the most diverse tech hub in the country; this initiative aims to build the infrastructure to achieve that goal. In 2020, Philadelphia was ranked the third-best city for diversity in STEM by SmartAsset, with about 15 percent of the STEM workforce being Black and nine percent Latino.The following organizations were selected to receive funding:The Enterprise Center, a non-profit supporting the growth of diverse small businesses, and Mom Your Business, which connects female founders to resources and opportunities, were awarded $125,000 each to host a pitch competition for Black and brown tech founders this year. The Enterprise Center will be matching the prize funding awarded.Venture for America, which connects college graduates to startup experiences, was awarded $100,000 to build a tech pipeline with HBCUs. The goal is to recruit from local HBCUs, Cheyney and Lincoln University, and Philadelphians who attend out-of-state HBCUs.When they graduate, not only do they have a space here in Philadelphia, they are wanted back home and they also have a viable economic opportunity here, Carter said.Coded by Kids, which teaches children from underrepresented groups tech and entrepreneurship skills, was awarded $100,000 to continue its work with the 1Philadelphia initiative to create an equitable tech and innovation ecosystem for underrepresented and underserved Philadelphians. The grant will be used to provide free training and job placement services in IT, cloud computing, cybersecurity and software engineering roles.The initiative plans to host monthly meetings to focus on collaborative efforts among the cohort organizations.