Technology users represent different backgrounds and experiences. So should the talent behind the innovation they seek. These opportunities cultivate the next wave of talent in high tech. Browse by resources for:
- K-12 Students, Parents, & Educators
- Aspiring Tech Professionals
- Job Seekers
- Entrepreneurs
- Soft Skills Support
K-12 STUDENTS, PARENTS, & EDUCATORS
AI4ALL Education Programs offer supportive and rigorous summer education programs on artificial intelligence and computer science for underrepresented high school students at Stanford, Berkeley, Princeton, Simon Fraser, Carnegie Mellon, and Boston University.
All Star Code’s Summer Intensive is a free six week program that promotes tech entrepreneurship among high school males of color by teaching coding skills and an entrepreneurial mindset through project-based learning and real-world experiences in New York and Pittsburgh.
ASM Materials Camp Student Camps are for high school students with strong abilities in math and science and utilizes hands-on learning principles of applied math, physics and chemistry led by a distinguished world-class faculty.
Black Girls Code Hackathons gives girls the opportunity to learn how to brainstorm as a team, research their ideas and design an app. Experienced mentors work with teams over a weekend to build amazing mobile apps and digital tools.
Careers with Code highlights a variety of careers that computer science can lead to, such as art, music, medicine, agriculture, sport, gaming, health, sustainability and more.
Code.org is dedicated to expanding access to computer science in schools and increasing participation by women and underrepresented minorities.
Computer Science First is a free curriculum offered by Google to help teachers, parents, and students create fun computer science projects.
Congressional App Challenge (CAC) is a public effort to encourage kids to learn how to code through annual district-wide competitions hosted by Members of Congress for their district. Students in participating districts code original applications for the chance to be selected for recognition by their Member of Congress, win prizes, and have their work put on display in the Capitol Building in Washington, DC.
Gameheads uses video games design, development and DevOps to engage, prepare and train low-income youth and youth of color ages 11 to 24 in the Bay Area by teaching youth to code, design, manage projects, work in teams, lead, and create interactive projects that tell stories.
Girls Who Code Summer Immersion Program is a 7-week intensive computer science course that embeds classrooms in technology companies and universities to teach girls robotics, mobile development, HTML, and more while gaining exposure to the tech industry.
Grow With Google For Teachers helps educators engage their classroom and help students get the skills they need to prepare for today’s jobs.
Hidden Genius Project offers Intensive Immersion Program, a 15-month holistic mentorship experience that provides computer science, software development, entrepreneurship, and leadership training to black male high school students.
Intel/Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) partnership aims to increase awareness in science and engineering education and careers, with the goal of graduating 600 students through the computer science and engineering pathway programs at two OUSD high schools: McClymonds and Oakland Technical.
Mission Bit strives to eliminate the tech divide for youth living in urban poverty and rural areas across the San Francisco Bay Area by building computer programming and professional opportunity pathways for public school students by teaching core computer science concepts as well as the practical skills and technologies that are required to build web sites and applications.
Science in the City is a week long summer camp designed to motivate and inspire minority 5th and 6th graders to pursue STEM related careers.
STEAM Role is a role model social network that helps young people find their dream career by following the roadmaps of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics) professionals.
Summer Math and Science Honors Academy (SMASH) is a free 5-week, 3-year summer, fully residential STEM enrichment program which provides access to STEM coursework and access to mentors, role models, and support networks for high school students underrepresented in STEM.
T3 Digital Agency prepares students ages 14-20 with autism spectrum, Aspergers AD(H)D, OCD, and other learning and social/emotional challenges, for internships, transition, postsecondary education, and the workforce, through work-based learning.
Team prepare students for opportunities available at the intersection of tech and sport through workshops, mentoring, and networking opportunities.
TECH360 Squad is a 10 week after-school program for 10th and 11th graders enrolled in New York City high schools that teaches the fundamentals of web design and development at companies in NYC.
Tech Kids Unlimited Youth Program (Youth) teaches students ages 7-13 with autism spectrum, Aspergers, AD(H)D, OCD, learning and social/emotional challenges to become producers of digital media through project-based tech workshops where they learn coding, game design, video editing, animation, 3D printing and more.
Tech Prep is Facebook’s online resource for parents/guardians and future programmers who want to learn more about computer science and programming, and is available in English and Spanish.
TSEP Camping Conference gives minority high school students the opportunity to learn about math, science, and engineering during a 3 day overnight camp at Camp Loma Mar.
Youth Impact Hub supports the leadership of low-income youth of color in creating an equitable, life-affirming economy by providing socially innovative training, collaborative co-working space and access to networks and resources.
ASPIRING TECH PROFESSIONALS
Tech Industry Talent Development Programs
Amazon Future Engineer (AFE) is a program built to create learning and career opportunities in computer science for college freshmen and sophomores from all backgrounds.
Airbnb Connect enables professionals with 2-5 years of experience from non-tech fields to spend six months learning the skills needed to transition to the tech industry, and an opportunity to join the Airbnb team.
Apple HBCU’s Scholar’s Program is operated by the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and is a 12-week summer internship with need-based funding, an Apple mentor, and an opportunity to develop key skills, enhance their resumes and help launch careers through the hands-on experience at Apple.
Facebook University is an immersive eight-week training program for students from underrepresented communities is an introduction to our people, culture, products and services. It offers experiences across engineering and business roles.
Howard West brings Howard University to Google, where students learn skills such as teamwork, problem-solving, communication strategies, decision-making, and creativity from top technology professionals while using their academic knowledge in real-life contexts.
HP HBCU Business Challenge invites HBCU students to craft a solution for an actual HP business problem for the chance to win premium technology prizes and help advance their career.
Intel HBCU Grant Program is a three-year, $4.5 million program to encourage students to remain in STEM pathways at six HBCUs, including: Florida A&M University, Morgan State University, Howard University, Prairie View A&M University, North Carolina A&T State University and Tuskegee University.
LinkedIn’s REACH is a 6 month apprenticeship program at LinkedIn where participants are placed on a functional engineering teams learn from managers, and develop applications at scale.
Microsoft’s LEAP Engineering Acceleration Program (LEAP) is an immersive, 16-week program providing real-world experience through development and project management apprenticeships.
Project Propel Empowered by SAP prepares HBCU graduates with the critical skill that are in demand among companies in the SAP ecosystem, enhancing their academic and career outcomes, and providing the SAP community with a diverse pool of graduates already skilled in its technology.
Additional Programs for Aspiring Tech Professionals
Code2040 Fellows Program is a 10-week career accelerator works with Black and Latinx college-level computer science students from around the country in an intensive summer in tech companies in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond.
Edie Windsor Coding Scholarship provide financial support to individuals who identify as LGBTQ or gender nonconforming to learn coding skills.
Floodgate Academy is dedicated to providing world class technical education to people from underrepresented backgrounds by providing equipment, connectivity, food, transportation, and a modest stipend.
Gameheads uses video games design, development and DevOps to engage, prepare and train low-income youth and youth of color ages 11 to 24 in the Bay Area by teaching youth to code, design, manage projects, work in teams, lead, and create interactive projects that tell stories.
Grow With Google For Developers helps you stay on top of the latest technology by sharpening your current skills and mastering new ones.
Hack the Hood offers intensive bootcamps as well as 10-week afternoon programs empowers low-income young people of color in the Bay Area and Northern California get the tech skills, confidence and community they need to succeed.
Hack Reactors empowers students to succeed in new careers in software engineering through its accelerated, best-in-class programs and strong, caring community.
Hatch is a 6-month apprenticeship program offered by Twilio for people with non-traditional technical backgrounds and from underrepresented groups in tech that aims to set apprentices up for successful careers in tech.
HBCU@SXSW offers a platform for college administrators and students from communities of color to attend official South By Southwest (SXSW) workshops, panels, and networking events to gain exposure to tech careers, startup entrepreneurship, and wealth creation.
HBCU.vc connects the next generation of black and brown tech innovators and investors with its Student Investor Fellowship that provides opportunity for students attending historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) to earn real world experience in tech and venture capital.
Level Up by Hack the Hood offers the opportunity for individuals to work on a team to create a social enterprise, develop a website using WordPress, and develop a digital marketing campaign.
Lime Connect attracts, prepares, and connects high potential university students and professionals who happen to have all types of disabilities for scholarships, internships, The Lime Connect Fellowship Program, and full time careers with our corporate partners.
Rising Leaders Mentoring Program is a six-month career mentoring opportunity to at least 100 college students and recent graduates with disabilities through linkages to business professionals from DisabilityIn (formerly USBLN) partner companies.
STEAM Role helps users explore dream careers by swiping through the profiles of STEAM professionals that match their interests, and enables companies to track their progress as they acquire skills and offer internships and jobs.
STEM Saturday offers free Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education and enrichment programs to underrepresented middle and high school students in the Bay Area, CA.
Summer Research – Early Identification Program (SR-EIP) is a fully paid summer internship that provides undergraduates with training and mentoring in the principles underlying the conduct of research—some with placements in tech companies.
Tech Prep: Digital Marketing by Hack the Hood provides training that enables participants to develop a digital marketing campaign and offers access to additional education and job opportunities.
Tech Prep:Coding by Hack the Hood teaches HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and more to prep participants for Berkeley Code Camp and certification at Berkeley City college and other programs.
UNCF HBCU Innovation Summit introduces students to the giants of the tech world, creates a pipeline of the next generation of young black innovators, and contributes to a culture that inspires students to disrupt industries and change their communities.
Year Up provides urban young adults with the skills, experience, and support that will empower them to reach their potential through professional careers and higher education.
JOB SEEKERS
Diversely is a career development platform helping diverse candidates get the soft skills, resources, and network to find a job at tech companies looking to hire diverse talent.
Here are Google, Amazon and Facebook’s Secrets to Hiring the Best People offers 10 little-known strategies that tech companies have used during the hiring process.
HireHer provides tools and resources for prospective candidates and employers to identify opportunities, advance careers and find mentors.
HBCU20X20 works to connect 20,000 HBCU students and graduates to jobs and internships by 2020.
How to get a job at Google, Apple, or Microsoft offers insight on landing a position at one of the tech industry’s elite companies.
interviewing.io offers free, anonymous technical interview practice with engineers from Google, Facebook, and more.
Jopwell is a career advancement platform for Black, Latinx, and Native American students and professionals that maintains a database of diverse candidates, lists job openings, and posts recruitment fairs.
Non-tech interview questions you’ll be asked at Google and Amazon lists analytical, hypothetical and personal questions to expect during interviews in tech.
Salary Calculator is offered through the American Association of University Women and provides salaries for computer engineering and other degrees for females and males by age range.
State of Salaries Report examines 2017 data on technology workers to answer the questions: How does my salary stack up against my coworkers’? Would my salary go further if I relocated? Which industries and companies are paying the most? What impact do race and age have on my pay?
Talent Acquisition Portal (TAP) is the largest talent acquisition pool of people with disabilities in the United States.
Tech Jobs Tour brings together diverse and non-traditional talent with companies who need their skills the most. The tour covers 50 cities and 100,000 jobs over a one year period.
TechWomenNetwork is a platform that lets you to identify tech-savvy women for employment, contracting, partnership, and more.
TransTech is an incubator for LGBTQ Talent with a focus on economically empowering the T, transgender people, in the LGBTQ community.
ENTREPRENEURS
Funding
#ANGELS is an investment collective with the mission of getting more women on the cap tables of successful startups.
500 Startups is a venture capital firm that backs the world’s most talented entrepreneurs with $150K in exchange for 6% equity.
BBG Ventures is an early-stage fund born out of AOL’s #BUILTBYGIRLS effort to encourage young women to pursue tech careers.
Backstage Capital has invested more than $2M in 50+ companies led by underrepresented founders.
BELLE Capital USA is an early-stage angel fund that targets companies with at least one female founder or C-level executive, or businesses that are willing to recruit women for the C-level team and Board of Directors.
Black Angel Tech Fund (BATF) is a hybrid angel/micro-VC investment fund dedicated to creating wealth opportunities by identifying and investing early in world-class Black-Led technology companies.
Black Girl Ventures offers women with access to capital for their business with crowdfunded pitch competitions, 1:1 funding assessments, consultations, and introductions to help entrepreneurs gain access to social and financial capital.
Cavendish Impact Foundation takes an inclusive approach to supporting visionary projects and individuals who may not otherwise receive the support and recognition they need to solve a global human problem and achieve disruptive impact.
Comcast Ventures has a $20 million Catalyst Fund that creates opportunities for minority entrepreneurs to build their business with Comcast’s support.
Golden Seeds is an early-stage investment firm that backs women-led companies across all sectors.
Harlem Capital Partners is a New York based minority-owned early-stage venture firm on a mission to change the face of entrepreneurship by investing in 1,000 diverse founders over the next 20 years.
How Startup Funding Works – Infographic offers a snapshot of how a startup goes from idea to IPO (initial public offering).
Intel Capital’s Diversity Initiative funds startups led by women, underrepresented minorities, LGBTQ individuals, entrepreneurs living with disabilities, and military veterans.
Kapor Capital invests in tech-driven seed stage companies committed to closing gaps of access, opportunity or outcome for low income communities and/or communities of color in the United States.
New Voices Fund seeks to empower women of color entrepreneurs to reach their full potential by over-serving the underserved with the creation of a highly efficient fund that helps high-potential entrepreneurs incubate early-stage ideas, scale existing businesses, and qualify for equity investment in developed businesses.
Pipeline Angels creates capital for women and non-binary femme social entrepreneurs by serving as the friends and family round for entrepreneurs who may not already have support at that critical stage.
WE Fund and the City of New York helps women entrepreneurs access the capital and mentoring needed to grow their business.
Women’s Venture Capital Fund backs businesses with women entrepreneurs and gender-diverse teams within the digital media and sustainable product & service sectors.
Women’s Venture Fund is a nonprofit organization that helps women to establish thriving businesses in urban communities with funding and business development programs.
Incubators and Accelerators
BIG is an incubator that offers a direct pathway into the innovation economy for women of color. (Atlanta, GA)
Dreamit is an accelerator and venture fund focusing on health and urban tech sectors. (New York, NY and Philadelphia, PA)
Hillman Accelerator is the Midwest’s first tech accelerator for women and people of color and delivers high quality programming, mentorship and education to participants.
In3 is an incubator is committed to creating a collaborative environment where under-resourced members have access to the space and services needed to build or grow a successful business. (Washington, DC)
MergeLane accelerates companies with at least one female in leadership, and invest between $10-25k for 6% equity. (Denver, CO)
Morgan Stanley Multicultural Innovation Lab is a 6 months accelerator designed to help build and scale startups, culminating in a showcase presenting each company to the investor community. (New York, NY)
New Me is the first accelerator for minority entrepreneurs and offers a 12 week online program and one week residential program. (Miami, FL)
Techstars provides Accelerator portfolio companies with access to financial, human and intellectual capital to fuel the success of their business. Techstars contributes $20,000, which is commonly used as a stipend to support living expenses during the program, and in return receives 6% common stock from each company.
Y Combinator provides seed funding for startups and then introduces them to later stage investors, and in some cases, acquirers. (Mountainview, CA)
Additional Guidance and Support
All Raise works to promote the success of female funders and founders.
Alice was created with female founders in mind and offers curated resources to help entrepreneurs build their business.
AngelList is allows startups to raise money from angel investors and allows investors to invite other accredited investors to share in the deals.
Ascend2020 Atlanta is a technology startup and small business support ecosystem for minority-led companies throughout Metropolitan Atlanta that was developed through a partnership between JPMorgan Chase & Co., Morehouse College Entrepreneurship Center, and TechSquare Labs.
Black & Brown Founders provides community, education and access to Black and Latinx entrepreneurs, allowing them to build successful tech businesses with modest resources.
Black Female Founders (#BFF) seeks to level the playing field by offering Black female entrepreneurs the information and resources they need to succeed such as networking, business mentoring and access to Venture Capitalists (VCs), Angel Investors and other forms of funding.
Black Founders aims to increase the number of successful black entrepreneurs in technology by developing global programs that equip entrepreneurs, inspire innovation, and share resources.
BlackupStart teaches aspiring Black entrepreneurs how to start a successful and profitable business through an intense, culturally-relevant six-day Bootcamp.
Black Women Talk Tech is a collective of Black Women Founders that support and encourage black women to build the next billion dollar business.
Change Catalyst Startup Showcase and Fellows Program supports underrepresented founders and teams through education, mentorship, networking and funding opportunities; and also provides deal flow opportunities for investors looking to invest in underrepresented entrepreneurs.
Digital Undivided (DID) leads high potential Black and Latinx women founders through the startup pipeline; from the beginning of the startup funnel (idea) into the innovation ecosystem, with work falling into the following categories: incubate, research, and community.
eSportsInstruction.com is a non-traditional accelerator that connects’ investors, with innovators and start-up companies via events and web series.
Female Founders Fund backs female-led companies in ecommerce, media, web-enabled products & services, marketplaces and platforms.
Founder Gym is an online training center for underrepresented founders who want to build successful tech startups.
Grow With Google For Startups helps build and scale breakthrough ideas with tips, tools, and community support.
In Her Shoes lets readers step into the shoes of some of the most driven, talented, inspiring and let’s not forget, flyest female entrepreneurs on the planet.
Opportunity Hub brings together authentic diverse, inclusive and equitable innovators, entrepreneurs & investors to disrupt poverty and close the wealth gap for all.
PowerMoves takes a comprehensive approach by supporting entrepreneurs of color from the concept stage all the way through the process of growing a profitable business prepared for an acquisition.
Rise of the Rest invests in catalytic capital in the most promising seed stage companies located outside of Silicon Valley, New York City and Boston.
Side Hustle Pro: The Podcast teaches listeners to build and grow their side-hustles through interviews with entrepreneurs.
Startup Funding is a podcast focused on educating entrepreneurs on funding by talking with founders who have successfully raised money, along with venture capitalists and angel investors who have funded amazing startups.
Stripe Atlas guides to running an internet business offers authoritative, actionable guidance on how to run the business side of your company–from pitching to finance to growth, these guides
Tech Women Network is a platform that allows tech-savvy women to showcase their skills, find resources, and connect to each other.
Women Techmakers is Google’s global program providing visibility, community, & resources for women in technology.
Women Techmakers Communities is a map that increases visibility and community for women in technology around the world, and allows users to search the map by technology/role focus and demographics.
SOFT SKILLS SUPPORT
6 Ways to Secure Paid Speaking Opportunities provides critical, yet practical steps to spreading your message while getting paid.
13 Soft Skills Every Tech Leader Should Have draws on the Forbes Technology Council to identify soft skills that tech leaders need to be successful.
Attending A Conference? Here’s How To Walk Away With A Solid Network gives you the insight you need to build your network before you attend a conference.
Eight Things To Consider When Matching A Young Tech Professional With A Mentor offers insight from eight members of Forbes Technology Council who share strategies to connect young employees with mentors in the technology space and make sure both sides get the most out of the relationship. (Forbes, 8/9/18)
I got your business card, now what? helps you make sense of all of those business cards you collect and maximize opportunities that come with these contacts.
Is Office Politics a White Man’s Game? Addresses the role of being politically savvy (e.g., able to negotiate, influence, engage, convince, and persuade others) in the workplace.
Soft Skills – The Missing Piece for Entrepreneurs to Grow a Business highlights the important role of interpersonal or soft skills in entrepreneurial success.
The “Problem” Woman of Colour in the Workplace maps how the workplace can change from warm and welcoming to cold and distant when women from minority backgrounds try to work within organizational structures and policies to address inclusion issues.
Why ‘Can I Sue My Employer?’ Is Often the Wrong Question identifies practical strategies for navigating unfair workplace practices.