Today, Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, along with Per Scholas and Coalition for Queens (C4Q), announced a pilot program that will provide NYHCA residents with training in IT infrastructure, cybersecurity, and software development. As part of this new Council initiative to help increase diversity in New York City’s fast-growing technology sector, 11 founding employer partners have pledged to consider the training of candidates who have completed the program in lieu of a college degree. The announcement was made at the Brooklyn headquarters of Kickstarter, one of the employer partners, and included remarks from alumni of the partnering nonprofits.
The program, Tech 51, is the result of the Speaker’s Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity Task Force convened by the Speaker one year ago to help address demographic discrepancies among New York City’s technology workforce. According to the Center for an Urban Future, 62% of the sector’s employees are white, 16% Asian, 11% Hispanic, and 9% African American. Tech 51 will recruit and support diverse technologists through two successful IT training workforce organizations, Per Scholas and Coalition for Queens, by focusing on public housing residents. In collaboration with NYHCA’s Office of Resident Economic Empowerment and Sustainability (REES), this program will help deepen the recruitment efforts and workforce development opportunities for residents of NYHCA, and will support individuals and their families who are interested in tech careers, but have previously been able to access critical training and placement support.
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