Hello Prof. Wills,

I’ve also copied a couple of your colleagues whom have been in touch with me about other outreach efforts in CS.  A WPI trustee connected Michelle Jones-Johnson to a friend in his network who started Hack diversity in Boston, a mentoring internship program that targets Black and Latino students in CS, Comp. Eng. and IT, to increase the pipeline.  We have agreed to partner with them and I am working with the CDC to promote the summer internship. There is no “heavy lifting” on our end, other than to try to get students connected to the opportunity.   Please see the outreach blurb below that has been posted in the CDC messaging materials and disseminated across my connected student networks. Please also send this to students who fit the targeted demographics whom you know personally would be a good fit, thank you in advance!  At the bottom of this email, I’ve provided more details about how Hack Diversity works, for your review.

Best to you!

-Bonnie

Subject line: Hack Diversity Summer Internship Program – December 1, 2016 Application Deadline

Dear Students,

Hack Diversity is bridging to the fastest growing computer tech industries in the area: https://hackdiversity.com/. Hack Diversity understands the deficit of Blacks and Latinos in high tech and they want to increase the pipeline and persistence in these fields, in industry.  This is where their internship comes in, to serve current seniors about to graduate in May or December 2017 and recent graduates from Black and Latino backgrounds.  Internships are in CS, IT, Computer Engineering, they are paid and they may bridge to the opportunity for hire, after completion. The upcoming deadline is fast approaching: December 1, 2016 for interested and eligible candidates (3.0 average GPA).

We invite you to visit the CDC (Career Development Center) during Drop-In Hours, today, Monday, 11/28 – Thursday, 12/1, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM –to meet with one of the Advisors, review resume, and complete the on-line application for the Hack Diversity Internship Program.

Best,

Bonnie

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Hack Diversity Initiative out of Boston –is a public-private partnership with New England Venture Capital Association. Partner institutions…  Here is what it is in a nutshell: Hack Diversity is bridging to the fastest growing computer tech industries in the area (and will eventually build out to engineering). Why? Because they understand the deficit of Blacks and Latinos in high tech and they want to increase the pipeline and persistence in these fields, in industry.  This is where their mentor pilot and internship comes in, to serve current seniors about to graduate in May or December 2016 and recent graduates from Black and Latino backgrounds.  Internships are in CS, IT, Computer Engineering, they are paid and they bridge to an opportunity for hire to the host company, after completion. 

The upcoming deadline fast approaching is December 1, 2016 for interested and eligible candidates (demographic and 3.0 average GPA).  There will be 20 interns in the pilot cohort, and their mentors will also be of color, which we know is ideal for persistence in industry!  It's a paid train to hire program and menthes/interns will get career coaching, learn best industry practices, the landscape, interview skills, etc. All said, we need to solicit this opportunity to the targeted student cohort (I imagine extremely small at WPI) very quickly so that they can submit by December 1.

Bonnie

Bonnie J. Walker

Director of Multicultural Affairs

Worcester Area ALANA Support Network Chair

NE LSAMP Alliance Advisor

Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Phone: 508-831-5796

Fax: 508-831-5818

Email: bjhall@wpi.edu

http://www.wpi.edu/offices/multiculturalaffairs.html

http://www.facebook.com/WPI.OMA

https://orgsync.com/61391/chapter