A lot of companies are using #BlackLivesMatter hashtags and talking about diversity.
Austin-based Code2College, a nonprofit organization that aims to increase the number of minority and low-income high school students interested in STEM careers, wants CEOs to put their money where their mouth is, says co-founder and CEO Matt Stephenson.
Code2College recently launched Vision2024, an initiative to place 200 Black and Hispanic women into STEM roles by 2024.
"We’re just shy of raising a half million, and we’re closing out the raise by July 31."
“There are three ways we’re supporting this effort — time, talent and treasure,” Stephenson said.
Code2College is committed to giving students time through volunteers who provide ongoing mentoring and virtual instruction opportunities.
Since its founding in 2016, Code2College has provided after-school coding education, professional skills training and STEM career preparation. It’s served more than 1,000 students to date. Of those students, 76% have been Black or Hispanic, 53% female, 51% economically disadvantaged and 36% first-generation college students.
As for talent, “we’ve been placing high-school interns into software development, software engineering and IT for the last four summers,” Stephenson said.
Students have interned for local technology companies such as Indeed and RetailMeNot, and Stephenson said there’s a “90% plus return offer rate. These partners have a successful summer with our interns and ask to have them back. These students are doing awesome work. They’re contributing to their teams, and they want to retain them. We need more partners.”
Code2College has set out to raise $1.5 million to support Vision2024.
“We’re seeded by the Draper Richard Kaplan Foundation, which operates like a VC but is looking for social returns, not financial returns,” Stephenson explained. “We’re just shy of raising a half million, and we’re closing out the raise by July 31.”
Stephenson penned an open letter on Medium to CEOs “about how they need to get involved and put their money where their mouth is. Here’s a perfect opportunity to prove that wasn’t just talk,” he said. “The call to action I would say is if you are in charge of a budget, if you are a leader in your organization to step up and put the dollars where the hashtags have been.”
Code2College has successfully placed about 50 students into STEM internships “on a shoestring budget,” Stephenson said.
The organization is looking for companies to provide volunteers, internships and funding.
“Let’s pour some gas on this fire and really make a difference here,” he said.
