Gender Equality in Tech (GET) Cities is launching its third hub in Miami, where it will collaborate with local stakeholders to bring more women and other underrepresented groups into technology careers and leadership roles.
The initiative is led by the SecondMuse Foundation and Break Through Tech in partnership with Pivotal Ventures, an investment and incubation company created by Melinda French Gates.
GET Cities aims to create pathways that will connect more women, trans, nonbinary people, indigenous groups and people of color into South Florida's fast-growing technology ecosystem, national director Leslie Lynn Smith said.
"As the city of Miami navigates this exciting renaissance and becomes the up-and-coming place for relocation and sourcing talent, GET Miami is committed to working to accelerate the representation and leadership of women and other marginalized people in tech, with the mission of supporting the growth of an inclusive tech economy," she said.
Break Through Tech, a national initiative that began at Cornell University, will partner with Florida International University to connect computer science students with mentorship and internship opportunities at local technology companies that could lead to jobs. Smith said GET is also forging connections with Miami tech organizations to create nontraditional pathways for job seekers who want to pivot to careers in technology.
Some of that work will be as simple as educating people about available resources – such as coding bootcamps and groups that support female tech founders – that already exist.
"I always say the resources we provide for marginalized people are often hidden in plain sight," Smith said. "How can we clearly market and communicate these resources with the very people we intend to serve?"
GET Cities, which launched in 2020, already has programs in Chicago and Washington, D.C. Smith said adding Miami as the organization's third city will help the group develop a collective body of insight and best practices that can be applied to other large metro areas. GET Cities plans to announce its Miami program director and host a launch event in early 2022.
South Florida had more technology degree graduates from nonwhite backgrounds than any other U.S. metro in 2020, when nearly 50% of tech graduates were Hispanic. But it still lags when it comes to gender, according to CBRE.
Only 20.3% of South Florida's 2020 tech degree graduates were women, making it the fourth-least-diverse market in the U.S. when analyzed by that metric. Those numbers don't get much better when you look at the region's workforce: CBRE reports that less than a quarter of the Miami area's tech labor force are women, making it the nation's second-least-diverse tech workforce by gender.
And while the region's tech ecosystem may be booming, at least one analysis found that opportunities remain difficult to access for job seekers and entrepreneurs who don't have the right connections.
"It's a fallacy to say there aren't enough women in tech or enough women-founded tech firms. They're out there, but they're not always able to connect with employers or investors," Smith said. "Our role is to close that gap."
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