Immigrant Women in Tech (I-WIT)

Women aren’t entering technology jobs at the same rate as men. Making up 47% of all employed adults in the U.S., female workers hold only 25% of computing roles, with Asian, black and Hispanic women severely underrepresented. Immigrant women face further challenges such as unconscious bias, cultural differences, unfamiliarity with available resources, and lack of an established professional network. 

Our twofold solution approach is focused on both empowering immigrant women and educating IT companies. From one side, skill-building and mentorship is provided to women willing to start a tech career. From another side, Cultural Competence and Unconscious Bias Training are delivered to IT employers who wish to diversify their teams and better support immigrant women in their companies. Building the bridge between immigrant women and tech companies has the potential to help thousands of women nationally. 

The problem we have identified is the deeply-rooted gender-based prejudice that prevents immigrant women from entering the tech field.

Entry level IT employment is projected to raise 10% by 2028, but women continue to disproportionately miss out on this industry’s boom: Just 25% of the sector’s employees are women, of whom Asian women make up 5%, whereas Black and Hispanic women account for 3% and 1%, respectively.

Consider that 88% of all information technology patents (1980–2010) are invented by male-only teams. As for immigrant women, they experience not only gender-based discrimination but also implicit bias which results in further inequity and disparity.  

Today, there are more than 23 million female immigrants in the U.S. Over two thirds of the foreign-born women over 25 don’t have a higher education and earn less than any other demographic in the labor force. Many immigrants are not eligible for college loans to further their education, and some foreign diplomas are not recognized at all in the USA. 

The tech industry offers career opportunities with high income levels and relatively high social status, without a college degree prerequisite. However, many immigrant women are not even considered for entry position roles due to existing prejudices. 

Our solution’s goal is to increase career opportunities for immigrant women in the technology sector and help foreign-born female jobseekers find employment in the field. This is done by providing high-quality skill-building opportunities for immigrant women and tailored trainings for partnering IT companies. This two-pronged approach addresses the needs of both jobseekers and employers:  

1) Jobseekers receive: a customized pre-apprenticeship program where participants gain hard (technical) and soft (business etiquette) skills. These trainings could be full- or part-time and participants may receive a modest stipend while attending. Each curriculum will be customized to upgrade participants' existing skills. The skills gained are considered prerequisites to access IT apprenticeship programs and career paths such as IT and Computer Network Support Professionals. After completion of the program, graduates will be supported in finding an internship, registered tech apprenticeship training program or entry level employment in the tech field.  

2) Employers receive: a facilitated Cultural Competence and Unconscious Bias Technical Assistance trainings, tailored toward specific company needs and business objectives. The trainings will help employers identify and incorporate strategies to better support immigrant women in their companies. This in turn will increase opportunities for women to gain access to positions and advancement opportunities.

Our solution helps immigrant women find a career that offers high income levels and portability of skills. Our target beneficiaries are immigrant women aged 18-35 who are un- or underemployed and wish to enter the tech industry. 

Our team consists of former refugees and immigrants who have been working with immigrant populations for over 20 years. We understand the unique struggles of this demographic group which include: language difficulties, lack of self-confidence, undeveloped professional network, transportation issues, limited resources and the digital divide. Immigrants traditionally make up a disproportionately larger share of groups with lower levels of digital skills, and this has become an even greater concern during the current public-health crisis.  

For participating immigrant single mothers, entering the tech industry provides an opportunity to work from home (or flexible hours) and earn higher income, which will result in better care for their children. 

For host communities, our solution reduces the burden on the social system and increases contributions to the economy, and specifically to tax revenues.  

For the IT sector employers, our solution provides a pipeline of new hires who are highly motivated and dependable. Studies have also shown that diverse teams are more innovative and perform better financially.

We reimagine immigrant women's pathways to employment by providing access to high-quality, affordable learning and skill-building for those entering the workforce, transitioning between jobs, or facing unemployment: 

High quality refers to customized curricula addressing participants’ professional development goals. It also refers to tailored trainings for IT companies. 

Affordable – immigrant women will receive the trainings at no cost and may receive a stipend for attending.

Skill-building – immigrant women will build the necessary skills to start their tech career. Employers will also learn new skills - how to empower immigrant women in their companies and reduce discrimination. 

US Together has offices in Columbus, Cleveland and Toledo. We have numerous public and private partners across the state. Our plans include a pilot project in Columbus, then expanding statewide.

Full-time:

Nadia Kasvin, US Together's Co-Founder and Director

Guadalupe Velasquez, Welcoming City Managing Director

Volunteer:

Dmitriy Kasvin, US Together's Co-Founder and Board Chair

US Together was founded by former refugees who have dedicated their lives to developing culturally competent programming for diverse, multilingual communities across Ohio. US Together provides over 30 programs that specifically target underserved, structurally vulnerable populations. These programs include individualized ESL for English-language learners, job readiness, financial literacy, fast-track employment, and women’s empowerment. In order to ensure services are delivered with cultural competency, US Together employs individuals from numerous ethnic communities: 80% of our staff are former refugees or immigrants themselves and we represent over 12 countries. 

US Together has been selected as a 2020 “Diversity in Business Awards” honoree in the Outstanding Diversity Organization category. The Diversity in Business Awards cover excellence in all areas of diversity, including age, disability, gender, sexual orientation, race and religion, as well as highlighting diverse organizations and individuals across a wide variety of industries.

Unique elements of our solution: 

• Extensive experience working with immigrant populations: Since 2003, US Together has developed and successfully completed numerous programs focused on fast-track employment and women empowerment. 

• Customized curriculum for the targeted immigrant women, focusing on the unique needs of each participant. Our pre-apprenticeship program upgrades exisiting skills and avoids being too general or vague. Curriculum elements will enhance skills like Customer Service, English Language, Problem Solving, Math, and others.  

• Tailored Cultural Competence and Unconscious Bias Technical Assistance trainings for IT companies – customized toward the concrete needs of each business and their strategic goals. The Unconscious Bias training will lean on existing tools such as the Women’s Fund of Central Ohio’s Gender By Us® curriculum. Facilitators will deploy multiple techniques that include counter-stereotyping and perspective-taking. Trainees will gain first-person perspective from women who have had negative experiences with gender in the workplace. Participants will also engage in different tasks that display the challenges faced by women at work. The Unconscious Bias training will provide practical messaging tools and strategies that address people's fears, anxieties, and prejudices head on.
  

While we have not developed it yet, our vision includes an online platform where immigrant women can register for trainings or find employment, and IT companies can search potential new hires. 

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Goal: Increase tech career opportunities for immigrant women via pre-apprenticeships and corporate advocacy trainings reducing gender-based prejudices. 

Objectives: 

1. Increase access to high-quality, affordable learning, skill-building, and training opportunities for immigrant women entering the workforce, transitioning between jobs, or facing unemployment. 

2. Build the bridge between immigrant women (job seekers) and IT companies (employers). 

Activities: 

1. Pre-Apprenticeship Program 

1.1. Output (1): Number of training series held per year

1.2. Output (2): Number of women in each cohort 

1.3. Outcome: Number of women who gain vital job skills and advance to formal IT Apprenticeship programs or other tech employment. 

2. Cultural Competence and Unconscious Bias Training for Employers

2.1. Output (1): Number of trainings per year 

2.2. Output (2): Number of training hours per year.

2.3. Outcome: Increased number of women hired and retained in the local IT sector. 

US Together will implement rigorous documentation standards in order to track pre- and post-program participant status, engagement in the program, and completion. US Together will also gather and share success stories and lessons learned.

Our goal in creating this program is to open the door to the tech industry to immigrant women. As we provide pathways for a select number of women a year to enter this field, we hope to gradually break down these barriers. While an increasing number of immigrant women will be entering this job market through our program, it will become easier for others to build professional networks as well as face less unconscious biases. This will increase the number of immigrant women in a workforce with competitive pay, improving their quality of life. Employment allows individuals to gain self-confidence and learn a variety of skills.

US Together has offices in Columbus, Cleveland, and Toledo, Ohio. This plan will first be implemented in Columbus and then to expand the program to our other two offices. 

Our long-term plan includes creating a toolkit and a program guide, so other organizations can duplicate the solution in their own communities. The potential for such program is huge, with reach from hundreds to millions of women nationally. 

Financial: With the ongoing health crisis, our organization had to temporarily schift its focus to immediate COVID-19 relief and health education for its clients. The expected economic crisis may additionally affect our donor base, resulting in less donations and grant money. This may affect our ability to launch new programs.

Technical: As a nonprofit, our staff is busy with supporting immediate clients' needs and has very limited time to build or pilot new programs. Currently, we don't have the capacity to expand, despite the pressing need of more women's empowerment and tech training programs.

Market: As the coronavirus pandemic continues to provide numerous challenges, we foresee this extending into next year and beyond. This provides a barrier to in-person training session as well as implementation of our program. 

Financial: The current health emergency just confirmed our belief that tech jobs for women are needed more than ever. More and more immigrant women need flexible work hours, digital skills and opportunities to advance in a profitable career.

By participating in this Challenge, we hope to find partners who can help us polish our business plan and financial model, leading to a model that can self-fund inself in the future. 

Technical: If initial funding for our solution is secured, we'll be able to hire more technical consultants to help us with implementation logistics. 

Market: As the pandemic required our staff to work from home when possible, our organization has adapted to virtual performance. In creating the curricula for both parts of our solution model, progress will not be hindered in having to work remotely. 

We would like to collect more detailed data on immigrant women's professional background, skills, interests, and potential in different tech careers. We also want to track women's progress after the end of their training with us, at 6 months, 1 year and 3 year mark.

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Nadia and Dmitriy Kasvin came to the United States as refugees in 1991. In 2003, they co-founded US Together, a refugee resettlement agency and mutual assistance association in Ohio. 

During her career, Nadia has been involved in advocating on behalf of immigrant populations. She has an extensive experience in developing cross-cultural and cultural sensitivity programs. Nadia was honored as a 2015 White House Champion of Change for World Refugees. Nadia is also the Chair of the New American Advisory Council, established by Franklin County to identify challenges and barriers within the New American community and build a platform that promotes inclusivity.

Dmitriy is a Technical Project Manager and Senior Server Engineer with over 20 years’ experience. He possesses excellent technical leadership and significant expertise in network structure focused on redundant, high-level security models. Dmitriy has experience with network technology design, structuring, planning, technology investment evaluations, migrations and co-existence of both Microsoft, Unix/Linux and Novell network architectures. 

Guadalupe Velasquez is the Managing Director of Welcoming City, US Together's social enterprise that focuses on a holistic approach to economic and workforce development integration. She is a founding member of Vibrant Ohio, formerly known as the Ohio Welcoming Initiatives Network (OWIN). In her leadership role with Welcoming City and OWIN, Guadalupe collaborates with national and state partners to create credentialing opportunities that assist skilled immigrants and refugees in navigating career pathways. On behalf of OWIN, Guadalupe initiated the process of creating the Office of Opportunities for New Americans for the State of Ohio.

As space is limited to list all partners, we are unable to name all of them. US Together extensively collaborates with various social service agencies, faith-based organizations, libraries, and universities. Across our three offices, we have a database of over 5,000 constituents. Some examples of our current partners:

• Federal: the U.S. State Department, Department of Health and Human Services, Departments of Justice and Homeland Security, for services related to refugee resettlement; job readiness training and employment; medical service and social integration. 
• State: Ohio Education Department and Jobs and Family Services, Franklin County and Cuyahoga County - for various social services, including employment programs for refugees; New American Advisory Council (NAAC) – Nadia Kasvin chairs the NAAC, which includes nearly 30 members representing different nonprofit and agencies and from the Franklin County. NAAC initiatives are focused on making Ohio more inclusive environment for New Americans.
• Private: 
  • Women's Fund of Central Ohio - an organization committed to igniting social change for the sake of gender equality. They have funded several of our women's empowerment programs. In addition, Guadalupe Velasquez, a member of our leadership team, is the first Latina woman to have served on the Board of Directors for The Women’s Fund of Central Ohio. 
  • Columbus Council on World Affairs
• Universities: Ohio State University, Ohio University, Baldwin Wallace University

Customer Segments and Value Proposition:

• Immigrant women, aged 18-35, who are un- or underemployed and wish to enter the tech industry - they will access high-quality training at no cost, and will be mentored throughout the way to their first tech employment.
• IT sector employers - for them, our solution provides a pipeline of new hires who are highly motivated and dependable. They will be able to diversify their teams and gain new perspectives on their operations.

Key activities include pre-apprenticeship trainings for immigrant women and Cultural Competence and Unconscious Bias Trainings for IT employers. While immigrant women will attend the program at no cost, companies will be expected to pay a fee for the corporate trainings or a fee per new hire.

Our key resources include experience working with immigrant populations and access to an expanding tech market. The current pandemic has further validated the need for more tech professionals and remote services.

Key partnerships will include IT and tech companies, County- and State- level IT apprenticeship programs and libraries/universities (where trainings may take place post-COVID). Other partnership opportunities will be developed as the program grows.

A comprehensive development plan will be executed to generate needed funds from private foundations, corporations, public entities, and individuals. US Together will also solidify additional partners to expand the program’s reach, including, linkages with Apprenticeship providers Per Scholas and Goodwill Industries. 

Considered ways of generating income: 

• Grants from various federal, state and private entities 

• Fundraising and leveraging support from community members  

• Fees from participating IT companies (employers)  

• Income sharing agreement – immigrant women who secure employment and meet a salary floor as a result of the program will pay a fixed percentage of their income to US Together, for a set amount of time

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We are looking for funding to initiate our pilot program cycle, so we can start generating income for future cycles.

Our expenses will be dependent on the number of immigrant women and businesses served. As the curricula are highly customized, payroll expenses will be included for management and technical staff collecting and analyzing the data. We estimate close to $100,000 needed during the first year of the program cycle, with anticipated 2 to 3 cohorts of pre-apprenticeship graduates (up to 20 immigrant women per cohort).

After the first class of pre-apprenticeship graduates, we will start building an online platform which will have a separate team and expenses. 

We believe our solution aligns well with the Challenge's goal to reimagine current pathways to employment. Our efforts are focused on reducing gender-based and implicit bias discrimination against immigrant women- a demographic which is not only underrepresented in the tech field but is also severely underpaid. By educating IT employers about the value of diversity, and how they can reduce existing prejudices, our model will have a huge impact on the future of tech careers for immigrant women.

We are applying for this Challenge with the hope to attract more support for our model, both financially and technically. We have extensive experience working with underserved populations but we need mentorship and guidance in building a competitive and financially solid business model. 

We would also like to raise our voices for immigrant women, who are one of the most discriminated  against demographics in the American labor force. Despite conversations about diversity and inclusion, U.S. tech companies are still not doing enough to become more accommodating and open-minded. We want to remind them what data has shown: the more diverse a company, the more innovative it is and the better its financial performance. 

US Together has extensive experience partnering with federal, state, and private organizations as we believe that "together we can make the world better". For this concrete project, we would like to partner with more tech companies who consider hiring and retaining immigrant women. We'd like to hear more from IT businesses and recruiters to better understand their needs and goals.

We have also envisioned a potential partnership with the U.S. Department of Labor and/or the State Department of Job and Family Services as they may provide further advancement opportunities for our program graduates.

Additionally, as public exposure would be essential for both recruitment of female participants and connecting with IT companies, we'd like to partner more with media outlets who are willing to share inspiring stories and motivate immigrant women and girls to consider a tech career. 

Also, we would benefit from a partnership with business professionals who can help us make our model financially independent.