We Build Black's FAST TRACK

In 2020, Mayor DiBlasio announced that almost half of New Yorkers are considered "poor or near poor" and over 700,000 New Yorkers are unemployed. However, there are over 900,000 unclaimed high-earning tech jobs available that remain open in the US. The Bureau of Labor & Statistics projected the demand for engineers will increase by 21.5% over the next 10 years. We Build Black's FAST TRACK is a workforce program that can support the needs of under-served New Yorkers looking for a better way out.

Our program is year-long journey where New Yorkers get a free laptop, acquire tech skills using an online Google-certified course, earn income while learning, receive a Microsoft mentor, and a Shopify internship opportunity.

FAST TRACK is also a remote program so in the future we have the capabilities and tools to expand globally to other emerging markets in the technology industry.

Almost half of New Yorkers are considered "poor or near poor". Yet there are over 900,000 available tech jobs in the US. We Build Black's FAST TRACK can bridge the gap for the under-served and employed while also serve as a workforce program that can fulfill missing gaps in the tech industry.

Access to an effective computer science education is essential to breaking socioeconomic barriers in our nation. However, only 47% of US high schools teach foundational computer science. New York has not developed a state-wide plan for k-12 computer science standards. And Black, Latinx and Native American students are also less likely to attend a school where computer science is taught. The negligence to teach computer science in New York, has left thousands of African American, Latinx, and other under-served adults unable to take advantage of high-earning CS jobs.

The We Build Black's mission is to transform the lives of underserved New Yorkers with the power of computer science. Many of our executive board and general members have had to navigate the tech industry without mentorship and resources such as a laptop, or access to wifi. Many of our executive board members had to overcome poverty and sleeping with a hungry belly at night. With your support, We Build Black Inc., can help New Yorkers avoid the pitfalls of poverty and provide workforce education, so they can be empowered to take advantage of the thousands of computing jobs paying an average $105,768/yr. 

We Build Black's FAST TRACK is a workforce development program that will educate under-served New Yorkers with employable skills in computer science. This will allow them to rise above systematic obstacles of poverty, employment, education, and housing.

FAST TRACK program participants will be educated on computer science skills such as UX Design, Data Analyzation, and Android Development using Google's online tech certificate course. Google has partnered with us by sponsoring scholarships to these courses. Microsoft has also partnered with us to provide mentors all throughout the learning stage of the program. On top of all that, this is an earn-to-learn program so all participants will receive a $1,000 stipend per course milestone and a free laptop to start. Lastly, Shopify Inc. has partnered with us by providing paid internship opportunities to our graduates. We Build Black will support our new coders by distributing stipends, holding workshops, connecting them with professionals in their field, and mentorship opportunities. 

Our population will consist of 10 students who are 50% Black women and 50% individuals under the poverty line. They also have to live within NYC.

Currently Black women only make up 3% of the overall tech workforce. Women in general are sometimes are sometimes faced with a bias in tech from their male counterparts. This becomes a 2-prong problem when you're a Black woman now dealing with the possibility of racial bias. People under the poverty line have a hard time getting into tech for the lack of funds to buy a laptop or have a working phone that recruiters can contact them on.

These are women and those in financial struggle. That being said, we give them a monetary incentive with the $1,000 stipend for every course milestone they achieve. This way they don't have to face the hard decision between education and paying their bills. Also, these people probably don't have the funds to buy a computer so we give them a free Macbook laptop. If they don't have a cellphone either, they have the option to get a Linux laptop and a prepaid phone instead. Our founders have had to deal with the struggle of not having a phone while trying to get a job. Having this experience we want to provide these resources in an effort to shield our students from these harsh realities.

We are reducing inequalities for Black women in tech and people under the poverty line by using Google-certified tech skill assessments & training. In addition to that we engage with employers to provide them a pipeline of extremely qualified intern-to-hire candidates who have been trained and mentored by top tech companies.

We currently already have a community of over 3000+ technologists in NYC so our first action is to market this program through them. They can let all their family and friends interested in breaking into the industry. After that we plan to work with politicians interested in tech to market this opportunity to their respective districts. Even further, we will create ads on social media to inform the general masses. The market value comes from the large number of New Yorkers out of work in such an expensive housing market when there are so many open tech jobs available.

We selected prototype because we know that the program is feasible from other tech mentorship/internship programs we've been a part of in the past. Two of our founders are graduates of such a program and are now full-time engineers. Also, the fact that we've been able to garner partnerships from so many big name companies lends credence to the fact that there is a need for this kind of program. The partnerships are lined up, now we just need the funding to get to Pilot stage after doing the first run.

All of the organization founders are Black technologists that have dealt with the loneliness and possible discrimination that comes with being in our position. Instead of complaining about it, we took matters into our own hands and created a safe space for us that grew to over 1000 members in a few months. In 5 years we piloted programs with after school Beacon programs and the Bronx court system. We've garnered sponsorship from top tech companies like Facebook, Microsoft, Google, Etsy, and J.P. Morgan Chase.

Our community loves us because we are them and we've never ran away from that. The biggest mistake an organization can make is assuming what their organization needs rather than asking them. Luckily for us, we know what ur community wants because we spent every weekend with them. We put out surveys. We answered questions at odd hours of the night in Slack. We did all fo this because we knew what it was like to be in the community's shoes.

The FAST TRACK program is the full service solution that the Black community transitioning into tech needs. Nowhere can you find the benefits this program has in one place. Learning stipends and a free laptop. Google-certified training. Microsoft mentors. Shopify internships. Career assistance. A community to fall in love with. What more can someone need to reach their fullest potential? Not only does this serve the students but it also creates a larger pool of diverse direct-hire candidates tech companies can pull from.

We live in the age of information where practically anyone can learn. There are thousands of online computer science courses and tutorials that can teach practical skills in computer science. However, not everyone has the resources like laptops or internet access or support to reach their maximum potential. There are many Computer Science pathways available in New York City but very few provide the ample resources or mentorship that will equip those in need with the tools to overcome socioeconomic adversities in underserved communities. 

Nowhere but here can you find a program that has all of this in one place. Education certified by Google. Microsoft mentors that help you along your journey. Stipends to keep you afloat financially. Free laptops and phones. Shopify internships and even if Shopify doesn't hire you we have a partnership with CareerCircle who's job it is to connect top tech companies with diverse talent. Even further, they can go for a Google interview because Google equates anyone with a Google certificate to a college graduate in their interview process! 

Our business model relies on technology as it is the very thing we are teaching our students.The three technologies they can choose to learn are Android Development, UX/UI Design, and Data Analytics. Without the Google certificate courses that teach these skills our business model could not exist.

Android Development is a highly sought out skill that can be used in a broad number of places. Anything from game development agencies to high end tech companies there is always a need for an app developer.

UX/UI Design is the practice of figuring out the best visual experience and interface for your users. These are highly paid designers that work at tech companies to measure the impact of their visual and functional feature choices.

Data Analysts are needed at every company to quantitatively measure everything from the sales of the products they put out and the impact of marketing campaign.

In case of another health pandemic like COVID-19 our FAST TRACK program system is set up to be run 100% online in the case of emergencies. 

We Build Black Inc. is looking to serve 10 students in our FAST TRACK program. In one year from now, our goal is to have served 50-100 people. In 5 years, we aim to have served 500 people in total.

Our impact goal for 2021 is to successfully beta-launch our FAST TRACK workforce development program that will empower 50% African American women and 50% under-served people under the poverty line. After our FAST TRACK graduates are equipped with Google Certified skills in computer science, they will have also build a portfolio, resume, received mentorship and paid work experience as an entry level computer scientist.

After successfully graduating our first class of students we will expand the program to other under-served populations across the US, and then globally. Mentorship, free laptops, cell phones, internships, a living wage, and CS education are all opportunities that people in the developing world appreciate. Many brilliant minds in these communities are just trying to survive the conditions they were born in, and have an even slimmer access to a computer science education than African American and Latinx American counter-parts.FAST TRACK can empower women and impoverished people living in developing countries. 

Our quantitative goals for the next few years goes as such:

• 2022: Serve 10 students (NYC)
• 2023: Serve 50 students (U.S.)
• 2024: Serve 100 students (Global)
• 2025: Serve 300 students
• 2026: Serve 1000 students

The cultivation of Key Performance Indicators (KPI) is a prime objective of the FAST TRACK program strategy to ensure program goals are accomplished. 

The FAST TRACK program is a virtual, scalable, results-driven system. The objective of meeting the fundamental goals of the program are: maintaining excellent completion rates, mentorship satisfaction, finishing portfolio projects, and employment. 

To achieve these goals, the FAST TRACK program strategy has 6 main targets:  

• 80% of students complete all portfolio projects.
• 80% of students complete online course in 3-6 months
• 80% of students pass Shopify interview process.
• 80% of students receive a job through the internship, CareerCircle, or other methods within 3 months of program ending
• 80% of students satisfied with mentorship
• 70% of students still keep up with mentor 3 months after program ending

We Build Black has 4 members working P/T on FAST TRACK solution. Devin Jackson Co-founder and CEO is a Technical Product Manager. Co-founder and Partnership Coordinator, Kris Lee, is a cybersecurity engineer. Our Co-founder Chloe Rice is UX Designer. Shantel Schloss is a program manager and the coding instructor.

All of the organization founders are Black technologists that have dealt with the loneliness and possible discrimination that comes with being in our position. Instead of complaining about it, we took matters into our own hands and created a safe space for us that grew to over 1000 members in a few months. In 5 years we piloted programs with after school Beacon programs and the Bronx court system. We've garnered sponsorship from top tech companies like Facebook, Microsoft, Google, Etsy, and J.P. Morgan Chase.

Our community loves us because we are them and we've never ran away from that. The biggest mistake an organization can make is assuming what their organization needs rather than asking them. Luckily for us, we know what ur community wants because we spent every weekend with them. We put out surveys. We answered questions at odd hours of the night in Slack. We did all fo this because we knew what it was like to be in the community's shoes.

The FAST TRACK program is the full service solution that the Black community transitioning into tech needs. Nowhere can you find the benefits this program has in one place. Learning stipends and a free laptop. Google-certified training. Microsoft mentors. Shopify internships. Career assistance. A community to fall in love with. What more can someone need to reach their fullest potential? Not only does this serve the students but it also creates a larger pool of diverse direct-hire candidates tech companies can pull from.

Our mission is to empower the Black community to achieve socio-economic change through technical education and professional development. We Build Black creates opportunities for diverse technologists to network, share skills, give and receive mentorship, and discover their next employer. By nurturing the existing community of under-served technologists and creating pathways into the workforce, we're building a more equitable tech industry for ourselves and the next generation.

We Build Black is an equal employment opportunity organization. We do not tolerate any persons being discriminated against on the basis of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, disability, age, genetic information, veteran status, ancestry, or national or ethnic origin. We encourage diversity at our organization.

We Build Black Inc. would like to submit our proposal to MIT/SOLVE's 2021 Digital Workforce Challenge for $100,000 in funding for our FAST TRACK Workforce Development Program. 

Our organization has been extremely effective and garnering an engaged community and company partners. One thing we have struggled with is getting substantial funding to actually run a long-lasting effective program. This has caused the founders to put in over-time work and long hours because of the love that we have for our people. We know what it was like to be in the beginning with no support. The FAST TRACK program is our answer to a the industry's diversity problem that has went unanswered for far too long. It addresses the financial burdens and recruiting efficacy of companies. It also directly addresses the real life problems of students in need.

We are currently building our board to find high level executives that work at tech companies who would be open to implementing our solution. 

We'd also like help in refining our approach to pitching to companies for overall investment (not just program investment).

Expanding our client base only adds to financial stability of our company. Especially since this program is so new we would love to have as much in this department as possible.

We are looking to work with high level tech companies that have string internship programs. Here are a few examples:

Twitch.io

Stripe

AirBnB

Netflix

Apple

Amazon

Facebook

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