Since the release of Reboot’s 2018 industry report, our small but mighty team has been sprinting a marathon to meet our goal of doubling the number of Black, Latina, and Native American (BLNA) women graduating with computing degrees by 2025. In the last five years, our team has been focused on growing a culture of inclusion:by partnering with a coalition of leaders and changemakers in tech and supporting organizations that help BLNA technologists break into and thrive in tech. So far, Reboot partners have contributed to a 6000% increase from the $335K invested in BLNA women in 2017–and we’re not done yet!
We’ve come a long way, but our 2025 goal is just two years away. Two years.
Many hurdles holding BLNA women back from entering and staying in tech workforces need to be addressed. Despite more BLNA women graduating with computing bachelor’s degrees, the number of BLNA women entering into – and staying at – tech companies has remained small.
We’re growing our team to ramp up support for BLNA women early in their careers! That means three things:
- We’re bringing in a Chief Impact Officer who will help us strengthen and accelerate our impact in building more inclusive, equitable, and diverse corporate cultures.
- We’re bringing on a Program Coordinator who will drive the coalition’s operations.
- We’re bringing on a Talent Engagement Coordinator who will work with our grantee partners and coalition talent teams to identify concrete ways to help BLNA women thrive early in their careers.
Luckily for us, these three have hit the ground running and are bringing their experience and expertise to push, inspire, and partner with changemakers in tech for a more vibrant industry.
Join us in welcoming three new members of the Reboot team!
Linda Calvin, Chief Impact Officer
Linda Calvin is a 20-year veteran of the private IT sector with strengths in communication, law, digital development, and global tech leadership, with experience designing diverse tech pipelines and curricula to reflect and respond to cutting-edge trends in tech. Linda is diving right in to help Reboot accelerate, track, and measure our industry impact while devising strategies to achieve our mission, including collaborating with our coalition partners to help create cultures that attract and retain BLNA women in tech.
Omokanyisola (Omo) Odusanya, Program Coordinator
Omokanyisola Odusanya is joining the Reboot team following her work as a Program Administrative Coordinator at the University of Pennsylvania. Omo’s passion for diversity, equity, & inclusion stems from her love of community building. As Program Coordinator, Omo will help to drive all aspects of Reboot’s operations, including managing internal communications, grantmaking, and working closely with the Reboot Representation Tech Coalition on grant reporting and investment opportunities.
Michelle Del Angel, Talent Engagement Coordinator
Michelle Del Angel is joining the Reboot team following her time at DiversityWealth, where she was a Session Coordinator for trainings based on Brene Brown’s research. Michelle will build and nurture relationships between Reboot Representation and BLNA women through career exploration and professional development programming.
That’s not all! Jannie Fernandez is stepping into a new role in 2023 with her promotion from Program Manager to Director of Talent Engagement.
As Director, Jannie is developing strategies to inform Reboot’s operations, coordinating strategic engagement with our stakeholders and partners, and conducting direct outreach to students and talent acquisition teams to double the number of BLNA women in tech.
When we empower BLNA talent today, we can create a more diverse, vibrant, and inclusive industry and more representative and intentional technologies for years to come.
We’re excited to bring fresh perspectives to the team as we continue this important work. Please join us in welcoming Linda, Omo, and Michelle to the team, and stay tuned to our Medium and Linkedin for updates.