Per Scholas & ITSMF Refresh Diverse by Design with Dedicated Director

Leading Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Efforts Across Technology

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Mar 29, 2021, 16:00 ET

NEW YORK and ATLANTA, March 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, national skills training nonprofit Per Scholas and ITSMF, the premier leadership development organization for IT professionals, announced the refresh of Diverse by Design and the appointment of the initiative's first-ever director, Nia Darville. Based in Atlanta, Ms. Darville will lead organizational alliance building, corporate engagement, and event strategy.

In light of the increased spotlight on racial disparities in America in 2020, corporations, institutions, nonprofits, and others issued introspective statements and spoke publicly around the need to do more to address inequality at work, as well as making hiring and investment commitments that would help build back a more anti-racist world. Despite the incredible progress that has been made in the last year, many organizations are still lacking the hiring practices they need to build a more inclusive, equitable and diverse workforce and achieve goals and commitments issued over the past nine months. Diverse by Design's expanded mission helps address these disconnects by providing leaders with the training and resources they need to recruit, retain, and cultivate diverse, sophisticated talent.

With more than 25 years of experience working to facilitate the diversification of the tech industry through skills training programming, Per Scholas has a deep understanding of the challenges facing women, Black, and Latino workers in accessing technology careers, as well as the organizational struggles sourcing, retaining, and cultivating diverse talent. Diverse by Design – which was launched in 2016 through a collaboration with ITSMF as a conversation series where leaders in tech and workforce development could come together to discuss and share best practices to attract, retain, and develop skilled black and brown tech professionals – seeks to leverage this knowledge to provide the private sector with actionable solutions and insights for building more inclusive company cultures, through customized training for sourcing new talent and integrated programming to retain that talent.

Tomorrow, Diverse by Design will host The 140K: Women and the Pandemic, exploring the unique challenges that COVID-19 has presented for women and the solutions companies are employing to address them. The event will feature a dynamic conversation between women executives from Google, Chubb, PwC and is free to attend. Register here.

Click here for the full release; DiversebyDesign.org to learn more.

SOURCE Per Scholas