Google.org is supporting UK non-profit organisation Colorintech with £200,000 to scale its diversity in tech programs tailored to ethnic minorities.
Over the next two years, the grant will help Colorintech reach 10 times more people from black and ethnic minority backgrounds.
For example, Colorintech will launch career accelerator programmess that will serve over 3,000 BAME students and professionals.
“We are excited to partner with Google who share our vision of making the innovation economy more inclusive,” said co-founder Dion McKenzie.
“Their support more than doubles the size of our programmess and will allow us to help thousands of ethnic minorities looking to enter the tech workforce.”
To counter the lack of BAME voices in the tech sector, the organisation will also create a video content series featuring business leaders, tech entrepreneurs and venture capitalists from diverse backgrounds. This content will allow Colorintech to reach a broader audience on an ongoing basis, beyond its programs.
Colorintech already has several programmess that work across the talent pipeline to connect young BAME people to the tech ecosystem. Its recent ColorCode Summit brought over 100 secondary school students to West London to learn about coding, robotics and virtual reality.
Colorintech’s flagship Immersion programme also takes underrepresented university students on an all-expenses paid trip to Silicon Valley showcasing cutting edge tech, and enabling them to meet entrepreneurs, investors and engineers.
Stuart McLaughlin, senior regional manager, EMEA at Google.org, said: “We’re excited to support Colorintech in their important mission to support greater diversity in the workplace.
“They have already made impressive progress in their work, and we hope that this grant, together with Google volunteers, will help them reach a wider audience across the UK.”