SUPPORT AMERICA ON TECH'S NEXT GEN TECH TALENT PIPELINE

Team fundraiser

Lilly McNicholas and 2 others are organizing this fundraiser to benefit America On Tech, Inc..

Tax deductible

Founded in 2014, America On Tech’s mission is to bridge the talent gap and transform the workforce by creating pathways for underestimated students into tech degrees and careers.

AOT was born out of the lived experience of it's two co-founders, Jessica Santana and Evin Floyd Robinson. Both of these trailblazing individuals are people of color— Jessica, Afro-Latinx and Evin, Black—who graduated from NYC public schools and were the first in their families to attend college. While working at global tech companies, they quickly recognized a systemic disconnect between Black and Latinx students and their representation in tech careers. They understood that something proactive had to be done to begin to radically and systematically change the face of the industry. With this, AOT was born, and today, the co-founders serve “the students they once were.”

AOT’s pipeline engages students at critical educational and skills engagement stages [ages 16-24] through STEM-based, career readiness and professional development activities, and supports their growth as they secure paid internships, full-time employment, or pursue post-secondary education. Our programs provide culturally relevant, tuition-free, in-demand tech skills in areas like Web Development, UX Design, Product Management, Digital Marketing, Data Science, Cyber Security, and forthcoming, AI/Machine Learning.

All of AOT programs are designed to:

Engage underestimated young people of color in tech education, skills development, and workplace preparation;
Increase the numbers of young people of color who enter a computer science or tech program in college/university and/or enter the tech sector as a chosen career; and
Create real world opportunities that empower underestimated young people of color to disrupt inequitable and exclusionary systems that have impacted their families for generations.

Since 2014, AOT’s technology skills training and career readiness programs have powerfully impacted students’ education, career paths, and economic mobility, with strong evidence of success:

Developed stipend-based programs in NYC, LA, and Miami [$500- $1,000]
Served 5,000+ young people (vast majority of whom identify as Black/Latinx and are living in income constrained households or communities)
Partnered with 300+ high schools.
Engaged 100+ tech companies and 1,000+ tech volunteers.
Hired over 120 alumni as paid peer mentors.
Placed 276 interns in 2023 earning a combined $1.5M+ (alumni report wages of $15-$50 per hour post-program)
85% of AOT graduates have been accepted into college computer science/technology programs or have gone directly into the workforce and obtained a career in tech [Tech sector jobs made available to AOT alumni come with an average salary of $132,930 [software developers], compared with the U.S. average salary of $48,060.]

For more, please visit us our website or contact AOT's Regional Director of Development, Lilly McNicholas at [email redacted].