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GET Cities Tech Equity Network (TEN) hosted GET Exploration Day on October 14th, 2023 for historically excluded technologists to network and build connections
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, UNITED STATES, November 29, 2023 – GET Cities Chicago recently held GET Exploration Day, a flagship workforce event designed for women, trans, nonbinary, and Black, Latino/a, Indigenous and other early-career technologists from historically excluded communities. To better equip and inform marginalized technologists to enter and be competitive in hiring pipelines, the half-day “un-conference” held on October 14th, 2023 featured themed discussions, games, networking, and connection to a growing and vibrant community of peers, organizations, companies, affinity groups and supporters.
“GET Exploration Day embodies our commitment to fostering a diverse and inclusive tech landscape in Chicago. We co-created this event with our Tech Equity Network for historically excluded technologists to connect, learn, and thrive, and we are excited to see how these relationships and connections continue to flourish in our communities,” said Allison James, Senior Manager of GET Cities Chicago.
The Tech Equity Network (TEN) that co-hosted GET Exploration is a council of Chicago organizations that create and amplify city-wide opportunities to set a course towards a more inclusive tech workforce. Members of TEN include: ARA Mentors, Break Through Tech, Chicago Innovation, City Colleges of Chicago, DPI, i.c. stars, Illinois Institute of Technology, Latinas In Tech, National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), Out In Tech, P33, Per Scholas, Society of Women Engineers, Tech Elevator, Think Chicago, and Women Employed.
The event also featured site visits to local tech companies, giving attendees an opportunity to sign up to intentionally connect with companies and attend on-site experiences like panels, tours, and candid conversations. Participants learned what tech pathways lead to companies like Microsoft and Deloitte and how technologists from historically excluded communities are supported and included inside those companies.
Attendee Karla Carrion said, “This event was nothing short of amazing. I especially liked that all attendees had the opportunity to not only learn different skills, but they also had the opportunity to network with the many different organizations.”
The event was also a success for speakers and presenters like Steven Meneses of The City Colleges of Chicago who said, “As a presenter, the meeting and networking with students [and early career professionals] and talking to them about careers in tech and in general is a stimulating exercise.”
GET Exploration Day 2023 was a successful event that many marginalized technologists walked away from with valuable information and connections to aid them in taking their next steps, whatever those may be. Interventions like this one are extremely beneficial in bolstering marginalized technologists’ careers and creating a more equitable industry for them to grow.
Click here to view a video recap of the event.
GET Cities is a national initiative designed to accelerate the power and influence of historically excluded people and places in tech through ecosystem alignment and activation to build a more equitable and vibrant economy. GET Cities launched in 2020, powered by SecondMuse Foundation, with catalytic funding from Pivotal Ventures and in partnership with Break Through Tech, and we are currently seeking additional investors and partners to implement interventions based on our pilots and learnings.
SecondMuse Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that advocates for a different approach for building inclusive and resilient societies and economies, which is referred to as relational wealth. It draws learning from the experiences of our partners, other organizations and communities around the world to advance the approach to a larger audience. The Foundation contributes to thought leadership, field building, and the creation of public goods on relational wealth. We seek to empower a community of practitioners and influence funders to better understand relational wealth and how it can be harnessed to benefit all people and the planet.