HIRE OR WIRE NOW!
Doubling Job Opportunity & Capital Investment for People of Color
For decades, the technology industry has been asked to actually be the “meritocracy” they claim to be for all people. It’s time for a change.
Here are the facts:
- According to KPMG, there was $136 Billion in venture Capital invested in the United States in 2019
- Underserved communities receive less than 4% of that total
- African American women receive less than 2% of VC funding
- Only about 5% of VC Limited Partners are African American
- For tech workers, only 5.4% are African American
In a June 2020 interview, Silicon Valley-based African-American female FOUNDER Tiffany Ashley Bell coined the phrase “Make the Hire or send the Wire “. Her insightful interview was the inspiration for the creation of the first-of-its-kind, national nonprofit Hire or Wire Now.
That interview was part of a series examining the issue of economic equity and opportunity in tech sparked by the killing of George Floyd. Floyd was being arrested for an alleged crime involving $20 when a Minneapolis policeman pressed his knee against the back of Floyd’s neck for nearly 9 minutes on Memorial Day 2020.
The demands for equal opportunity within the tech industry are once again, at the forefront. We wanted to do something about the problem rather than just send out a token letter of support or post a message on Social Media. We believe the time for real change has finally come and we will help lead the charge for that change.
GOALS
Our goal is to:
- Double the number of People of Color and other underrepresented groups working in technology jobs to 11%
- Double the amount of U. S. venture capital invested in their startup businesses to 10.9 Billion in 5 years
LOCATIONS
We are headquartered in Tampa, Florida and will open offices across the country in major start up hubs in the following cities:
WHAT's in it FOR YOU???
VENTURE CAPITAL FIRMS AND OTHER INVESTORS
We provide:
- A national network of vetted Underrepresented Founders
- Quality, diverse Deal Flow
- Connections to a diverse “pipeline” of skilled entrepreneurs across the country
- Access to Entrepreneurs In Residence
- Demo Days
- Partnerships with Accelerators featuring diverse Founders
- We help you build the “pipeline”.
- We save you substantial time and expense by vetting and training Founders and prepping them for investment.
- We help you increase your success rate and diversify your portfolio By Identifying Overlooked Investment Opportunities.
TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES
We give you:
- A consistent national source of educated, trained and diverse job applicants
- Vetted job applicants
- Qualified applicants
- Trained and coached by Career Counselors
- College Job Fairs
- On-campus recruiting at some of the nation’s top STEM colleges
- Access to top talent from HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities)
- Career Days for experienced diverse tech professionals
- Mock Interviews
- Resume Service
You get Increased effectiveness, innovation and creativity that helps grow your company.
These applicants are coached in cultural fit and other strategies that reduce turnover.
This saves money and time by reducing the number of employees that have to be rehired and retrained.
Access to diverse and talented candidates that you may not encounter otherwise.
We also reduce your cost of recruitment.
ENTREPRENUERS
We help you:
Develop your Business Plan or Business Model canvas
Grow Your Company
build and lead your teamLearn how to raise capital
Connect to investors
Find a business Mentor
Find a Cofounder
Build your Board of Directors
Create an Advisory Board
Get Accepted to an Accelerator
Prep for Demo Days
Prep for Pitch Contests
Connect you to key services such as Legal, Accounting, etc.
Identify valuable community resources
TECHNOLOGY JOB SEEKERS
We provide:
- Access to career opportunities with the leading U.S. tech companies across the country
- Support of Certified Career Counselors
- Mock Interview training
- Resume Writing service
- Workplace culture training
- Career Plan development
- Job Fairs
PROGRAMS
Venture Capital
The biggest hurdle for entrepreneurs of color is funding. We will address this critical problem by connecting entrepreneurs to funding sources across the country.
We will partner with angel investors, Venture Capitalist, private Equity firms and other funders in an effort to double the amount of investment received by these worthy entrepreneurs. Part of our mission is to also encourage more investment in minority entrepreneurs and to promote the hiring of more People of Color as Limited Partners.
Career Development
Some of the top career development experts in the industry will help prepare our talented students and professionals to take on a wide variety of technology jobs. They will also be trained on issues related to workplace culture. We’ll also work closely with our employers to maximize retention.
Mentorship
A national team of highly experienced and knowledgeable Business Mentors is being built to support the careers and enterprises of our constituents.
Demo Day
Each year, we will feature an annual Demo Day in Silicon Valley to highlight top MINORITY startups. The goals are to assist them in securing early rounds of funding and making key introductions that will help them build their teams and their companies.
Accelerators
Among our numerous Strategic Partnerships, we will work closely with the top Accelerators nationwide.
College Recruitment
Historically Black Colleges and Universities (“HBCU’s”) have consistently turned out some of the best and brightest Computer Science, Engineering and other technology students in the country, but it is still rare for them to secure positions at the top tech companies. We’re taking action to change that and provide career opportunities for these bright graduates By creating and expanding intentional campus recruiting on HBCU campuses each spring, starting in the spring of 2021.
FOUNDER
Deon is the Founder and CEO of Bradley Coaching & Consulting (www.BradleyCoaching.com), a sales consulting and Executive Leadership Coaching firm. He has advised tech Founders and their leadership for many years. He is a Certified Business and Executive Coach and a 28year veteran of the tech industry. He was the first African American Vice President of a B to B sales division of Fortune 100 company BellSouth in 2003. At that time, the company was over 100 years old.
Deon’s career includes leading regional and national B to B tech Sales and Business Development teams at startups, as well as three Fortune 100 companies.
Deon has spent time in Silicon Valley and worked with startups in a wide variety of verticals, advising Founders from five countries.
As a result of his passion for working with young people, Deon has taught Entrepreneurship at Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte, NC.
Deon is honored to have supported Veteran entrepreneurs as both a Business Advisor and as the Chairman of the Business Advisors Program for the “Operation Startup” Veterans Incubator at Hillsborough Community College in Tampa, FL from 2016 to 2020. Deon also supports Founders as a Business Advisor for the Tampa Bay WAVE tech Accelerator and the online and offline platformCoFoundersLab.com, a resource to over 400,000 entrepreneurs worldwide.
Since 2013, Deon has served as a Business Advisor for the nation’s largest accelerator, 1871 Chicago. In 2018, it was chosen from over 1,000 accelerators as the Number 1 Accelerator in the world by the Global Accelerator Network.
Additionally, he has worked with entrepreneurship students at leading programs like the nationally-ranked Coleman Entrepreneurship Center at his alma mater DePaul University and the Teach for America Entrepreneurship Program in Chicago.
In an effort to help grow the entrepreneurial community, he launched the Cofounders matchup Chicago networking group for tech startups, which grew to a membership of over 1,100 entrepreneurs and Founders.
RECOMMENDATIONS
PRESS
Tampa Bay Business Journal and Tech Inno
RESOURCES
Black founders want tech companies to do more than donate
Matchstick’s Specific Commitments to the Black Community to Drive Change
Other Resources
Workplace Diversity: (alphabetical)
- Credit Suisse: Gender Diversity and Corporate Performance
- Harvard Business Review: How and Where Diversity Drives Financial Performance
- Harvard Business Review: How Diversity Can Drive Innovation
- McKinsey: Why Diversity Matters (article) (report)
- Scientific American: How Diversity Makes Us Smarter
Boardroom Diversity: (alphabetical)
- 2020 Women on Boards: Gender Diversity Index: 2011–2015 Progress of Women Corporate Directors
- Deloitte: Missing Pieces Report: The 2016 Board Diversity Census of Women and Minorities on Fortune 500 Boards
- Harvard Business Review: Why Boards Need More Women
- Harvard School of Public Health: Why Diversity Matters: Women on Boards of Directors
- NY Times / Catalyst: Female Board Members Are Good for Business
Venture Capital Diversity: (alphabetical)
- Crunchbase Women in Venture Report (2017)
- Diverse VC Investor List (Founders for Change: reference source of several related links)
- Lack of VC Diversity
- National Venture Capital Association Resources on Diversity
- The Information Future List (sign up then search “future list”)
Diversity and Inclusion Improvement Organizations: (alphabetical)
Innovative ideas and tools from the Clayman Institute for Gender Research at Stanford University on how to create inclusive workplace cultures where people thrive and companies win in the global marketplace.
Fern teaches at Stanford Business School, including classes on Entrepreneurship from Diverse Perspectives, Entrepreneurship and VC from the Perspective of Women, and Equity By Design – Building Diverse and Inclusive Organizations. She also works with organizations such as LinkedIn, Sequoia, and Intercom on inclusive leadership and building diverse and inclusive organizations.
- Leaders for Leave: Paid Family Leave for Startups
A founder-led initiative that recognizes the importance of inclusive paid leave. Paid leave is critical for companies that value families, care about their employees, and pride themselves on employee retention and staff development, and strive to create a positive work culture. For best practices and sample policies click here.
NVCA has compiled a number of resources for venture capital firms and startups to reference and adopt to address harassment and promote a more diverse and inclusive ecosystem. These include sample HR policies & best practices for addressing harassment & discrimination and a sample Code of Conduct Policy.
Paradigm partners with innovative organizations across industries – from Fortune 500 companies to leading technology startups – to design diversity and inclusion strategies, consult and advise on execution, and train employees and leaders.
Parity advocates for women’s representation at the highest levels of business—in the C-Suite and on the Board of Directors. They do this by promoting companies that demonstrate their commitment to gender parity, raising awareness about underlying issues, and providing facts and research that show the value in equal representation.
ProjectInclude.org is a non-profit that uses data and advocacy to accelerate diversity and inclusion solutions in the tech industry. They urge companies to implement diversity and inclusion solutions that incorporate the following three values: Inclusion, Comprehensiveness, and Accountability. They offer a very specific set of recommendations to help CEOs improve D&I.
The Board List is a curated talent marketplace for the tech community to recommend, discover, and connect highly qualified women leaders with opportunities to serve on private and public company boards.
The #MovingForward Project is a resource wiki to highlight VCs shifting the diversity, inclusion, and anti-harassment paradigm. They list VC firms who have chosen to self-report the steps they have taken to nurture a diverse, inclusive, and harassment-free workplace. This includes publishing policies and/or establishing a point-of-contact for issues and questions related to these topics.
ENOUGH TALK!
TAKE ACTION TOGETHER NOW!
We are seeking affiliates in our target cities, entrepreneurs, students, Interns, volunteers, Business Mentors, Strategic Partners and sponsors. If you would like to get involved in” this first of its kind, groundbreaking national effort that will create jobs and launch and build companies, please contact us today by filling out the contact form below or email me at [email protected] or call 813.291.4653.