America on Tech’s [AOT] Proprietary Tech

Adapting AOT’s programming amidst COVID-19 has drawn attention to an opportunity for growth in our program model delivery system.

We currently leverage existing technologies to deploy, manage, and store our internship training programming online. This limits access, interaction and reach.  AOT will develop a Proprietary Technology Platform [PTP] that operationalizes and democratizes the rate of improvement of outcomes for our 1,000+ students to access program content and resources – regardless of physical presence.

The PTP's learning angle is to collect data on students that better informs how they engage with technology education and how they retain content learned that leads to successful workforce opportunities. This will enable us to measure gaps in assessments and project completion in more robust manners.

By scaling, AOT will open our workforce development model to thousands of students beyond our physical regions – particularly in rural/urban communities of color where effective tech education is lacking.

With COVID-19, technology internships have been canceled by many companies at a rapid rate. This leaves AOT trained, young people with newly minted skills and nowhere to exercise them during a time where they could be generating income to sustain themselves, their families and, sometimes, their larger community of support. 

The cancellation of internship programs should not be the answer to a company’s COVID-19 plans. It should be an opportunity for companies to think innovatively about the future of talent and work. To this end, AOT seeks to re-envision its workforce development and job readiness programming through a virtual training platform – the Proprietary Technology Platform [PTP] 

With shifts away from the classroom, there is reason to believe that online workforce learning will persist post-COVID-19. Since COVID-19 there has been a surge in technology to replace in-person learning – language apps, virtual tutoring, video conferencing tools (1) and online learning software (2).

The most immediate beneficiaries of AOT’s PTP are our 1,000+ students.  Scaling the PTP will open our workforce development curriculum to thousands of students beyond our physical regions – particularly in rural/urban communities of color where effective tech education is lacking.

See:

• (1)https://www.thestar.com.my/tech/tech-news/2020/03/23/covid-19-online-tutors-boosting-incomes-as-demand-surges-due-to-coronavirus-lockdowns
• (2)https://www.zdnet.com/article/online-learning-gets-its-moment-due-to-covid-19-pandemic-heres-how-education-will-change/

When AOT looks across the tech education and workforce sector, there is a tremendous disconnect in the cultural relevance of most workforce and job readiness platforms to low-income students of color.  AOT's Proprietary Technology Platform [PTP] will put all of the pieces of AOT’s job readiness program model, curricula, teaching guides and resources, and virtual learning tools in one platform.  The PTP will increase the learning reach, internship and job placement, and capacity unencumbered by physical distance for any reason.

Connecting communities to drivers of change, scalable solutions such as AOT’s proposed PTP, has the ability to build an online community of future technologists who are prepared with critical employment skills and are ready to step into the workplace. Further, we believe that the development of this technology also touches financial security to ensure young people have the necessary tools and resources to succeed in economically mobile careers like technology. 

AOT’s target population for the Proprietary Technology Platform [PTP] is primarily Black/Latinx “Opportunity Youth” at risk of falling beyond the curve in technology skills development.

The most immediate beneficiaries of the PTP are our 1,000+ students.  AOT youth population who: (1) Identify with an under-represented racial/ethnic background, (2) Are between ages 16-24 and (3) Are living at/below the poverty line. Of AOT students, 42% are African American and 38% are Latinx. 42% are female and/or gender non-conforming.

COVID-19 has had a disproportionate effect on our students and their communities – including a disconnect with in-person learning and workplace skills building. As this application demonstrates, AOT’s PTP will foster access to high-quality, free learning, skill-building, and training opportunities regardless of in-person learning for those developing skills and readying to enter the workforce.

As PTP scales, it will open our workforce development curriculum to thousands of students beyond our physical regions – particularly in rural/urban communities of color where effective tech education is lacking.

Since 2014, AOT’s tuition free program model has introduced young people of color in NYC and LA to paid summer internship programs and jobs in our employer partner network. AOT students are amazing, talented and represent the future of innovation in our country.

COVID-19 has had a disproportionate effect on our students and their communities – including higher numbers of COVID-19 cases and economic stress due to reduced hours and lost wages.

As this application demonstrates, AOT’s Proprietary Technology Platform will foster access to high-quality, affordable learning, skill-building, and training opportunities regardless of in-person learning for those entering the workforce.

With the Proprietary Technology Platform [PTP], AOT has identified the solution it seeks to scale to support more robust virtual learning.  We have begun to design a prototype (building off Repl.it and Google Classroom) for the PTP, have a group of active users and are poised – with funding – to move forward with full development, testing and implementation.

While the technology is not one we own, AOT believes it serves as an MVP for the work we are seeking to accomplish with the PTP.

When AOT looks across the tech education sector, there is a tremendous disconnect in the cultural relevance of most workforce and job readiness platforms to low-income students of color.  AOT's Proprietary Technology Platform [PTP] will increase student accessibility to tech learning and skills advancement, internship efficacy and create a new population of highly trained tech professionals in today’s workforce.  The PTP will also be made available to the broader youth and learning community to support workforce development as well as scale AOT's reach.

As noted previously, connecting communities to drivers of change, scalable solutions such as AOT’s proposed PTP, has the ability to build an online community of future technologists of color who are prepared with critical employment skills and are ready to step into the workplace. Further, we believe that the development of this technology also promotes individual financial security and independence for individuals of color who have historically lived in low-income households, as all of the program content and resources living on the PTP is geared toward ensuring that young people have the necessary tools and resources to be successful in economically mobile careers like technology. 

Current number of students served - 0

Students served after one year of platform launch - 1,000

Students served after 5 years of platform launched - 20,000

AOT intends to collect Proprietary Technology Platform [PTP] usage data that will better inform how students engage with technology education and how they retain the content. We will be able to measure student gaps in assessments in a more robust manner and project completion more effectively. It will also help us better collect data on pre- and post- measures for our programs.

Some of the data we will collect will include:

• Number of students enrolled in programs, including demographic information
• Hours students spend on modules
• Assessments on student learning
• Number of projects completed in the courses
• Pass/fail rates of course assessments

This data will be collected on an on-going basis, with reports being collected monthly.

AOT has built a culture of innovation and failing fast. We frequently refer to lean start-up methodology when thinking about our program development and curriculum development. We plan to use this same approach, seeing improvements as lessons learned and opportunities to build this tool.

Further, we believe that external researchers will be able to use the PTP to produce literature on technology education for students of color and how they engage with STEM curriculum, increase social consciousness and action in STEM and develop a body of work that schools, educators and practitioners could look to as they build equitable pathways for strong engagement in STEM for youth of color. 

3 Full-time AOT staff

1 Contractor

Each individual on the Proprietary Technology Platform [PTP] development team has vast experience in technology development and youth-based skills development programming.

Further, what makes AOT particularly prepared to deliver on its Proprietary Technology Platform is our organizational competency in the computer science and technology education sector.  AOT’s two co-founders [the CEO and President] are people of color from Brooklyn, NY; graduates of the public-school system K-12; and first-generation college grads who formerly worked in the technology industry (Accenture, Deloitte, and JP Morgan Chase).  Once they had gained tenure within the tech sector, they looked around and realized there were few people who looked like them.  They realized there were systemic barriers to young people of color seeking and achieving success in the tech sector.  With this they founded AOT and today they go by the mantra, “We were once the students we now serve.”

For AOT to create a diverse, equitable and inclusive tech industry, we must stand against social and racial injustice.  AOT is committed to consistently assessing and addressing systems that affect our students, our communities and our team members. We acknowledge that this is a consistent point of growth and we will not stop until we get it right. This means developing our programming, hiring staff, creating pathways for our students, and engaging corporate partners and other stakeholders through a social and racial justice lens that envisions black and brown people having roles of influence within America’s tech sector. 

AOT also continues to revisit our internal systems to ensure they are built on anti-racist practices. This means doing an assessment of our values, revisiting our employee handbooks, re-thinking our hiring practices and developing professional training plans for staff and contractors.

See here the statement AOT released in June 2020:

www.americaontech.org/blog/our-country-is-in-a-double-pandemic-america-on-tech-stands-against-racial-injustice

The MIT Solve Digital Inclusion Challenge seeks to answer the question: How can workers in the United States attain the knowledge and learn the skills needed to access sustainable jobs and livelihoods in the new economy – particularly in a post COVID-19 world?

AOT believes a post-pandemic workforce has to be prioritized and technology jobs and skills training are what we need to use to achieve it. Our organizational mission, theory of change and program model are dedicated to ensuring that low-income, young people of color have equal access to participate in the growing tech jobs sector. AOT has seen how students are not prepared to face the realities of the job market due to the pandemic and they have been disproportionately affected. If we believe that talent is everywhere, but opportunity is not, then this is the time we need to create them so we can come back stronger!  For these reasons, AOT welcomes the opportunity to apply to MIT Solve’s Digital Inclusion Initiative.

As AOT pilots and grows the Proprietary Technology Platform [PTP], we would benefit greatly from MIT resources to identify additional funding opportunities. Additionally, as we build and test the platform, we would benefit from quality assurance resources to do this efficiently and effectively. 

As AOT develops and implements its Proprietary Technology Platform internally [PTP], we will rely on existing collaborations with schools, tech companies and internship partners to ensure the desired impact on our 1,000+ students in NYC and LA.

Once AOT is prepared to scale the PTP beyond our existing communities – particularly to urban and rural areas that have limited tech skills development opportunities for low-income youth, young women and young people of color, we will begin to establish relationships with additional schools, youth job readiness programs, and non- and for-profit youth service organizations to support the marketing, availability and access to the PTP. Examples of national partnership organizations that we would partner with include the Boys and Girls Club, Girl Scouts, and YMCA. 

As noted throughout this application, AOT and its Proprietary Technology Platform [PTP] are committed to promoting social and racial equity.

For AOT to create a diverse, equitable and inclusive tech industry, we must stand against social and racial injustice.  AOT is committed to consistently assessing and addressing systems that affect our students, our communities and our team members. We acknowledge that this is a consistent point of growth and we will not stop until we get it right. This means developing our programming, hiring staff, creating pathways for our students, and engaging corporate partners and other stakeholders through a social and racial justice lens that envisions Black and Latinx people having roles of influence within America’s tech sector.

AOT also continues to revisit our internal systems to ensure they are built on anti-racist practices. This means doing an assessment of our values, revisiting our employee handbooks, re-thinking our hiring practices and developing professional training plans for staff and contractors.

We believe that AOT’s PTP goal to operationalize, democratize and accelerate learning among youth for whom tech skills education is often out of reach due to class, gender, income, racial disparity aligns with our stand for social and racial justice.

AOT knows there is a pathway into the technology sector for low-income students, but more specifically

low-income women of color. Yet Black and Latinx women represent less than 5% of the tech industry nationwide. They make up less than 10% of degrees conferred in Computer and IT each year and are ultimately being shut out of opportunities for economic advancement.

In the context of technology education, “early racial, gender, and socioeconomic disparities in access to STEM and computer science education in Pre-K-12th grade limit the opportunities that all children have to engage meaningfully with technology, develop computational skills, and explore careers in computing” (Kapor Center).

AOT’s primary purpose is to give young female students access to tech curriculums, mentors and internship opportunities to help change the face of the tech sector.  Of AOT students, 42% are young women of color.

AOT’s ability to further fulfill this mandate will be propelled by its Proprietary Technology Platform which will operationalize, democratize and accelerate learning among young women for whom tech skills education is often out of reach due to their gender, income, racial disparity.

There is an increasing demand among tech employers [www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/information-security-analysts.htm] for highly skilled cybersecurity professionals.  Simultaneously, there is a growing desire among the youth AOT serves – as well as our alumni – to pursue careers in the cybersecurity sector.  Yet there are minimal tech curricula – and virtually none focused on cybersecurity – embedded in schools that serve primarily low-income, youth of color.

The importance of incorporating programming and skills building into AOT’s service continuum that prepares youth of color for degrees and careers focused on cybersecurity is a natural extension of our mission and provides a growth trajectory for the organization.

AOT’s Proprietary Technology Platform [PTP] will help us fulfill this emerging need by putting all of the pieces of AOT’s cybersecurity skills development program model, curricula, teaching guides and resources, and virtual learning tools in one platform.  By doing so, the PTP will increase the learning reach, internship and job placement, and capacity of those students and alumni looking to explore cybersecurity as a tech career choice.