Goldman Sachs Asset Management announced that it will become a premier sponsor of the SEO (Sponsors for Educational Opportunity) Tech Developer, with a commitment of $2.25 million over the next three years. The SEO Tech Developer is SEO’s latest initiative aimed to provide Black, Latinx, and Native American undergraduate computer science majors with the skills, coaching, and experience needed to be competitive candidates in the growing tech industry.

The grant will support the growth of the program over three years and propel the program’s mission to increase diversity in the tech industry. The SEO Tech Developer, which hosted its first cohort of 62 students in Summer 2021, is an immersive training program that hones students’ existing tech skills. In partnership with Codio, a leading global developer of computer science curricula, SEO Tech Developer offers students a customized curriculum centered on a team-based project approach. The program provides access to sustained exposure to industry professionals, educators, and recruiters. Since its launch, the program has shown promising results with more than 85% of the inaugural cohort securing internships for Summer 2022at companies including Amazon, Meta, Google, and Microsoft.

“While Tech is a high-growth industry, only 5% of tech employees at leading tech firms identify as Black, Latinx, or Native American. We launched SEO Tech Developer to address the preparation gap facing historically underrepresented students by speeding the development of the technical and soft skills required for entry-level tech roles at leading companies,” explained Julian Johnson, Executive Vice President, SEO. He added, “Our goal is to ensure students have the tools they need to land top tech roles upon graduation.”

Since its inception in 2021, the SEO Tech Developer has supported over 130+ sophomore computer science and engineering majors. The program was designed under the guidance of tech industry experts and uses a 12-week approach to teach students key skills across CSS, Flask, API’s and more in addition to a final group project to add to their portfolio. With support from Goldman Sachs, SEO Tech Developer will grow to serve 200 students annually by 2024.

“At Goldman Sachs, we strongly believe that a diverse workforce is critical for business success and are committed to advancing racial equity across industries,” said Julian Salisbury, global co-head of Goldman Sachs Asset Management and SEO board member. “We are proud to support SEO in its mission to strengthen the pipeline of diverse candidates in the tech sector and positively enact change in a way that drives innovation and growth in the global economy.”

For more information about SEO Tech Developer, visit https://seo-usa.org/tech.

Source: Goldman Sachs Asset Management