Outreach

Our mission with SIM Boston’s Outreach Program:

“Give back to our community by supporting programs that contribute to the vitality of the Information Technology profession”

We created our outreach program after our members—like you—rose through the ranks, assumed positions of IT leadership, and realized how good the IT field is to us. We decided it was essential to give back to our community by supporting programs that contribute to the vitality of the Information Technology profession.

For outreach opportunities, contact the 2018 Outreach Co-Chairs:
Jim Whalen & Craig Horgan at outreach@simboston.org

Outreach Partners:

In 2017, our chapter funding distributed was $51,000!

These two new Outreach Partners joined in 2018:

Hack Diversity

Hack.Diversity tackles the under-representation of high-skilled minority employees in Boston’s innovation economy. They recruit Black and Latino computer science and engineering students into the city’s fastest-growing companies — training, coaching and mentoring both employer and employee throughout the experience. What is Hack.Diversity’s vision? They want a 100% increase in the number of blacks and Latinos working in the innovation economy in Boston.

To learn more about Hack.Diversity, visit https://hackdiversity.com

Resilient Coders

Resilient Coders trains people of color for high growth careers as software engineers, and connects them to apprenticeship opportunities. They introduce them to a career path that is lucrative, meaningful, and intellectually rewarding. The problem Resilient Coders sees is that industries across the City of Boston are experiencing a crisis in skills gap, struggling to find talent. Boston’s youth and early-career adults are struggling to find work. The difficulty is that most schools and organizations are not teaching the skills that are actually in demand. Resilient Coders teaches those skills.

To learn more about Resilient Coders, visit http://www.resilientcoders.org/get-involved/company

Year Up Boston – as our oldest partner since 2000, continued funding support of Year Up’s annual graduation and graduate recognition including padfolios, iPads and the Don Brown Scholarship. We now partner with Year Up Providence as well.

Boston Public Schools /Adobe Youth – funded the annual award ceremony that showcased the finalists out of 1,420 student submissions from 32 schools. Youth Voices enables students to leverage advanced digital tools to express their stories.

Boston Public Schools/Hour of Code – funded an award for technology programs to the school with the highest participation in the district-wide Hour of Code initiative. The winner, The Mario Umana Academy in East Boston, had over 500 students and 35 teachers join millions of students from around the world in doing at least one of hour of computer science or “coding”.

Latino STEM Alliance – funded instructors and equipment for teams of 12 middle-school aged students in Lawrence, MA. Weekly classes run for a minimum of 90 minutes per week from October-June with students working to design programs to command their constructed robots as well as conduct field trips to area colleges and businesses. Teams compete in an annual robotics competition.

Jr.Tech – funded support of the Girls STEM Summit in April 2017, a statewide event that brought together 260 high school students interested in exploring STEM fields and enhancing skills.

Jr.Tech’s mission is to engage 4–12 grade students in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) education. They aim to encourage a lifelong interest, increase skills, and to broaden students’ awareness of career paths in STEM. They are sowing the seeds now to build a future workforce with strong STEM skills.

Jr.Tech accomplishes these goals by:

Providing high quality, hands-on, STEM workshops for boys and girls in grades 4–12.
Offering a one-day STEM career exploration summit called, Girls STEM Summit-Statewide, serving girls in grades 8–12 interested in pursuing STEM careers.

TechBoston Academy: Golf IT – Career/Golf Mentoring Event, typically held in mid-May from 12:30pm to 2:30pm

Now in its eighth year, SIM Boston is excited to partner again with the TechBoston Academy (http://techbostonacademy.org/), a technology-focused Boston Public School in Dorchester to recognize its student leaders. On a date TBD in mid-May from 12:30pn to 2:30pm at McGolf Driving Range, Route 109 in Dedham, MA, 24+ high school students will be matched with 12 adult ‘mentors’. The event will provide an opportunity to discuss career options in technology as well as provide exposure to and instruction in golf.

Our partners benefit from the expertise, experience, funds, and counsel of both the SIM Boston leadership, as well as our members. We continue to evaluate opportunities to fulfill our goals of providing a positive community impact through information technology.

Outreach partners receive funds and/or volunteers to advance their efforts. Our chapter also runs the Future Potential in IT (FPIT) program for college students, while supporting Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education as the learning foundation needed for careers in information technology.

Submit an Outreach Proposal
You may submit an outreach proposal for your initiative by contacting outreach@simboston.org. Proposals that impact a wide number of individuals and allow for active participation of our SIM Boston members are those most highly favored for potential support.

Get Involved!

Year Up
Our first outreach partner, Year Up, provides a one-year intensive training program for urban young adults. Today we provide the Don Brown Memorial Scholarship so a student may attend the program, while giving an iPad to the student in each class demonstrating leadership. Get involved by mentoring students, speaking at Friday luncheons, or providing opportunities for students to work as interns in your organization. For more information on how you can get involved, contact Chris Martins, CMartins@YearUp.org, and Deb Matteson, dmatteson@yearup.org

TechBoston
TechBoston is focused on developing the information technology industry’s talent pool early—beginning in high school. A program of the Boston Public Schools’, TechBoston supports advanced technology courses in the school district. As a SIM Boston member, you can connect with TechBoston to hire talented high school students through the Tech Apprentice program. TechBoston also trains high school students to act as Cyber Mentors who are deployed in schools and the community to educate young children and teens how to safely use the Internet.