Flatiron School Renews John Stanley Ford Fellowship in Effort to Increase Diversity in Tech

NEW YORK, April 15, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Flatiron School, a global institution that trains students in 21st-century skills like software engineering, data science, cybersecurity and product design, today announced its renewal of the John Stanley Ford (JSF) Fellowship. 

Launched in 2020, the program supports the advancement of Black tech professionals by offering four-month-long apprenticeships with leading companies that provide on-the-job training, ongoing mentorship, and access and opportunities to the tech community.

This year, the JSF Fellowship is relaunching with a mix of 13 new and renewed partners: IBM, Citi, Justworks, FanDuel, fuboTV, Meetup, Datadog, VTS, Giant Machines, Infinia ML, Chubb, Cvent, and Wunderkind.

"As a leading educational institution in the software space, we believe we have an outsized role to play in the diversification of tech," said Adam Enbar, CEO and co-founder of Flatiron School. "Our JSF Fellowship removes some of the barriers Black tech professionals face when launching their respective careers and provides much-needed mentorship to help fellows find their path. We are extremely thankful to the participating companies for their continued support and commitment to diversity in tech."

Each partner commits to hiring at least two of Flatiron School's Black alumni as fellows for a minimum four-month apprenticeship that comes with annualized compensation. Each fellow will have weekly meetings with their direct manager, as well as monthly meet-ups with a mentor from within the company. Additionally, each fellow will be provided an opportunity to interview for a full-time position prior to the end of the apprenticeship.

"At Datadog, we are committed to continuously working to better diversify our teams, departments and company," said Riley Stefano, recruitment marketing manager at Datadog. "We know that it starts at the candidate-level in attracting top talent from a variety of backgrounds and cultures. That's why we decided to partner with Flatiron School on the John Stanley Ford Fellowship because its mission to support the advancement of Black tech professionals directly aligns with our goals to move the needle on ethnic diversity both within our company and across the tech industry."

John Stanley Ford was a pioneer in the earliest days of computing. He was the first Black engineer, not only at IBM, but in America. Ford, hired in 1946, spent his days building the predecessor to IBM's first commercial business computer while coaching other African-Americans to get hired at IBM.

Even though his career was marked with struggle and hardship, his legacy will be remembered for his fight to reach equity in the workplace and his dedication to creating opportunities for others. Flatiron School partnered with John Stanley Ford's estate to create this fellowship program.

"fuboTV has been very proud to partner with Flatiron School and support the advancement of Black tech professionals," said Diana Horowitz, senior vice president, advertising sales at fuboTV. "When we signed on with the program last year, our hope was to foster the skills of promising professionals, provide them with hands-on learning experience and help them grow their careers. We're so pleased that the program has brought us two engineers who have already made a huge impact on fuboTV's engineering team."

"The JSF fellowship has been a great partnership between Meetup and Flatiron School as we look to continue growing high-performing, diverse, balanced, and collaborative teams," said Harry Chiu, head of recruiting and mentor at Meetup.  "We were blown away by the talent, perseverance, and grit that we saw in the fellows and we are proud that they are now both full-time engineers at Meetup. The fellowship challenged both the fellows and our own teams to provide opportunities to make a significant impact on our teams and codebase, while also empowering their personal growth in a short period of time. We look forward to continuing this partnership in years to come."

About Flatiron School
Flatiron School is an education innovator teaching students in-demand tech skills like software engineering, data science, cybersecurity, and product design. When it comes to landing a job, Flatiron School graduates have a proven track record of success thanks to experienced instructors, and dedicated career coaches. Flatiron School's mission is to enable the pursuit of a better life through education.

Media Contact
Flatiron School
Pierre Kacsinta
[email protected] 

SOURCE Flatiron School

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