Raft partners with Maryland's oldest HBCU to expand GovTech solution development team

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Apr 06, 2021, 14:22 ET

RESTON, Va., April 6, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Raft, LLC, a full stack digital consulting firm specializing in modernizing government agency operations and service capabilities announced a formal teaming arrangement to provide employment and internship operations to Bowie State University, one of the oldest Historically Black College/University (HBCU) in the United States.

To paraphrase John Stuart Mills, "The loss to the world, by refusing to make use of the whole quantity it possesses, is extremely serious." The result, he continues, is that "we prevent ourselves from accessing the best ideas and contributions." At Raft, we believe such a loss of talent is simply unacceptable.

Our commitment to diversity, equality, and inclusion (DE&I) isn't just about statistics - it's a key ingredient in our secret sauce for providing maximum benefit and value to our public agency partners. Quite simply, bringing together the broadest range of perspectives and experience to each challenge consistently produces superior solutions and positive outcomes.

We've been incredibly fortunate in attracting our current Raft family. As a woman-owned small business, our broad-spectrum recruiting efforts and human-first policies are a critical part of our DNA. We've been a remote-first company from the start to access top talent anywhere in the United States. Beyond geography, this also lets us accommodate a wide range of personal needs that could not be served by traditional work environments. We've doubled down on providing for our team members, with benefits including generous support for training and certifications, tuition reimbursement, and 100% health benefit coverage for each employee and family member.

Still, we're always looking for ways to improve, to do more. That's why we're proud to announce our partnership with Bowie State University, Maryland's oldest Historically Black College/University (HBCU), to provide employment and internship opportunities to alumni and students, along with Cloud Native software development and other workshops throughout the school year.

Founded in 1865, Bowie State is one of the ten oldest HBCUs in the country, and whose students, along with faculty and staff, represent many ethnic and cultural backgrounds.

Bowie State University provides high quality and affordable educational opportunities and provides a supportive academic environment that empowers students to think critically, make new discoveries, value differences and emerge as leaders in a highly technical, rapidly changing global society. As Maryland's first historically black public university, Bowie State University encourages a diverse population of students to reach their potential through innovative academic programs and transformational experiences as they prepare for careers, lifelong learning, and civic responsibility.

We're truly excited and honored by this opportunity to work with this amazing group of students and computer science graduates. Together, we will work hard to bring more great ideas and contributions to our government partners, and the world.

About Raft

Raft is a full stack digital consulting firm with niche expertise in rapid delivery of modern, user- first, scalable, and data-intensive digital solutions. We accelerate the missions of our government agency partners through human-centered design (HCD) and agile development practices, bringing product management and technical expertise in DevSecOps, Kubernetes, Kafka, data science, cloud native microservice architectures, and secure, open source solution development. Learn more at goraft.tech.

About Bowie State University

Bowie State University (BSU) is an important higher education access portal for qualified persons from diverse academic and socioeconomic backgrounds, seeking a high-quality and affordable public comprehensive university. The university places special emphasis on the science, technology, cybersecurity, teacher education, business, and nursing disciplines within the context of a liberal arts education. For more information about BSU, visit bowiestate.edu.

SOURCE Raft LLC