As featured in SSi People Podcast “Off The Cuff” with guest Rocki Howard, Chief Equity and Impact Officer at The Mom Project, and host Christina Vinson, Director of Marketing, SSi People
At SSi People, we aim to help tech professionals navigate fulfilling careers in today’s workforce. We are specifically focused on strategies to help increase representation from underserved communities in the tech sector, particularly for women and moms in tech, in helping them enter, re-enter, or advance in the workforce. In a recent episode of SSi’s podcast, “Off The Cuff,” we met with the Chief Equity and Impact Officer of The Mom Project, Rocki Howard, on the challenges faced by women in the tech industry and the resources that are available to support them in their endeavors to attain a rewarding role in the world of technology.
The Mom Project is one such resource. This talent platform is founded on the idea that when a mother is thriving, a family, business, society, and economy flourish as well. This Project aims to provide mentorship, networking, interview prep, job placements, and whatever other support is needed to assist in advancing a mother’s career in tech.
Opportunities for Women and Moms in Tech Are Multi-faceted Solutions
The Mom Project celebrates seven years now in the tech industry, offering a bandwidth of opportunities designed to close the skills gap in the industry. To accomplish this, the Project teams offer training to equip women with the most in-demand tech skills in the market, ranging from UX design to Salesforce administration. These opportunities open new paths for women and working moms to advance their careers with optimal benefits packages, flexible schedules, and salary increases. In turn, by introducing newly skilled talent to the workforce, we are actively working towards solving the talent shortage in tech, which remains a top concern for hiring organizations across the globe.
By empowering women to grow their skills and tech marketability, we also combat common misconceptions long held by under-represented communities in the tech workforce, for instance, Hispanic women, that a job exists just to be able to put food on the table and the notion of living paycheck-to-paycheck is the accepted norm.
Particularly after the height of the COVID pandemic, mothers in all industries, not just tech, saw their careers take a step backward, with many again putting aside their careers to take on the bulk of primary caregiving for children and older family generations.
With The Mom Project, mothers find their way back into the workforce with a renewed drive and competitive background that allows them to advance and plan for their futures.
The RISE Scholarship is also a Tool for Diversity and Equity in the Tech Industry
As a tool within The Mom Project, The RISE Scholarship is a program committed to accelerating equity for moms and women of color with a goal of “accessing economic opportunities that they didn’t have before,” says Rocki Howard.
The mission of RISE is to fast-track tech career advancement for moms to attain higher-paying and more influential roles that support women’s career advancement. At the heart of this scholarship is access to over 13 various certifications, in addition to a community of support and networking to ensure the successful journey of the participants.
And it works, as evidenced by the return on investment of completing the RISE Scholarship program:
According to the RISE impact report, an average graduate of the program increases their annual income by $10,000 and, over a lifetime, adds nearly $ 1 million to their income, helping to break patterns of generational poverty and working towards decreasing the wealth gaps across diverse groups.
Getting Involved to Advance Women and Moms in Tech
With the potential for significant income growth, the no-cost, short 6-month program associated with the RISE scholarship is certainly an attractive option. For The Mom Project, there are certain criteria that must be met in order to be eligible to participate. Those details can be found respectively at https://work.themomproject.com/rise and https://themomproject.com. Women and moms interested in participating can review the details and apply to take part.
While women and moms, however, can take steps to advance their careers through these available resources, hiring organizations can also help advance their own strategies for growth and success, especially through the lens of diversity, equity, and inclusion, by learning more about The Mom Project mission, becoming part of the mentoring program, and working with staffing organizations that embrace this mission and source talent from this area.
In addition to discussing how the programs work, Rocki Howard and Christina Vinson also provide thoughtful insight into how the programs fit into the larger tech employment market, covering topics like:
- Opportunities For Women of Color In Today’s Workforce
- The Empowerment That Comes with Proper Training
- How The Modern Workplace Is Transforming
- The Life-Changing Power of The Rise Scholarship
- How Investing In Rise Could Benefit Your Business
To continue learning about these programs and how they are helping to reshape the tech industry and hiring strategies, tune into the podcast here.
