Help us secure internships for the Hetrick-Martin Institute's Transgender Employment Project.
HMI and Out in Tech understand the dangerous impacts that racism and transphobia have on the lives of young transgender women of color. We recognize that as a result of systemic discrimination, young transgender women experience homelessness at disproportionately higher rates than their cisgender peers, and often lack access to safe, legal employment. Out in Tech has partnered with HMI to help connect these eight amazing young people with work experiences that we hope will bolster their current levels of knowledge, exposure, and support and ultimately inspire them to pursue careers in tech and digital. Will you help?
Lyrik
A large personality from an even larger family, Lyrik is a kind southern belle with many talents. She excels with communicating ideas and finds herself drawn to acting, modeling, making music and even pursuing a degree in English. Her ingenuity and dedication makes her a great fit for starting new projects. She works very well with others, often coaxing the more silent members to open up with the group and always walking in with a smile.
Area of focus – Sales & Advertising
Tyenisha
Tyenisha is very eager to learn something new making a tech placement perfect for her. She works well in groups and has this beautiful balance between hearing the ideas of others while still getting her own point across. She is sure that she wants to finish college but isn’t sure what major she would like to pick up so this exposure to a new field could possibly open up a new door for her future.
Area of focus - Flexible and open
Nia
Nia is an ambitious young lady with a hunger for knowledge. She doesn’t have a clear direction of where she wants to go as yet but she makes every effort to put her best foot forward and absorb whatever is there to be offered. She works well in smaller, intimate settings and with her artistic background, she would be a perfect addition to any type of graphic or visual design.
Area of focus – Creative
Claudia
Claudia seems very shy and quiet at first, but when she opens up she’s receptive to just about anything. Once she finishes school, she’s interested in pursuing a career in cosmetology.
Area of focus - Admin
Rachel
Rachel is quickly maturing into a responsible and well-balanced woman. She has an eye for detail and problem solving. She takes her time to foster strong and healthy relationships and work on her own personal growth. She may start a little hesitant to begin something new, but once she grasps the understanding of what’s expected of her, she rises to the occasion and gets the job done.
Area of focus – Sales
Sophie
Sophie is a natural born leader, driven to make a change in the world. She stays up to date on current events and often considers all sides to the story in an attempt to understand the reasoning behind each one. Her passion is law and her goal is to make the necessary changes to protect and fairly represent the LGBTQ community. While advocacy for her community is very important to her, she is open to learning about the issues others may be experiencing and advancing those interests, as well. She is hoping to get a master’s in social work before entering law school. Although she maintains a professional and stoic exterior, she still manages to remain very warm and to everyone around her.
Area of focus: Admin / Design
Giovanni
Giovanni has a undeniably strong presence that is hard to ignore. He has these amazing talents to be able to strike up an educated and entertaining conversation about anything with anyone and to think outside of the box. He always aims to be professional, respectful and kind. He is very adaptable and naturally becomes the center of attention in every group. He’s interested in advocacy but he could work in any large setting or creating and sharing new ideas.
Area of focus – Business Development and Research
Rashawn
The only member of the group that’s not Transgender but is a strong supporter of the LGBTQ community. His interest is in coding and game design.
Area of focus – Coding
Out in Tech Youth is built on three core pillars:
KNOWLEDGE
We connect youth with resources about the tech industry, and its various job functions. We encourage the next generation of LGBTQ youth to take ownership over their career paths.
EXPOSURE
We maintain that seeing is believing. Exposure to new careers can change a life’s trajectory. We inspire LGBTQ youth to visualize themselves building the tech companies of the future.
SUPPORT
We encourage the next generation of LGBTQ youth to pursue internships and new educational opportunities. We build persistence and grit in support of whichever pathway they choose.
In 2016, we are:
Hosting classes, seminars, and workshops for 100+ students from Maven’s Queer Youth Tech Camps in SF, NYC, Boulder, and Austin; the NYC Department of Education, and the Hetrick-Martin Institute.
Bringing 75+ public school students to visit tech companies, start-ups, and teams in NY, SF, and LA. Our first trip of 2016 was at The New York Times, including a newsroom tour and LGBT panel on digital media.
Launching a 1-1 youth mentoring program for 50 students to supplement the great work of many nonprofits and school districts that are teaching kids to code.