ActivateWork & NAAAP
ActivateWork & NAAAP
NAAAP CO goes into the details for Activate Work, a FREE tech program that can help get you into a new career without any cost.
TRANSCRIPT
JANIE: Hi everyone! My name is Janie Sayavong and I'm the president of the National Association of Asian American Professionals (NAAAP) in Colorado. I'm here with Jeannette Schultz, an outreach manager for Activate Work. Jeannette, if you wouldn't mind, tell us a little more about yourself, that'd be great.
JEANNETTE: My name is Jeannette Schultz in Activate Work. I have been with the company less than a year but I've been in non-profit for about 20 years.
JANIE: If you wouldn't mind, telling me just a little more about the purpose of the program, how it's funded.
JEANNETTE: So is was founded by Helen Young Hayes, who is also the CEO. She wanted to elevate and diversify the IT industry. We are actually funded by a variety of different funders, community funds, and have been able to provide these classes free.
JANIE: Who is this program really intended for? Perhaps you can give me an idea of what that program looks like.
JEANNETTE: I feel like when when there are people out there stuck in their careers or maybe stuck in a dead-end job, this is maybe an opportunity. Do you like fixing computers? Do you like trying to find a solution? Do you like helping others understand the complexity of why they can't move forward with their website or why they're stuck on a page?
JANIE: Jeannette, what type of investment is needed?
JEANNETTE: Funding takes care of all the tuition, the books. We do require you to have that commitment, the drive, the determination to finish. It is 9:00 to 4:00 every day. There is one professional day where you get to meet and get some coaching on resumes, mock interviews, so that's one.
JANIE: Excellent. Jeannette, this has been great information. So how would prospective candidates learn more about Activate Work? Where can they go for more information? How do they apply? Give us the download on that.
JEANNETTE: So, we have a website at www.activatework.org. If you go on the website under "Learners" you can click on "Software Engineering," under that tab and it will tell you everything about Software Engineering. What the classes are. What the certification might include and even the positions you can qualify for after the class is done. Then at the bottom of that information page is a link for you to start the application. The first one is Software Engineering in October and then Desktop Support in November. We will have new ones coming in 2023. We see it about 24 — that's why it's competitive. It can be anybody. They have to be legal to work here in the U.S. They have to commit to 9:00 to 4:00 every day. Some of our learners might have weekend or evening jobs just so they can be in class. Classes are hybrid. It could be on online. On professional development days where you get to meet potential employers, we do require our Student Learners to come in to the office and be able to meet prospective employers. Alternatively, if you can't find it easily, you can email me at info@activatework.org and I can get you the links and help you connect to those classes.
Jeannette, this has been great information I appreciate you taking the time to really help our audience, our AAPI community members, and supporters learn much more about Activate Work. It sounds like it's a great opportunity here for someone who has the desire to really better and learn these technical skills without accumulating six-figure student loans.
Thank you again, for making that time, and if anyone does require additional information in the application process, know that that information is here again, available on www.activatework.org, and you can contact info@activatework.org which goes directly to Jeannette's line.
In The Arena with Helen Young Hayes
Helen Young Hayes is the Founder and CEO of ActivateWork. She is also the Founder and Chair of the Colorado Inclusive Economy Movement.
August, 2022
Your personal story is remarkable; what is something that has shaped your mindset as a leader?
One of my strengths is I just don’t quit. Indomitable persistence was modeled by both of my parents who were Chinese refugees. Having fled China to escape World War II, they ultimately settled in the US where they found physical safety, political freedom, and economic security. Having lost everything, they rebuilt their lives with courage, hope, and tenacity. Their struggle and never-quit optimism shaped me as a leader.
You’ve made a significant career pivot, from managing over $50 billion in assets for Janus Capital to helping create economic freedom through the dignity of work at ActivateWork. What lessons from the world of finance have you brought to workforce development, and what inspired the pivot?
I’ll answer the second question first. I am a firm believer in the American dream and am myself a poster child! As the daughter of immigrants who came to this country empty-handed, I’ve achieved more success than I ever imagined. However, inequity of opportunity and income persists for people of color and low wage-earning communities. I believe that persistent inequity is our most pressing societal problem, and I started ActivateWork to launch careers and economic mobility because I want to be a solution.
What I bring from my Wall Street days into workforce development is my belief that business is the key to unlocking economic opportunity by creating jobs, income, and wealth. ActivateWork provides IT skills training and access to employer networks to people often underrepresented in tech. Thus, we catalyze business to its highest purpose—helping people achieve economic freedom through the dignity of work.
What do you wish the legislature and your fellow business leaders understood about the talent pipeline and workforce development?
We have a skilled talent crisis in our state and in our nation. The pandemic accelerated trends in artificial intelligence, automation, and remote work–the digital age is upon us. The demand for skilled jobs has increased, while demand for lower-skill jobs has and will continue to drop–with troubling implications for income and employment inequity.
We are in a knowledge-based economy, and we are leaving too many Coloradans behind. Colorado’s economy ranks 12th overall, but 37th out of 50 states for racial disparities. 65% of the thriving-wage jobs in Colorado require post-secondary degrees or credentials, yet less than half of our workforce has these advanced degrees. What are we going to do to bridge that gap?
We must close the learning gap, especially for low-income individuals and communities of color. Education must equitably equip people with the skills that employers demand, like strong communication, critical thinking, problem-solving, and learning skills.
Higher ed alone is not bridging the gap for a skilled workforce. Less than half of Coloradans have a bachelors or associates degree, while 27% of Blacks and 17% of Latinos have a college degree. We must expand beyond college degrees to develop alternative forms of credentialing like vocational training and apprenticeship. These alternative educational pathways are underutilized in our race to develop a skilled workforce earning family-sustaining wages.
What advice do you have for CEOs hiring in a labor shortage?
In addition to founding ActiveWork, I founded the Colorado Inclusive Economy Movement, where we bring CEOs together to discuss these issues. We dig into leaky talent pipelines and workplace culture to make Colorado the most inclusive economy in the nation.
First, we need to recognize that traditional ways of looking at talent have become obsolete. For example, requiring a four-year college degree with almost any role is automatically screening out a large percentage of the population who might indeed possess the skills, experience, and knowledge necessary for a job. In the face of a labor shortage, employers need to bring in as many qualified individuals as possible.
Instead of degree requirements, companies should shift to skills-based hiring. Screening in for transferable skills and experiences brings in a wider, more diverse talent pool. Employers should also eliminate bias in recruiting and hiring through informed diversity, equity and inclusion practices.
Employees want an employer that cares about their well-being and provides opportunities for learning and career advancement. That means flexible work hours and remote work options, as well as development training and intentional career-pathing and mentorship.
Building a healthy culture with loyal and engaged workers is hard work. Employees want to feel individually connected to your mission and to see that differences are valued. Leaders and managers should express both recognition, for what an employee does, and appreciation, for who an employee is.
What are the biggest opportunities you see for the state?
I would like to see Colorado take the lead in apprenticeship as a strategic workforce and talent development initiative.
Colorado is the fourth largest employer of technology talent in the nation and has become a destination for tech companies. Unfortunately, we’re not producing enough local tech talent. We have a tremendous shortage. For example, there are 30,000 open cybersecurity and technology jobs in the state, representing a lost earnings opportunity of $3 billion annually. We’ve been importing college-educated talent from other states, but we need to widen our talent pool with home-grown talent.
If we could develop our own tech talent, especially from populations historically underrepresented in technology, we could meet the local demand for tech workers and launch pathways to economic mobility. We could build a skilled workforce for the 21st century that would drive change, not fall victim to it. We could bridge the 1.2-million-person IT talent shortage in the US.
That’s precisely what we’re doing at ActivateWork with our tuition-free IT training program. We widen access to valuable tech careers by providing credentialing and employment to people often underrepresented in IT. Individuals from all backgrounds can reposition themselves for a an IT career, debt-free and on-the-job, while employers develop their own long-term strategic, diverse technology workforce for today and tomorrow.
Rapid Fire Round:
- Who inspires you? My mom, she is endlessly optimistic and never quits. She has a PhD in Chemical Physics and worked full time while raising five kids. Now she has a chi gong video on YouTube that has 6 million views and 71,000 subscribers. She’s still transforming lives in her mid-80s.
- What is your favorite place in Colorado? Crested Butte
- What are you reading? Peach Blossom Spring by Melissa Fu. It’s a novel about a Chinese family that became refugees during World War II. It feels largely autobiographical to my family. It talks about the loss, the trauma, the strength, and the courage of the Chinese immigrant experience.
- What is your favorite restaurant? Barolo Grill
ActivateWork Expands IT Career Training and Employment Opportunities Through Partnership with CompTIA Apprenticeships for Tech
July 12, 2022
Denver nonprofit is collaborating with Ping Identity to offer turnkey apprenticeship solution
DENVER – ActivateWork, a leader in connecting employers to a diverse pool of exceptional talent, is expanding its efforts to train and place aspiring information technology (IT) professionals with top employers in the greater Denver area through a new collaborative effort with the American Institutes for Research (AIR) and CompTIA.
ActivateWork is the latest organization to join CompTIA Apprenticeships for Tech, a United States Department of Labor (USDOL) standards-based Registered Apprenticeship program that is helping employers fill their current and long-term IT staffing needs and creating employment opportunities for people from diverse backgrounds who are underrepresented in the current tech workforce.
As an intermediary organization in the program, ActivateWork is delivering turnkey apprenticeship solutions for employers like Ping Identity that will provide job access to Coloradans who have traditionally been sidelined from lucrative careers in IT.
“Collectively, we want to change the face of IT in Colorado, adding more people of color, women, veterans, and those without a college degree,” said Kathryn Harris, chief operating officer at ActivateWork. “We believe that talent is equally distributed, but opportunity is not. Our employer partners are opening doors to great careers and simultaneously building a Colorado that works for all.”
Colorado has over 30,000 open cybersecurity and coding jobs with an average salary of over $100,000. The state’s IT workforce is 77% white and 79% male. At the same time, over 500,000 Coloradans live in poverty. Poverty rates for young adults are disproportionately high, and Black, Indigenous, and Latinx Coloradans are more than twice as likely to live in poverty.
“We have partnered closely with ActivateWork to develop Colorado’s first DevOps apprenticeship and are committed to hiring candidates from their program to support modern apprenticeship pathways in Colorado for IT,” said Jennifer Arzberger, Ph.D. and Ping Identity Champion of Learning. “We look forward to exploring additional tracks; including cybersecurity and software engineering as we scale our partnership.”
Training delivered through the apprenticeship program is based on National Guideline Standards created by CompTIA and approved by the USDOL. These standards detail the competencies in technical and employability skills that apprentices need to join the IT workforce in five high-demand occupations: tech support specialists, network support specialists, cybersecurity support technicians, tech project coordinators and data analysts.
The USDOL selected AIR and CompTIA, the nonprofit association for the IT industry and workforce, to serve as a national Industry Intermediary for expansion of apprenticeship in tech occupations. For more information visit https://www.comptia.org/content/lp/apprenticeships-for-tech.
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About ActivateWork
ActivateWork is a nonprofit recruiting, training, and coaching firm that connects employers to a diverse pool of exceptional talent. Traditional hiring processes leave valuable talent out. We help employers solve talent gaps by finding promising candidates in underrepresented communities and preparing them to excel in new careers.
Our proprietary behavioral screening process, rigorous skills training, and 12 months of on-the-job coaching prepare our learners to be valuable new hires, with a one-year retention rate 36% higher than the industry average. And with an average starting wage of more than $20/hour, our model is one of few proven to launch people to lasting economic freedom. https://www.activatework.org/
About CompTIA Apprenticeships for Tech
CompTIA Apprenticeships for Tech is a national initiative funded by the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL) to increase the number of skilled technology workers and expand tech career opportunities for diverse populations, including women, individuals with disabilities and people of color. https://www.comptia.org/content/lp/apprenticeships-for-tech.
Media Contacts
Steven Ostrowski
CompTIA Apprenticeships for Tech
sostrowski@comptia.org
630-678-8468
Susan Hobson, MPH
ActivateWork
apprenticeships@activatework.org
970-736-7436
Monique Cooper-Sload
Recruiting & Admissions Manager
Monique Cooper-Sload
Monique is the Recruiting and Admissions Manager at ActivateWork. She has over 15 years of teaching experience with Denver Public Schools and has been a successful career coach and mentor in the Denver community. As the Recruiting & Admission Manager, she oversees the pipeline of applicants and leads the outreach and enrollment process training. In addition, Monique promotes ActivateWork’s mission to prospective students through community outreach, digital engagement, and partnership development. Monique is committed to the success of all learners without exception. She is an advocate for DEI and enjoys work that supports people in discovering their full potential. In her free time, she enjoys socializing. Going out for a cup of coffee, spending time with her family or meeting up with friends. She also spends time walking around the city and enjoying the sunshine. On some other days, however, when she is tired, she takes time to just listen to some music, or watch a documentary.
Second chance for a Colorado veteran thanks to breakthrough IT training program
June 11, 2022
By Carol McKinley
Quasey Vinson gave his kindergartner a taste of a faraway place. “Could you possibly mix pineapple juice with apple juice?” he asked the waitress.
“And a mahi-mahi taco?” asked Tyrese, who is missing his two front teeth. Vinson ducked his head at the extra expense. "One mahi-mahi please and the rest chicken."
The request was in line with the 5-year old’s pre-school graduation bucket list wish: a trip to an exotic island. The tropical treats were a father’s compromise. “You want to go to an island? We can’t do that now. Someday we’ll do that.”
Vinson, 47, feels pretty good about his chances for a full life with Tyrese now that he has a new career in computer technology. After beating his head against the wall in a life of jobs that were leading nowhere, he took on a program to learn computer skills which he knew would increase his value to employers salivating to fill urgent needs in IT.
The fact that he landed in Denver after leaving the Army was a happy coincidence. Denver Metro’s share of national tech jobs grew by 2% from 2015-2019, according to the Brookings Institute, and is considered a rising star in the industry. El Paso County is also a technology hub, and it is currently hurting for IT experts. Numbers from the Colorado Springs Chamber and EDC show that from around 28,500 openings last month, nearly a tenth of those were for software developers, computer systems engineers and information security analysts.
Statewide, according to the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, Colorado is suffering from a critical IT worker shortage. The latest numbers show that of 115,000 open jobs in Colorado, 15,863 are in the computer technology and mathematical fields.
Vinson filled one of those op when he accepted a job three weeks ago.
“I’m in a better spot as far as having my own place, an apartment. My son can stay with me so I him on every weekend instead of sparingly,” said Vinson, who credits an unconventional training and placement program called Activate Work for his recent good fortune.
The journey hasn’t been easy.
Just two years ago, the Army Corps of Engineers veteran was down and out having moved to Colorado to start a family with Tyrese’s mom. That failed relationship plus the pandemic had him struggling to make ends meet even though he was working two jobs.
“I worked as a restaurant line cook and I was also working at a warehouse. I enjoyed those jobs, but I wasn’t going anywhere.”
When Vinson was feeling at rock bottom, a Veterans Affairs counselor handed him a recruitment flyer for a non-profit called Activate Work which promised free tuition, materials hardware, exam fees and career counseling to people who were willing to take its 15-week job computer science training program. The kicker? It was free.
Too good to be true?
Vinson found out that Activate Work was for real. But that the commitment would require a dramatic lifestyle change. Vinson went through two interviews just to be accepted into AW’s program.
“They liked my eagerness to learn and my willingness to do something different,” said Vinson. When he graduated in Nov. 2020, he was part of AW’s second class. “After covid hit and everything was shut down I wanted to add to my skills. I wanted to add something else to my resume for when the economy opened back up.”
Activate Work’s founder and president, Helen Young Hayes was on the same thought wave. When COVID19 began, Hayes foresaw that once the pandemic was over, employers would be starving for reliable employees. She also correctly predicted that not only would people lose retail and fast food jobs with the evolution toward automation, but that Information Technology could provide a firm landing for those displaced workers.
“What we saw during the pandemic was a bigger move to working from home. And 40% of the people who were in economically cyclical industries and displaced in Colorado during the pandemic say they were looking for a career before it started,” said Hayes. “There is a difference between a job and a career.”
Her solution? A focus on a population struggling to achieve financial security. It appeared to be a win-win.
Activate Work, recruits marginalized workers whom she calls “diamonds in the rough,” who have been laid off or are disillusioned in a nowhere job. AW trains and coaches them, placing them with Colorado companies desperate to fill thousands of empty IT positions.
People like Vinson who are accepted to the Activate Work program go through a fast-track IT program as opposed to getting a college degree, which Hays believes is an unnecessary expense for that particular discipline. “IT used to recruit 4-year computer science graduates. But there’s a million person IT talent shortage in the U.S. We have a real macro problem for IT,” said Hayes. “This is what employers tell us they want. This program moves people to the middle class really quickly.”
Among the Colorado companies which use Hayes’ IT placing program are First Bank, Ping Identity, Bank of America, Trimble, and Denver Health. Companies pay a fee for the service and continued training and Hayes supplements that with philanthropy.
Learners, as AW calls its trainees, have been known to triple their annual salaries once they are placed. The average starting pay for prospective workers who go through Activate Work’s program begins at $20 and the retention rate is one year, which is around 35% higher than the industry average.
Hayes said all it takes for people like Vinson is the willingness to go through the training and a desire for a better life. “We look at individuals who are struggling to make ends meet. Historically Colorado ranked 12th in overall prosperity but we ranked 37th in terms of racial inclusivity. We don’t target diversity for diversity’s sake,” said Hayes. “Our goal is to get them to the point where they can take care of their families and are driving wages instead of barely getting by wages.”
Besides the training, AW devotes one day a week to help learners target their goals and write resume’s. Behavioral health is also a component of the training.
A mental health turnaround was exactly what Vinson needed. With his unemployment money, he bought a computer for virtual classes. His next goal is to purchase a vehicle. He resolves technology issues hands on at 9th Way Insignia, a cyber security and software development business within the Department of Veterans Affairs which has a branch in Colorado.
One day he’ll take Tyrese to build castles in the sand.
“I’m in awe. I get tears sometimes when I think about the journey,” said Vinson. “Things are moving up.”
Colorado has had a shortage of cybersecurity professionals for years. Here’s how that’s going.
Colorado schools like MSU Denver have ramped up cybersecurity programs as the world’s thirst for cyber protection grows. But it’s not just about a college degree.
June 9, 2022
By Tamara Chuang
The pressure was on. Someone, somewhere, was attacking computer systems so customers couldn’t reach certain websites. In a windowless room in Denver, Zack Privette had worked all morning with his security team to figure out what the cyber strangers were up to.
“What’s happened is that we have an attacker who has been going through our different websites and they found a vulnerability into our active directory and …,” Privette explained to Richard Mac Namee, identified as chief operating officer of the company under attack.
“OK, I’m not technical. What does that mean?” interrupted Mac Namee, who is really the director of the new Cybersecurity Center at Metropolitan State University of Denver. And he’s actually quite technical.
This was a simulation.
The makeshift “Cyber Range” command center inside MSU Denver’s Cybersecurity Center had multiple TV screens showing ominous maps of live cyber threats. It’s part of a unique training ground for students, recent grads and people who don’t even attend the college but are interested in cybersecurity careers.
Privette, who isn’t an MSU student, got to experience the Cyber Range program because it’s open to outsiders. The industry needs more outsiders. According to one estimate, there are 66 cybersecurity professionals for every 100 job openings nationwide. It’s tighter in Colorado, where there are 59 for every 100. And demand is growing faster than training programs like MSU can graduate.
Mac Namee is behind the school’s Cybersecurity Center and getting the school designated as a National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense in March. A former commander in the United Kingdom’s Special Forces who’s worked as a specialist in counterterrorism, Mac Namee keeps it practical. During the simulation, he pretends to be an ordinary company executive. Students must figure out how to explain the cyber mayhem to non-techies — and fast!
The makeshift “Cyber Range” command center inside MSU Denver’s Cybersecurity Center had multiple TV screens showing ominous maps of live cyber threats. It’s part of a unique training ground for students, recent grads and people who don’t even attend the college but are interested in cybersecurity careers.
Privette, who isn’t an MSU student, got to experience the Cyber Range program because it’s open to outsiders. The industry needs more outsiders. According to one estimate, there are 66 cybersecurity professionals for every 100 job openings nationwide. It’s tighter in Colorado, where there are 59 for every 100. And demand is growing faster than training programs like MSU can graduate.
Mac Namee is behind the school’s Cybersecurity Center and getting the school designated as a National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense in March. A former commander in the United Kingdom’s Special Forces who’s worked as a specialist in counterterrorism, Mac Namee keeps it practical. During the simulation, he pretends to be an ordinary company executive. Students must figure out how to explain the cyber mayhem to non-techies — and fast!
“So, 14 minutes of outage,” Mac Namee said. “Fourteen minutes with our athletes and the way they’re trying to log on, that’s quite a big problem. How will we resolve this?”
Privette went on to explain that there was a backup so the data is safe. But he acknowledged the attackers were still inside the system and his team was now trying to figure out if data had been stolen. His team thinks credentials were taken, but he doesn’t think the theft involved customers’ personally identifiable data, he said. Mac Namee gave him an hour to figure it out.
How it’s going
Targeted training programs have been popping up nationwide for the past decade as nearly every business with a website, ecommerce offering or other internet-based operation must deal with data breaches, ransomware and other cyber threats.
According to the Identity Theft Resource Center, which tracks breaches and supports victims, the number of publicly reported data breaches in the U.S. more than doubled since 2015 to 1,862 last year. Regulations in Colorado and around the globe also put the onus on companies to protect customers’ personal data.
Back in 1999, partly to address the lack of qualified professionals, the U.S. National Security Agency launched its National Centers of Academic Excellence program. It certifies schools with a cybersecurity curriculum for cyber research, defense education and cyber operations. There are now about 380 colleges and universities in the U.S. Such designations require standardized cybersecurity curriculum, active challenges and professional development. There are 13 schools in Colorado and include state, community and private colleges.
The partnership with industry and MSU Denver is credited to Mac Namee, said Steve Beaty, a professor in the school’s computer science department. While Beaty started teaching cybersecurity courses in 2004, a cybersecurity degree debuted just four years ago. The new center and partnerships with private cybersecurity companies such as Atos, a European information technology firm that is now taking up space in the facility, really took off after Mac Namee arrived.
“He had the bandwidth. Some of us haven’t had the bandwidth to do a lot of this stuff. Atos is due to him,” Beaty said. “Richard is the one who put the fire under what’s going on here.”
And looking at the heat map of cybersecurity job openings at CyberSeek.org, the U.S. needs it.
Graduate Profile: Mamadou Diallo
Mamadou Diallo, an ActivateWork graduate of 2021, is a dedicated student of personal and academic growth. He spends much of his free time studying subjects of philosophy, computer science, and general well-being.
Before immigrating to the US from Senegal, Mamadou had completed his bachelor’s in biology. He worked as a mental health counselor and health technician for a while after graduation. While it was honest work, he felt that IT was where he wanted to be in the long run.
Mamadou’s interest in IT grew when he worked as a customer service rep troubleshooting iPads and desktops. When Mamadou moved to join his cousin in the US, he knew he would want to enroll in school and began studying computer networking at the Community College of Aurora.
He felt that doing so would give him a leg up in the job market and make him eligible for more diverse job opportunities.
However, the transition was difficult; despite his interest and passion, he found that the school’s affordability was taking its toll. He had begun applying for entry-level tech jobs to no avail. At the time, Mamadou didn’t have a strong resume, nor did he have the tech certificates to back up his skillset. He thought that all his years of IT work experience should have qualified, if not over-qualified, him for all the positions he was applying for.
“I just needed someone who could allow me to start from the bottom.”
One day, he had brought this sentiment to his friends at a barbecue his brother hosted, and someone from the BBQ told him about ActivateWork.
“He said they helped you with everything; school, resume, and getting a job, so I applied. I thought it was too good to be true,” he said.
The next day, he applied. When he came to ActivateWork, Mamadou had already stopped applying for jobs. He was discouraged by the requirements employers were asking for in entry-level positions.
At ActivateWork, he was given a team of support. Before long, Mamadou was flying through his coursework. He worked with Dulcy Booth, Director of Career Development, to spruce up his resume. With the help of Ace VanWanseele, Manager of Business Solutions, he applied for jobs until he landed a position as Advance Video Engineer I at Spectrum/Charter.
“I am so happy. This is real.” Mamadou had been self-studying IT material for years. He took courses online through sites like Udemy and read textbooks, but ActivateWork helped him fill the gaps where self-teaching fell short. “I am so grateful for what ActivateWork does.”
Aside from studying, Mamadou enjoys spending time with his friends. You can catch him playing soccer in our local parks or enjoying a meal at Noodles & Company. His longer-term goals include upskilling in areas including Python, Terraform, Docker, and Kubernetes. Ultimately, he hopes to work in Cloud systems where he can expand his diverse skillset.
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Understanding Intersectionality and Supporting Asian Americans
A Nonprofit Leader Celebrates Her Own Intersections and Works to Eliminate Inequities Experience By Others
May 11, 2022
By Helen Young Hayes
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, intersectionality is a sociological term meaning “The interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage.”
The original term was conceived in 1989 by Kimberlé Crenshaw, a civil rights activist and legal scholar. In the University of Chicago Legal Forum, Crenshaw described the multiplicative nature of intersectionality in which women’s rights and anti-racist policies can unintentionally exclude black women who experience discrimination unique to them.
I’ve been the only woman and the only person of color in numerous settings—corporate leadership, investment circles, philanthropic ventures, and advisory boards. I was also often the only first-generation Chinese American working mom in the room. Growing up, I downplayed the intersectionality in my life. But it was ever-present. During my years on Wall Street, I was often mistaken for my male colleagues’ assistant. I wasn’t invited to play poker or smoke cigars. I was even openly mocked by a previously cordial CEO when he realized, face to face, that I am not white. Now I both celebrate my own intersectionality and work to eliminate the inequity experienced by others.
Overlapping identities and experiences
People’s overlapping identities and experiences can compound their experience of racism, prejudice, inequity—and violence. The intersectionality of gender and race for Asian American women is starkly illustrated in the unprecedented explosion of hate crimes against the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community since the March 2021 murders of six Asian American women in Atlanta. While overall, AAPI hate crimes increased by 339% in 2021, Asian American women are more than twice as likely to be victimized as Asian American men. Recently I was in New York City; on a sunny afternoon, seven Asian American women were attacked in a spree of violence just blocks away from my hotel.
Sharp differences among Asian Americans
Broadly viewed as the “model minority,” stereotypical Asian Americans are regarded as highly educated, successful, conformist, and culturally monolithic. In fact, the AAPI community experiences the greatest—and fastest growing—income inequity of all ethnicities. Poverty rates among recently immigrated, less educated and Pacific Islanders place these communities among the poorest in America.
Similar contrasts among Asian women reveal that Pacific Islander and South Asian women, predominantly newer Americans working in service sector jobs, earn less than two-thirds of women of North Asian descent.
ActivateWork
I founded Denver-based ActivateWork in 2016 to help individuals achieve economic freedom through the dignity of work. We work to uplift all underserved communities, including Asian Americans experiencing financial hardship and those whom the government has historically underserved. Believing that talent is evenly distributed but opportunities are not, ActivateWork stands as a bridge to higher-wage careers in technology through credentialing and training. Twenty percent of our IT trainees are immigrants and refugees. Several have lived in Asian refugee camps. And many of our women graduates hail from Asian cultures where women have historically been under-represented in the workforce.
Sunita Shakya: Learner of ActivateWork
Meet Sunita Shakya, a 39-year-old Nepalese female residing in Denver with two children and a husband; she is a current learner in the desktop security cohort with ActivateWork. She immigrated from Nepal 11 years ago, is a mother, wife, learner-student, and speaks two languages, English and Gurkha (the native language of Nepal).
She earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and worked as a middle-school teacher for five years in Nepal. She continued her education in Colorado. But she took a break from school to raise her children. Now she’s ready and eager to return to contribute to her household income.
“I want to join the workforce because I want to support my family, and working is my passion,” she said.
When Shakya finishes her tuition-free training under ActivateWork, a designated coach will guide her through the job search, polish her resume and learn all the tips associated with interviewing for a job as a QA analyst or QA tester. The assigned coach will stay with her a year after her IT training to ensure she is on the pathway to a career in technology.
Colorado Inclusive Economy Movement
In April 2020, during the depths of the COVID pandemic, I was inspired to launch the Colorado Inclusive Economy Movement.
Having studied past economic shocks, I knew that this pandemic would hit people of color first and hardest, and that they would recover slowest, if ever. To change the narrative, we needed a movement comprised of CEOs and other community leaders to unite and build a Colorado that works for all.
With a powerful team of volunteers, we designed a comprehensive plan of action and accountability toward becoming the nation’s most inclusive economy. We have our work cut out for us. Colorado ranks 12th out of 50 states for overall prosperity but ranks 37th in economic racial inclusivity. We are 105 CEOs today and will be 140 strong in August. We commit to creating change: change in ourselves, change for others, and change in our recruiting, hiring, retention, and promotion practices.
Understanding intersectionality and supporting Asian Americans
I invite my fellow community leaders to support Asian Americans through a genuine commitment to personal and workplace change. Below, I share some suggestions to become a DEI champion. Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month is great time to start:
- Get curious. Educate yourself about why DEI is important. Learn about historical and current systems and processes that contribute to persistent inequity, prejudice, and racism. (The Colorado Inclusive Toolkit is a valuable diversity resource including longitudinal overviews like How We Got Here: Historical Context of Racism. MIT Press has published a series of Articles for Understanding: Systemic Racism and Social Justice.)
- Get close. About 40% of white people and 25% of people of color in America socialize with only people of the same race. Welcome and embrace new friendships. Proximity dissipates prejudice.
- Get inclusive. Invite everyone, especially individuals from under-represented communities, to have an active voice. Understand that many Asian Americans come from cultures that esteem humility and might not readily share their accomplishments or opinions.
- Get diverse. Learn new, equitable ways of recruiting, hiring, retaining, and promoting people of color. You won’t get different results with the same old HR practices. (See CIE Toolkit for tips.)
- Get involved. Mentors and coaches can be valuable allies to help diverse employees understand the unspoken norms and become advocates for younger generations of employees.
It’s a step in the right direction — embracing the all-encompassing identities of Asian American women. As we celebrate May as Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, let’s step up and embrace our mothers, our sisters, our daughters, our girlfriends, neighbors, and colleagues who are Asian American women by uplifting them, recognizing their work, crediting them for all their perseverance, and encouraging them to continue as leaders, supporters, and driving forces of our community.
Helen Young Hayes is the founder/CEO of ActivateWork and a founding leader for Colorado Inclusive Economy.
ActivateWork champions a diverse workforce through the IT and healthcare industries
Asian Avenue Magazine recap of April 6, 2022 - Elevating Colorado’s Economy by Launching Tech Careers
Last April 6, Governor Jared Polis applauded the work of ActivateWork
in building and creating an ecosystem of talented workers.
ActivateWork provides world-class technology training and credentials through its partner, Per Scholas, who has placed more than 15,000 IT professionals in 500-plus companies in 20 cities.
“Colorado is facing challenges in hiring,” Polis said. “We need the right
applicants for the right skills, for the right jobs.”
ActivateWork’s mission is to help underserved individuals achieve
their fullest potential through the dignity of work. Founded in 2016, the
organization is dedicated to transforming ambition into lasting success
by launching individuals into flourishing careers in IT and healthcare.
About 89 percent of ActivateWork’s learners are low-income, and
more than 20 percent live in extreme poverty when they enter this program,” said Helen Young Hayes, founder and CEO of ActivateWork.
“Many come from lower-wage jobs in retail, hospitality, construction, or
warehousing, while 10 percent are veterans and 70 percent are people
of color, accounting for 30 percent women.”
Hayes, who is Chinese American, shared during her speech that talent
can be found in underrepresented communities, but opportunities are
not available, so ActivateWork provides that bridge to connections.
As a champion of workforce development, Polis served as the keynote
speaker for “Elevating Colorado’s Economy by Launching Tech Careers.”
He discussed the state’s immediate needs for economic mobility. Last
June, Governor Polis signed two bills that invested $75 million to uplift
Colorado’s workforce training programs and expand access to all interested in pursuing apprenticeship pathways.
“This work is a step up to the visions on how everyone can thrive,” Polis
said.
In addition to graduates, employer-partners like PING Identity and
Bank of America are growing a strategic and diverse technology talent
pool through registered cybersecurity apprenticeships.
As ActivateWork builds additional training for IT courses, the goal is to
pave the way to economic mobility and prosperity for low-wage earners
from underrepresented and underserved communities. For more information about ActivateWork, visit ActivateWork.org.
Top Entrepreneur Finalist: Helen Young Hayes
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Top Entrepreneur Finalist: Helen Young Hayes
Founder and CEO | Activate Workforce Solutions, Denver
April 14, 2022
By ColoradoBiz Staff
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Helen Young Hayes, 59, founded Activate in 2016 after a long and storied career as a fund manager and chief investment officer. “I spent 20 years on Wall Street, most of that at Janus, and retired from the financial industry,” she says.
Then, after a 10-plus-year hiatus, she started Activate, a registered nonprofit, to help “end poverty for Coloradans.”
Now 11 employees, Activate takes a different approach to human resources that’s rooted in Hayes’ life story. Her parents immigrated to the U.S. as refugees from China. “In one generation, they were able to rebuild and take advantage of everything that is so wonderful about the U.S.,” Hayes says. “I feel I am a product of the American dream — I am the American dream.”
Growing up in Starkville, Mississippi — where Hayes’ school desegregated when she was in third grade — “left a big desire in me to help bridge the gap for people who are living outside of the mainstream of society and the economy,” she says. “I wanted to make the American dream more of a reality for more Americans. It seems un-American to me that poverty should be a life sentence.”
Hayes says Activate’s approach benefits both employers and employees. “We’re going to help find [employers] great talent that they’re normally going to overlook in traditional HR hiring practices,” she says.
Often immigrants, candidates are “hungry, humble and smart, but tended to be overlooked in the marketplace,” Hayes says. “We pick people who, on average, are making less than $13,000 a year. Their income typically triples to $45,000 a year.”
Activate has placed 175 people in full-time jobs since late 2016, and Hayes hopes to place 200 in 2022 and more than 1,000 in its next five years.
While she was grateful for her career in finance, Hayes says, “I have to say that it really pales in comparison to the satisfaction of changing a life, changing a family, changing many lives, changing many families.”
Activate Workforce Solutions
Activate Workforce Solutions is made up of purposeful and pragmatic recruiters and coaches that activate the potential of talented individuals. It is an employer-centric and people-focused recruiting and coaching firm, creating equitable paths for people seeking careers and employers seeking talent.
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