With the COVID-19 pandemic continuing to cripple the economy, especially for young people of color, and complicate the education process for students at secondary institutions across the country, our work has never been more critical. Amidst marked declines in many activities, the pandemic has spurred a significant uptick in remote and digital experiences, giving students interested in computing careers a unique chance to seize previously non-existent positions — but without a strong community of support and representation, Black, Latinx, and Native American students will largely miss out on these opportunities.

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That is why ColorStack exists. That is what we believe in…and we aren’t alone.

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Today, we are thrilled to announce that several distinguished companies in technology and finance have partnered with us as founding sponsors:

Y Combinator and Jane Street Capital have sponsored us at the Gold level; JP Morgan, and Squarespace, and Point72 Asset Management have sponsored us at the Silver level; and Bloomberg, Twilio, McKesson, Datadog, Roblox, and Confluent have sponsored us at the Bronze level. The support of these organizations brings our total amount raised since launch up to over $325K.

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“We believe greatly in your vision and want to help support you as you scale your vision into reality.”

- Kevin Mottram (Director, Global Early in Career Talent at Twilio)

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Since its inception in May 2020, ColorStack has cultivated a community hosted on Slack of over 700 student members from over 300 schools across the country. Through series like “Cracking the Career Code” and events with professionals from companies like Lyft, Jane Street, and Instagram, we have equipped, inspired, and empowered our members. Our support has helped students secure internships at startups like Athelas (YC W19) and fellowships like the Bessemer Fellows Program — and we’re just getting started.

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“ColorStack is one of the only national organizations working to increase representation and ensure the success of Black, Latinx, and Native American college students in Computer Science. A diverse workforce brings the innovation, agility and creativity we need to be successful, and with so much of our business relying on Technology skills McKesson is proud to be a founding partner and a supporter of the mission at ColorStack.”

- Connie Huff, Program Manager of Campus and Diversity Relations at McKesson

Founding Sponsors will help us advance our mission to increase the entrance, retention and success of Black, Latinx, and Native American college students in computing. They will be recognized for 3 years as the founding corporate sponsors of ColorStack, in addition to receiving normal sponsorship benefits such as events with our members, a resume book, and even joining our Slack workspace to engage with our students all year round. With the help of our Founding Sponsors, we look forward to fast-tracking our community building efforts and creating new initiatives to aid our members in reaching their career goals.

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If you’re interested in partnering with ColorStack, email partnerships@colorstack.org! Please note, that we are no longer accepting “founding” sponsors and will open up regular sponsorship options for the Spring 2021 semester.