General Assembly is working with diverse groups to bring strong talent to its industry and open doors for underrepresented individuals.
Understanding the lack of diversity in tech fields, New York-based General Assembly partnered with tech giant Adobe to open the Adobe Digital Academy in 2016 to close the tech skills gap and bring more women and minorities into the field.
The academy works with nonprofits and minorities to educate them on web development and critical technology skills and gives them the experience to join the Adobe team and close the skills gap. Since 2016, Adobe has awarded 29 scholarships through General Assembly and eight full-time positions to students who went through the program.
Adobe Lightroom software engineer Vanessa Farias shared her experience going through the academy: “Adobe Digital and the LrW team supported me the whole way and gave me an opportunity to work toward a role at Adobe and that is invaluable.”
The experiences General Assembly and Adobe have given to people like Farias, along with training programs and job offers to diverse candidates, makes General Assembly the 2017 Optimas Award Silver winner for Corporate Citizenship.