Have a Portland tech company?Tech in Portland
TechTown is a collaboration between the Portland technology community and Prosper Portland, Technology Association of Oregon, and the Columbia Willamette Workforce Collaborative. It is a showcase of Portland’s emerging tech hub, a collective commitment to cultivate a more diverse workforce, and a supportive community to help people from all backgrounds build their tech careers across the region.
Tech workers in Portland region
Employment growth since 2012
of tech workers in the region identify as female
The Pledge
Portland tech companies have joined the Diversity & Inclusion Pledge since its initial launch in 2015.
are employed by TechTown companies
believe their company supports employees from underrepresented groups
employees identify as female and 19% identify as a Person of Color
Pledge company employees completed our AllyShift training in 2018
The Diversity Pledge Community
Each of the companies in the Diversity Pledge have committed to cultivate cultures of inclusion and create a plan for increasing diversity in their organizations.
Add your Portland tech company!Case Study
ELI INTERNSHIP PROGRAM
A desire for cultural change, inclusivity, and a deep understanding of white male privilege created the necessary steam to get this program off the ground. As an ELI program partner, Thesis (formerly eROI) demonstrates their commitment to investing in leadership development within underrepresented groups and demonstrates how to face the tough realities of homogeneity, institutionalized bias, and white male privilege and address these issues with common-sense solutions that have a great impact.
Read The StudyMany if not all AWS Elementals yearn for a more equitable and inclusive company (and society!), so I think they are pleased with our efforts here. That said, we are wholly aware that there is much work left to be done to truly move the needle.
Inaugural results of the TechTown Diversity Pledge show that our collective diversity efforts have only just begun. Zapproved and fellow pledge companies will have to put in consistent efforts to find meaningful results. Embracing diversity as a corporate value, engaging in open and honest conversations, and keeping diversity/inclusion top-of-mind will be essential.
I can’t imagine baseball without Jackie Robinson, or tennis without the Williams sisters, but if we can’t make tech companies diverse, we risk cutting that greatness out of our industry. Releasing the data is critical to publish that we care, and to hold ourselves accountable for making true progress, and hopefully to spur other organizations to change.
Having the first female win the 2017 Tech Executive of the Year after 33 years of programming had our whole team glowing – we loved seeing more women on stage and see it as a small, but strong step in the right direction in the years ahead.
Along with being proactive about bringing in diverse people, (we) also need to make sure the environment is comfortable for all and treat all as equals.
We at Puppet think a diverse workforce is critical, to build the best products, to ensure that everyone has great opportunity, and to make sure that we’re recruiting from the entire market, not just a thin slice of the population.