As an educational entity, Juno is in the unique position to be able to influence the makeup of the technology industry in Toronto and beyond. Now with over 1,000 graduates of our Bootcamp program, we’ve always sought to welcome students from diverse backgrounds. This year, we kicked off new Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) initiatives to strengthen EDI within our classrooms, in our workplace and among our team members. But there is so much more to be done.
Over the last year, we’ve had conversations with our team, our industry partners and other like-minded organizations about how we can come together to make a difference. As Juno’s founder, I recognize that one important way to help achieve this is to both increase and centralize our charitable efforts in order to make a bigger impact.
I’m excited to share the launch of the Juno Foundation, a charitable organization that seeks to increase the number of historically underrepresented individuals in the tech industry through a focus on three areas:
1. Community Outreach
There are already many existing organizations that serve communities of people underrepresented in the technology industry. The Juno Foundation will support Canadian organizations doing tech and coding-related outreach to groups underrepresented in the tech industry by providing grants and scholarships.
2. Training
Toronto and Canada’s tech communities need diversity, equity and inclusion training, but the companies who need it most may be least likely to prioritize it. Working with qualified partners, the Juno Foundation will organize training programs throughout the year for tech community members to participate in at low or no cost.
3. Diversity Reporting
Toronto and Canada need an organization to spearhead diversity reporting in the tech industry, looking beyond gender and particularly around the intersections of identities. The Juno Foundation will contribute to this effort, or in the absence of another group to spearhead the effort, the Juno Foundation will consider spearheading the effort itself.
The Juno Foundation is funded by Juno, its employer partners, as well as through alumni donations and grants. I’d like to thank two organizations in particular - Loblaw Digital and Lane Four - for their early support and funding. Additionally, I have pledged 1% of my equity in Juno to the Juno Foundation, through The Upside Foundation. Other Upside Foundation members include the founders of Wattpad, Wealthsimple, Borrowell, Hopper and more.
Our first initiative of 2021 is a series of workshops on anti-bias education, empathy and allyship, and discrimination and microaggressions, in partnership with Canada Learning Code. These hands-on workshops are geared towards individuals and companies who know they need to develop and practice skills to create a diverse and inclusive environment where employees feel like they belong. By the end of these workshops, you will have foundational tools that will help you attract, hire and develop the best talent.
I’m thrilled to share that the first of these sessions will be facilitated by Shavonne (Shav) Hasfal-McIntosh, who holds positions as a Diversity and Inclusion Consultant at Bright+Early and Diversity & Belonging Lead at Shopify. Shav has spent over seven years leading teams across employee experience, culture, and diversity & belonging for category-leading companies within the tech, CPG, and non-profit industries.
The first workshop, on the topic of Empathy and Allyship, will be held on April 30th at 2:00 pm EST. Tickets are priced at $50 per person, with all proceeds going to the Juno Foundation to fund future initiatives.
We do not want money to be the reason someone can’t attend this workshop, so if you’d like a free ticket to the event, it will be granted - no questions asked (space permitting, of course). Details for requesting a free ticket can be found on the Eventbrite page below. We expect this session to sell out quickly, so grab your tickets soon!
To learn more about the Juno Foundation or to make a donation, please reach out to us at foundation@junocollege.com.