In the final quarter of our 2024 Campaign: “Immerse Yourself in the World of Words” our focus is around leaving a legacy and giving back, and we will have some exciting news to announce on our continued partnership with Action for Children (AfC) in 2025 – so watch this space.
Outside of this initiative, we do have a new client, DiversITy-talent, a Community Impact Company (CIC) that aligns perfectly with C8’s core values around giving back, our long-term support for AfC, and our social responsibility ambitions.
Creating opportunities for untapped pools of diverse talent
DiversITy-talent’s ambition is to introduce IT and digital careers to underrepresented and disadvantaged community groups. It is creating opportunities for untapped pools of diverse talent by changing misconceptions of a career in modern business and technology. This includes people from disadvantaged backgrounds, women, and those with criminal records or troubling behaviours.
DiversITy-talent wants to bust through the myths that IT careers are all about coding and instead introduce people to concepts like design thinking, active listening and problem solving – which are the real skills needed to succeed in a digital world.
Anna Somaiya and Jeremy Blain are co-founders of DiversITy-talent and, with more than three decades of experience in technology leadership and corporate learning behind them, their mission is to prepare the next generation of diverse talent for success in today’s rapidly evolving world.
A 12-week school-based programme
DiversITy-talent does this through several routes. One is a 12-week school-based programme that sees young people collaborating to solve real-world problems using Agile processes. Requiring just two hours per week, the programme focuses on developing essential STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) skills, including data analysis, problem-solving, and scientific inquiry. Students work collaboratively to address societal challenges, enhancing their critical thinking and communication abilities, all while preparing them for future careers in a dynamic and engaging way. One group, for example, developed an app that helped older people be more alert to scams.
The idea behind the programme is that they see quickly how digital can be a force for good. They also learn that there are great career paths and, let’s face it, good salaries and benefits, in a career in technology.
These workshops are led by teachers, but also involve representatives from DiversITy-talent sponsors, who provide real-world expertise and insight into the IT environment.
So where does C8 fit into this?
DiversITy-talent has successfully gained some big-name sponsors who will be providing not just funds, but also expertise, access to their networks, and even careers guidance and possibly placements for any really bright young people identified by the programme.
To support these sponsoring companies, DiversITy-talent is committed to building their prolife around the new partnerships on LinkedIn with a campaign of posts, highlighting each of the sponsors and how their values align with DiversITy-talent, and other initiatives that they are involved in. It has appointed C8 to help achieve this.
Through a series of posts, we’ve already announced Coforge, which is a global digital consultancy, Drone City – a drone education specialist, and celebrated the support of grass-roots sponsor IIRIS – an Informa Business. Upcoming announcements include a major UK financial institution, as well as other sponsors.
But more help and support are needed as we go into 2025 and we are also looking at how we can broker access to other networks and potential sponsors, as well as providing DiversITy-talent access to our networks.
Get involved
If you are interested in finding out more, please click on DiversITy-talent’s KPI report and video testimonials from its 2023-2024 students, which highlight the positive impact of the programme. There is also a series of 3-minute videos on their website that provides more information. Or if you want further information about how you can get involved, please do get in touch with me directly via email paula@c8consulting.co.uk.