A new partnership has been launched aiming to transform the lives of black women across the North West - and inspire their entrepreneurial ambitions in the tech sector.
Innovation hub the Home of Skills and Technology (HOST), operated by IN4.0 Group, has partnered with socio-creative organisation Niyo Enterprise to support its expansion into the region, empower black women into tech, and offer fairer access to digital skills training and career opportunities.
In a bid to challenge gender diversity disparity, MediaCity-based HOST is collaborating with Midlands-based Niyo Enterprise to create a supportive community for them to access digital skills training and secure employment in the industry.
CEO and co-founder of Niyo Enterprise, Oyin Adebayo, said: “We are excited to be working with HOST and the wider Skills City co-operative to ensure that black women are part of pioneering change in the tech industry.
"Our major aim has always been to see as many black women as possible in high impact industries. We believe that with this partnership, black women would not just be able to dream but also create and thrive in the tech industry.”
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While 17% of women work in the tech sector in the Ƶ, only around 0.7% are from a black, African, Caribbean or black British background according to BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT.
Women from a BAME background are also less likely to have leadership roles in the tech sector, despite having a higher level of education than other groups.
The inclusion and support of black women will be applied across all of HOST’s Skills City academies which will include Black Codhers, a specialist software engineering bootcamp. That's as well as two Black Disruptor programmes, a data science and project management course for black women and an XR bootcamp focused on building 3D and immersive technology skills.
According to IN4.0, there is a "huge demand" from black women to learn new digital skills, as Niyo Network’s Black Codhers bootcamp recently received over 3,000 applications from all over the world.
As a result, it has upskilled 50 black women into software developer roles in high profile companies such as Citibank and KPMG.
Mo Isap, CEO of IN4.0 Group, operators of HOST, said: “Supporting diversity and inclusion and removing the barriers to entry to the tech sector is at the heart of Skills City.
"Our ambition is to continue to support women who remain largely underrepresented in the tech community, which is why in this exciting new chapter for HOST, we have committed that 50% of all our learners will be women.”
