Three University of Hull students who were “shocked” by a lack of diversity in their computer science cohort set out to change the face of the tech industry at large.
Four years later, the organisation Ola Otaiku, Bernard Kambasha and Andre Hitchman set up to achieve that continues to make real change.
Xuntos provides their community of people from historically under-represented groups with details on new jobs and opportunities and advice on how to get ahead in the tech industry.
All three have jobs outside of the not-for-profit venture, and support their hundreds of students and graduates who have signed up to the community in their spare time.
Ola, originally from Hackney, said the aim was to establish those that had been historically under-represented in the industry by providing a platform for them to network and learn from other people at different stages in their careers.
The 23-year-old, who now works as a software engineer for Sky, said: “In our cohort of 300, fewer than ten of us were from BAME [black and minority ethnic] backgrounds. And even more shocking was that there was only one black female student.
“We had come from diverse backgrounds and we came to Hull and it really dawned on us what we were up against.”
He said the group started through “small efforts” in developing a group of fellow students to share experience and knowledge with to try and maximise their opportunities at university and their subsequent careers.
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“We wanted to make sure we got the most of our student experience in Hull and that extended to helping other students across the cohort,” he said.
It was around the time Ola and Bernard arrived in Hull that a study from HESA, the body which provides statistical analysis on higher education in the 海角视频, showed that computer science graduates from BAME backgrounds went on to have higher unemployment rates among their cohorts than graduates of other disciplines.
It also revealed a higher student dropout rate - something which Ola attributes to a “lack of community”.
“It’s a continued pattern we’ve seen across many universities,” he said.
“They don’t see people like them studying what they’re studying.
“And all that played a part in us starting Xuntos, a lot of the work we do is about trying to bring people together in our community to help establish themselves.
“We saw a lot of communities and companies helping people to get into finance or medicine, but not tech - but now there has been an increase in those people pursuing careers.”
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Bernard, originally from Brentwood in Essex, said: “It was our experience at university and speaking with others that made us realise the importance of Xuntos.
“We saw it as something we had to commit to.”
Much of the work Xuntos does revolves around travelling to different universities, running workshops for students and new graduates.
The group has held events at Oxford, Hertfordshire and has returned to Hull, and supports students at the University of East Anglia, Brunel and universities across the Midlands.
They had planned to continue travelling across the country and providing workshops before coronavirus saw campuses deserted.
Now Bernard has said he believes there should be more support for students and graduates who have been badly affected by the pandemic.
“There are is a lot of talk about people on furlough, but students are some of the hardest hit because they don’t already have jobs,” he said.
“We know people who have had placement years put on hold, internships put on hold or cancelled, and that’s a significant issue.
“And it really does play a lot on people’s mental health if they had all this hope and it’s not been fulfilled due to a pandemic that no one could have controlled.”
Like countless other businesses and groups, Xuntos has had to move its operations fully online.
Thankfully, the group have become adept at managing their work online and communicating with each other and the students and graduates they support, who are based all around the country.
“And in this time we’ve seen a massive increase in our community and people engaging - in the last two months we’ve had more than 150 new followers on Instagram and we’ve been running a live series talking to people from the industry,” Ola said.
Xuntos has also had plenty of interest from industry heavyweights like Google, JP Morgan and Vodafone in the community events they have offered.
And while the group can charge those companies to provide their services, they continue to provide support for their community of students and graduates for free.
The founders said all the money made from companies and universities sponsoring their workshops and other services was reinvested to support the community on Xuntos.
Andre, who was two years above Bernard and Ola studying computer science in Hull, had started his own group with very similar aims to Xuntos before they had arrived.
It was in 2016 that the group first put those ideas together to form the platform which has now supported more than 1,200 students and graduates in tech.
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Andre said: “Just by being a part of the community and going to these events and taking part in other initiatives, people end up hearing about people looking for people like them and building those support networks.
“It’s now people from the community giving back to it.”
Andre, now 27, has been part of the tech industry for four years, actively fighting for more BAME representation in his own workplace, where he is an Android software developer, at Kin and Carta.
After the trio had all left Hull, Sonia Bello, now Women In Tech lead for Xuntos, took up the mantle of running the service which she had benefited from herself while still in the city.
“I think I’m really fortunate to have Xuntos and Ola, Bernard and Andre as friends, because it was a big surprise when there was 500 people on my course and I felt fortunate to have four black girls with me,” she said.
“But it was a big culture shock and quite overwhelming.
“I was really fortunate to have them there to give me those answers and support me through coursework and deadlines.”
Professor Becky Huxley-Binns, pro-vice-chancellor for education at the University of Hull, said: “We would like to share our pride and congratulate our former students Ola, Bernard and Andre for launching Xuntos – we wish them the very best with what is such an innovative and pioneering start-up company.
“As a university, equality and diversity are integral to our vision and values. We remain committed to ensuring opportunity for all, and are delighted to see Xuntos succeeding in the tech industry.”
For more information on Xuntos, visit