First-ever Tech Conference for HBCUs to Expand Access to Tech Careers
August 31 2021 - 10:00AM
HP Inc. (NYSE: HPQ) today announced an inaugural technology
conference for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)
with support from Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), Intel and
Microsoft. The virtual conference will promote learning, networking
and lasting connections to inspire digital transformation and
accelerate digital equity. 1
COVID-19 reinforced the new reality that organizations must
learn to pivot to a virtual environment in days, not years. For
HBCUs, which are engines of social mobility for many Black and
African Americans, forming the right partnerships to accelerate
digital transformation is key to being successful in this new
world. As part of HP’s ambition to become the world’s most
sustainable and just technology company, it is stepping up to
empower HBCUs to meet 21st century student needs through the HBCU
Technology Conference.
“The diverse talent that HBCUs foster are integral to driving
innovation not just in the tech industry but across all sectors.
Diversity is a business imperative; when we attract and nurture
people from diverse backgrounds and increase their representation
in the workplace, we can strengthen the company’s long-term
growth,” said Lesley Slaton Brown, chief diversity officer at HP
Inc. “We look forward to building on our existing partnerships with
HBCUs to raise the bar and put together this one-of-a-kind
initiative that can help build a more diverse, equitable and
inclusive society where HBCU students have equal access to
opportunity and their institutions are armed with the knowledge
needed to unlock transformational growth.”
HP has been partnering closely with HBCUs of different sizes and
from various states to obtain their strategic guidance in order to
create an inclusive and impactful experience for HBCU students, IT
staff and faculty/administration. The conference has dedicated
tracks for these groups because accelerating digital transformation
requires a cultural shift among all higher education stakeholders.
Five half-day virtual sessions will be held on September 14, 16,
22, 28, and 30. All HBCUs can attend for free.
“The HBCU Technology Conference will open and expand
opportunities for teaching, learning, collaborating, mentoring and
internships not only for our students, faculty and staff, but for
all HBCUs,” said Kimberly Ballard-Washington, president of Savannah
State University. “This event is a wonderful collaboration between
HP and HBCUs, helping to prepare the students to have a career in
various technology sectors and providing the digital transformation
needed now and in the future.”Preparing HBCU Students with
Tech Skills of the Future
The conference’s student track has a Future of Work Academy to
help students gain emerging tech skills (automation, machine
learning, chatbot, etc.) and demonstrate how students with
different academic backgrounds can build meaningful careers in
tech. Students can participate in a ‘Bot A Thon’ during the
conference and select finalists will have the opportunity to
interview for internship positions at HP and Microsoft next year.
Students can also access online learning programs such as HP LIFE
and the Microsoft Learn and Future of Work Academy Cloud Skills
Challenge to continue building their skills after the conference.
These comprehensive and dynamic offerings focused on helping
students build digital literacy are aligned with HP’s goal to
accelerate digital equity for 150 million people by 2030.
A Committed Partner for Long-term Success
In 2017, HP joined the HBCU Business Deans Roundtable as a
founding member. Since then, HP has partnered with HBCUs to launch
the annual HP-HBCU Business Challenge. The challenge provides HBCU
students with access to executive leaders, real-world business
knowledge and, ultimately, career opportunities in tech. Going on
its fifth year, this year’s theme is immersive technologies and
students are asked to use virtual reality technology to create a
new service or solution. Since the challenge started, more than 380
students across 46 HBCUs have participated, and select finalists
later became interns or full-time employees at HP.
In addition to the HBCU Business Challenge, HP launched an
innovative 3D printing learning pilot program at North Carolina
A&T State University last year. To drive a more diverse
pipeline in cybersecurity, HP partnered with Prairie View A&M
University (PVAMU) and presented the school with an endowment to
establish the HP Cybersecurity Scholarship. The scholarship will be
awarded each year to a student pursuing a degree in Computer
Science with a concentration in Cybersecurity. Earlier this year,
HP joined the HBCU Partnership Challenge to further strengthen our
relationships and programming with HBCUs. The Congressional
Bipartisan HBCU Caucus’ Partnership Challenge is an effort to
promote greater engagement and support between private companies
and HBCUs. HP’s growing investments in HBCUs demonstrate its
commitment to reflect the diverse markets and customers that the
company serves.
About HP HP Inc. creates technology that makes
life better for everyone, everywhere. Through our product and
service portfolio of personal systems, printers and 3D printing
solutions, we engineer experiences that amaze. More information
about HP Inc. is available at http://www.hp.com.
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ContactKelly Xie, HPKelly.Xie@hp.com |
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contained herein is subject to change without notice. The only
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1 Digital transformation is a series of deep and coordinated
culture, workforce and technology shifts that enable new
educational and operating models and transform an institution’s
operations, strategic direction and value proposition, according to
EDUCAUSE.
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