Opportunity Hub and MailChimp launch #AtlTechRiseUp Campaign

Opportunity Hub (OHUB), the world’s leading inclusive innovation, entrepreneurship and investment ecosystem building platform, and MailChimp, the world’s most powerful marketing automation platform for small businesses, partner to launch #AtlTechRiseUp, a campaign to increase the authentic inclusion of undertapped minorities at metropolitan Atlanta technology companies.

December 5, 2017 (Atlanta, GA)

Through #AtlTechRiseUp, MailChimp is challenging other Atlanta technology companies, software development firms, Fortune 500 companies, entrepreneurial support organizations, foundations, ecosystem builders and economic development agencies to join in sponsoring Opportunity Hub’s HBCU@SXSW initiative to bring college students from diverse backgrounds from across America to SXSW, the world’s largest interactive technology festival, March 9-12, 2018, in Austin, Texas.

The goal of Opportunity Hub’s HBCU@SXSW initiative is to raise $1.5 million to send 500 students to SXSW and ensure that all qualified students are hired for summer internships, preferably in metro Atlanta.

In addition to its corporate sponsorship, MailChimp is creating a $10,000 challenge and accompanying internship program. MailChimp’s ask is simple. Join the company in:

- Sponsoring at least one minority student to attend SXSW. The cost is $3,000 per student.
- Chipping in a little extra to ensure the students experience world class programming at prime venues during the festival.
- Creating competitive paying summer internships for these students that can be amplified in OHUB’s new ecosystem mobile app.
- Appointing a team member to attend SXSW and serve as a mentor to these students on the ground and long-term.
- Developing an internal team to ensure that their company’s culture is welcoming and nurturing for all, particularly minorities and women from socially disadvantaged and underrepresented communities.

“It costs $3,000 to sponsor a student to attend SXSW,” said Rodney Sampson, Chairman and CEO of Opportunity Hub. “This includes festival registration, on the ground housing, meals, programming, and round trip travel. Further, if companies budget between $10,000 - $15,000 annually, they can competitively pay an intern to work for the summer. If 500 companies did their part, we’d reach our goals.”

Over the last two years, 90 percent of the 150 students that have been sponsored to attend HBCU@SXSW have gone on to intern at tech companies; however, the majority of these students interned on the West Coast. Through #AtlTechRiseUp, MailChimp and Opportunity Hub would like to change that trajectory by fostering opportunities that retain and attract diverse talent to the metro Atlanta region.

"At MailChimp, we see firsthand that innovation thrives when people with diverse perspectives and from diverse backgrounds are represented," said Chimére Faison Barnard, Diversity and Inclusion Talent Scout at MailChimp. "Our experience at HBCU@SXSW has given us access to some of the brightest, most driven talent. That is why we are honored to partner with Opportunity Hub to intentionally direct our resources to help students gain access to tech careers and help diversify tech in our hometown of Atlanta."

Influencers are doing their part as well. Kent Bazemore of The Atlanta Hawks is sponsoring ten students from his alma mater, Old Dominion University, and Winston Salem University near his home town. Angel investor, Mike Ross, is sponsoring a student at Morehouse College. Real estate investor, Alicia Holmes, is sponsoring a student from her alma mater, NYU Stern, and will attend the festival herself. Southern University in Baton Rouge is sponsoring students and launching a campus chapter of Opportunity Hub in an effort to enable their students connectivity to recruitment and startup opportunities year round.

Other Atlanta sponsors include Delta Air Lines, Chick-fil-A, Carbice, Morehouse College Entrepreneurship Center and Peach State LSAMP. National partners include Capital One, Comcast, Facebook, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Spotify, Microsoft, Deloitte and more.

To learn more and get involved, visit AtlTechRiseUp.com.