Right now, Black and Latinx people only make up around 5% - 8% of the tech workforce. Women account for a mere 1 in every four tech jobs. For Native Americans and Indigenous groups, employment numbers are even lower, at around 1% at leading tech companies. These numbers reflect an improvement over the last few years, but this is not nearly enough.
The tech industry sets out to serve a remarkably diverse world. To accomplish this, the industry itself has to reflect that world. At Virtasant, we understand the need to embrace fresh perspectives, probe unexamined problems, and tap into unique ideas. We want to support the innovative minds that represent the groups and communities that are still getting left behind in tech.
To achieve this mission, we created the Future Leaders in Technology scholarship for students from these communities, who are pursuing careers in tech.
The scholarship is open to high school students who plan to pursue a degree in computer science, electrical engineering or data science. You must also be a member of an underrepresented group, including: Black or African American, Hispanic or Latinx, American Indian or Native American, LGBTQA+, and Women.
What area of tech are you interested in studying and why? Tell us about a problem that you hope to solve by way of your future education and career in tech.
The application deadline is May 31, 2021. Winners will be announced on Jun 30, 2021.
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The scholarship award is $1,000. It will be awarded to 2 winners every 6 months.
The winner will be publicly announced on Jun 30, 2021. Prior to the announcement date, we may contact finalists with additional questions about their application. We will work with donors to review all applications according to the scholarship criteria. Winners will be chosen based on the merit of their application.
We will send the award check to the financial aid office of the winner’s academic institution or future academic institution in their name, and in the name of their institution (depending on the school’s requirements). If the student's academic institution does not have a financial aid office, the student will receive the funding directly.
Before we award the scholarship, the winner will be required to verify their academic enrollment status by providing a copy of their most recent transcript.
If you have any questions about this scholarship or the Bold.org platform, just email contact@bold.org and we’ll get back to you as quickly as we can.
Yes. The terms and conditions for this scholarship can be found here.