As an organization committed to building an ecosystem of diverse, cross-sector technology policy leaders, TechCongress is proud to be the first organization in politics to offer a Diversity Referral Award, which, according to Kapor Center Founder Freada Klein, makes “a statistically significant difference in decreasing unfair treatment and increasing retention.” We give $500 to someone who refers a candidate from an underrepresented community to TechCongress’ fellowship program, if that candidate is accepted and joins the program.
Lack of diversity in Congress stems from many places, and as an organization that places technologies on the Hill–and as an organization dedicated to diversity, equity, and inclusion–we are committed to using our position to ensure that the voices of all orientations, races, abilities, socioeconomic, and genders are represented in government.
This year, we are proud to give diversity referral awards to:
Samara Trilling
James Tompkin
Kimberly Thomas
Dr. Harsh Bhatia
Susan Landau (who donated their award to the Southern Poverty Law Center); and
Gretchen Greene
In total, including previous years, we have awarded $7,500 through our Diversity Referral Awards.
We thank these award-winners–and all of those who have encouraged underrepresented groups to apply to TechCongress’ fellowship–for helping carry out our core values. If you know somebody from an underrepresented demographic who may be interested in TechCongress’ fellowship, please nominate them so that we may continue to foster diversity in government.