Optimizely and Galvanize to Increase Diversity in Tech with Software Engineering Scholarships, Internships

Knowing that opportunities in the tech industry are not equitably distributed across gender and racial lines ? major tech leaders have employed and retained disproportionate numbers of white men over the last decade ? Optimizely and Galvanize are providing four scholarships and paid internship opportunities to those who identify as women, are people of color, are part of the LGBTQ or disability communities, or are military veterans.

Scholarship recipients will enroll in The Hack Reactor Software Engineering Immersive through Galvanize, a leader in developing talent and capabilities for individuals and corporations in technical fields such as software engineering and data science. Students will explore the fundamentals of computer science, full stack JavaScript, and the design/development of functional applications. The Hack Reactor Software Engineering Immersive ? scheduled to start January 2021 ? will take place over the course of 12 weeks.

"Before we can increase diversity in the workplace, we need to make continuing education more accessible to more people," said Galvanize CEO Harsh Patel. "We're proud to partner with Optimizely to improve representation in tech jobs, as it's well past time that our industry truly become open to everyone."

By participating in the bootcamp, recipients will have access to Galvanize's career services staff and impressive alumni networks ? across all of Galvanize's physical and online campuses, graduates earn, on average, annual base salaries of $90,000 or more.

The students will also be paired with a mentor from Optimizely, the world's leading experience optimization platform. Once the program is complete, recipients will start a three-month, paid internship at Optimizely. One of the internships will take place at Optimizely's offices in Austin, and three of the internships will take place at their headquarters in San Francisco.

"We believe in increasing diversity and inclusion in the tech community," said Optimizely Senior Director Of Engineering, Peter Oh. "We have had successes with great diverse engineering talents coming through the program. These scholarships will open the door to valuable new possibilities in the world of software engineering, and we look forward to inviting talented individuals to join the Optimizely team this spring."

Tech bootcamps like the Hack Reactor Software Engineering Immersive can help professionals advance their skills as they pursue new opportunities with their current employers, or as they prepare to make a career change. The demand is definitely there: According to a Burning Glass Technologies analysis of 26 million online job postings in the U.S., jobs that required coding skills not only paid more than those that did not, but were growing at a faster pace than the job market itself.

The current scholarship application is open from Sept. 8, 2020 through Oct. 18, 2020.

To learn more about the scholarship, including frequently asked questions and an outline of the application process, visit https://iownit.optimizely.com/.

About Optimizely
Optimizely's leading platform offers a complete set of digital experience optimization technologies, including AI-powered personalization and experimentation, which encompasses A/B testing, multivariate testing, and server-side testing. We take out the guesswork to enable brands to deliver relevant experiences driven by data. The world's greatest brands choose Optimizely to win and compete in the digital economy, including Gap, StubHub, IBM, The Wall Street Journal, and many more. To learn more, visit optimizely.com.

About Galvanize
Galvanize is a learning community for technology with eight physical campuses across the U.S. where innovative startups, aspiring students, and large enterprises benefit from a dynamic, unique technology ecosystem. Galvanize is an industry leader in technology education, offering the Data Science and Hack Reactor Software Engineering immersive bootcamps that propel careers and help individuals thrive in the digital economy. In addition to its physical campuses, Galvanize offers full-time and part-time immersive bootcamps to individuals remotely, and tailored workforce training to enterprise clients to address each of their unique needs. With 8,000+ graduates, Galvanize alumni have gone on to bring their talents to over 2,250 companies. Galvanize is a subsidiary of K12 Inc. (NYSE: LRN), a premier provider of innovative, high-quality online and blended education solutions, curriculum, and programs to students, schools and enterprises in primary, secondary and post-secondary settings. Learn more at www.galvanize.com.