Project Tandem

We want to improve pathways to top professional careers by connecting with underrepresented communities over authentic cultural experiences.

2021, a cohort of 20 students and deans from an HBCU were sponsored to attend the Monterey Jazz Festival. We have been volunteering and attending the festival for half a decade, and saw this jazz fest as an opportunity to strengthen pathways between Silicon Valley and HBCUs. This small effort generated a great deal of momentum and interest from among the Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Hispanic Serving Institutes (HBCUs/HSIs), Monterey Jazz Fest, and Big Tech Leadership.

2022, we acquired sponsorship for ~50 HBCU and ~80 HSI students who participated in career enrichment workshops. This generated innovative forms of DEI engagement where leaders meet communities where they are at and where executives engaged through authentic exchanges while strategizing DEI efforts with other leaders. The program was celebrated with the first-ever Gospel Worship event at MJF, sponsored by Google.