Pursuit
Based in the New York metro area, Pursuit is an innovative social impact organization whose mission is to close the prosperity gap in America. Each year, our work builds pathways to lucrative, long-term tech careers for hundreds of diverse, low-income, high-potential adults.
Paola was an administrative assistant, but she wanted more out of her career. She enrolled in and graduated from Pursuit, was hired by Buzzfeed as their first female mobile software developer, and became a leader in the tech community. She helped two other Pursuit grads land jobs at Buzzfeed; together, they comprise Buzzfeed New York's all-female, all Pursuit graduate team of software developers.
Financials
Programs
Empowering Low-Income Adults to Become the Next Generation of Software Engineers
Pursuit’s Fellowship program is a transformational workforce development intervention that creates lasting pathways to lucrative software developer careers for workers. We do so by providing supportive training as well as solutions to systemic barriers in workforce development. On average, our Fellows increase their income from $18,000 to nearly $90,000, and work at over 300 leading companies, including Citi, Uber, and Amazon. Fellows begin their journey with a full year of high-quality, intensive, and supportive training, followed by three years of career development once they’ve been hired. Pursuit also works directly with companies to change employer practices and secure hiring commitments, which helps ensure equitable employment practices, better job conditions over the long-term. To ensure our program is sustainable and scalable, we have also created a revolutionary funding mechanism that allows us to tap into both philanthropic capital as well as impact investor funding.
Volunteering + Events
COMPANY SHOWCASE
Highlight the impact your company makes on the tech industry. Help Pursuit Fellows to better understand roles, team structures, and gain insight into how engineering teams collaborate. We look for senior leaders to give an overview, followed by a panel discussion led by members of the technical or tech-adjacent team.
MOCK TECHNICAL OR BEHAVIORAL INTERVIEWS
Practice makes perfect! Work directly with Fellows who have recently completed training to help them prepare and ace upcoming interviews. Help them develop technical and non-technical interviewing skills based on your own experience and expertise.
ADMISSIONS EVENTS: WORKSHOP REVIEW
Help Pursuit select the next talented class of Fellows! During the Workshop Review, volunteers will help evaluate applicants in the Workshop Stage, designed to emulate Pursuit's classroom and virtual learning environment. You’ll observe and assess prospective students in the virtual classroom to help Pursuit identify talent based on qualities needed to be successful in the program. Training will be held for all volunteers at the start of the event.
ADMISSIONS EVENTS: INTERVIEW
Help Pursuit select the next talented class of Fellows! During Admissions Interviews, you’ll be paired with another seasoned volunteer to meet and interview three qualified candidates and hear about their backgrounds, their interest in the program, and evaluate their ability to solve problems. Volunteers will score candidates based on Pursuit’s interview rubric. This event is our most popular and meaningful volunteering event.
