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As the Internet industry explodes, CitySoft is building a technology firm based on talented, entrepreneurial employees from lower income neighborhoods. By bridging the so-called "digital divide", CitySoft intends to prove that high tech employers do not need to look abroad for employees. Given the potential to mentor future creators, developers, administrators and problem solvers, CitySoft believes one need look no farther than our urban neighborhoods.
Brandon Atkinson, Director of Business Development for CitySoft's New York office, spoke to UBMS students. He noted that "as a rapidly expanding Wed design firm, CitySoft has proven urban neighborhoods to be a viable source of skilled labor for the Internet industry." To illustrate this point, Atkinson referred to the partnership CitySoft has forged with UBMS, a business and technology educator to economically disadvantaged minority students in New York City.
Dr. Georgina Falu, founder of the UBMS and the Falu Foundation which supports the school's mission, said, "We train students in Silicon Barrio who make great employees in Silicon Alley." The success of UBMS alumni, of which 97 percent are placed in jobs following graduation, demonstrates that the students from the school's East Harlem community have the technical and professional skills to make an immediate impact for Web design companies.
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CitySoft was launched in 1997 by Nick Gleason and Jim Picariello. After working for several years in entrepreneurship and urban development, Gleason attended Harvard Business School in order to research how business and entrepreneurship could impact urban areas. The company evolved out of a class project and has grown steadily for the past two years. "Internet companies are beginning to realize that they should look in their own back yard before they look across the ocean to find skilled, entrepreneurial employees," said CitySoft Founder and CEO, Nick Gleason.
CitySoft is a high growth Internet company that builds leading edge Web sites and applications for high profile clients like Reebok, Polaroid and BankBoston. With offices in New York City's "Silicon Alley" and Boston, CitySoft partners with training programs, such as UBMS, to recruit and hire from under-represented urban areas.
UBMS is a key partner for CitySoft's New York City operations. |
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