The New England Venture Capital Association Spins Off Hack.Diversity Following Exponential Growth and Plans to Scale Program
Jody Rose to serve as President of Hack.Diversity and Ari Glantz takes helm of the NEVCA as Executive Director
The New England Venture Capital Association (NEVCA) today announced Hack.Diversity has become its own 501(c)3 entity and is now the association’s first social impact arm. This stems from the exponential growth Hack.Diversity — a workforce development program building bridges between growing tech companies and skilled minority talent — has experienced since its inception in 2016. Jody Rose, Co-founder of Hack.Diversity, will transition onto the NEVCA Board of Directors and serve as Hack.Diversity’s President, while Ari Glantz, an NEVCA veteran, will lead the NEVCA as Executive Director to continue its critical work of investing in the entrepreneurial ecosystem on behalf of the VC community in New England.
As President of the NEVCA, Rose started Hack.Diversity to further the NEVCA’s mission of building a more inclusive, collaborative, and prosperous innovation economy, by partnering with the area’s fastest growing tech companies to identify, develop and equip high-performing talent to launch careers in the tech industry. Over the last five years, Hack.Diversity grew its annual Cohort from 16 Fellows to over 130 per year, and expanded its roster of Host Companies to more than 30 per cycle. Altogether, it has matched more than 250 Black and Latin/x/a/o professionals into first jobs as software engineers, data analysts, and IT professionals, and is on track to grow this number to almost 400 by the end of 2022. The creation of an independent 501(c)3 supports this continued evolution and allows Hack.Diversity to expand its impact, donor base and geographic footprint, enabling members of the NEVCA community to contribute directly to that mission more efficiently.
“Hack.Diversity has enjoyed immense success over the last five years, and we continue to work toward an equitable and thriving tech ecosystem here in New England. Now is the time to build on that foundation and expand our reach, continuing to break down barriers and create opportunities in the workforce,” said Rose. “I’m grateful for my time at the NEVCA and all we have accomplished. Since I started in 2015, Ari has worked side by side with me and I’m looking forward to watching him lead the association in this next phase. His nuanced understanding of New England’s venture landscape, deep relationships with local investors and ability to build strong networks are as critical to the organization’s past success as they will be to its future.”
Rose’s full-time move to Hack.Diversity culminates an impactful six year run as the NEVCA’s President. During her tenure, the organization nearly doubled its membership, took on critical policy issues, expanded its event portfolio, and guided the venture community through the trials of a pandemic. Now, Glantz’s Executive Director role marks the next evolution for the association.
“From day one, our vision for Hack.Diversity was for it to deliver the impact and achieve the momentum to justify a spin out, and it’s been an exciting journey to see that vision come to fruition,” said Glantz. “As Executive Director, I’m looking forward to growing the programs we’ve built over the past seven years, and to exploring new and exciting avenues to serve our member firms and the regional ecosystem.”
