IMPACT HUB AUSTIN REVEALS WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT ACCELERATOR COHORT
Impact Hub Austin officially launches Workforce Development Accelerator today with public happy hour and mixer tomorrow, April 12
(AUSTIN, TEXAS - April 11; source: Juice Consulting) - Coworking space and social enterprise community center
Impact Hub Austin today reveals the cohort that will be sourcing solutions for workforce development in Austin. Impact Hub Austin's
Workforce Development Accelerator will run from today,
April 11 to June 20, ending with a
Community Showcase Day in late June. Impact Hub Austin will also be hosting a happy hour-style mixer to present the members of this cohort on
April 12 at
Impact Hub Austin Monroe (411 W. Monroe St., Austin, Texas 78704) from
4:30 - 6:30 p.m. This event is open to the public and will give attendees the opportunity to meet the new cohort, mingle with mentors and engage with the broader community of stakeholders that are invested in addressing Austin's disparity in the workforce. Light bites and beverages will be provided. To RSVP, please see
here.
Companies and team members for this accelerator cohort include:
3 Day Startup
Brianna Kablack
Alexis Taylor
Alcye
Lav Chintapalli
Austin Coding Academy
Chris Lofton
Central Texas Allied Health Institute
Jereka Thomas-Hockaday
Hernandez Hospitality, LLC
Olivia Hernandez
KeyUp
Adam Chasen
Mary Hannah Duhon
Mariangela Marin
MediaTech Ventures Collective
Paul O'Brien
John Zozzaro
PelotonU
Navid Ladha
Hudson Baird
Workforce Inclusion
Ryan Steglich
Tasha McCarter
"This cohort is powerful; this cohort is diverse; this is a difficult issue and it is decentralized with multiple stakeholders," said
Ashley Phillips, Managing Director of Impact Hub Austin. "It is Impact Hub's desire to both support the viability and success of the individual ventures and to remove degrees of separation in this large workforce network, thereby creating efficiencies where they have not previously existed."
Information on the Workforce Development Accelerator and the program schedule can be found here with more details to come. The accelerator is focusing primarily on, yet not exclusively, three industries of significant job growth: healthcare, IT and advanced manufacturing. Ventures chosen for the cohort were asked to detail how their ideas or work could be applicable in these specific industries. The decision to focus on these industries was based on thousands of hours of research that have resulted in the Capital Area Workforce Solutions 10-year workforce master plan.
Impact Hub Austin has partnered with
Capital Area Workforce Solutions for the accelerator as well as sponsors
Google, JP Morgan Chase, BuildFax, Capital City Innovation & Digi.City and mentors from Austin's for-profit and nonprofit sectors. These mentors consist of industry leaders, experts and business professionals, all with the goal of helping teams overcome major challenges when building their ventures.
"Public and private sectors are coming together to solve the biggest challenge of our modern era - how we adjust, upskill and prepare our workforce for the jobs of the future," said
Chelsea Collier of Digi.City. "This is not just about matching jobs for the working poor. This is Impact Hub Austin supporting the community in preparing for a fundamental shift that will impact us all and affect our two primary economic systems: workforce development and education."
The Accelerator is also gathering support from Austin's elected leadership, including Mayor Adler.
"Austin creates more middle-skill jobs than any other city in the country but we don't match the people living here to those jobs," said
Mayor of Austin Steve Adler. "This is a huge opportunity for Austin, and I love that Impact Hub Austin is creating platforms for collaborative work around solutions."
"There are more than 99,000 families in our region that are not making a living wage and, of those families, more than 77 percent are employed," said Ashley Phillips. "It is unconscionable that a city with 37 percent growth in gross metropolitan product would have this level of inequity. We can do better."
About Impact Hub Austin:
Impact Hub Austin offers a powerful combination of mission, community and space to support game-changing ideas for social impact. At once an inspiring coworking space, incubator and community hub, Impact Hub Austin connects local entrepreneurs and creatives to a global movement for good. To learn more about the Affordable Housing Accelerator (AHA) or Impact Hub Austin, visit
www.impacthubaustin.com.
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MEDIA NOTE:
For press inquiries about Impact Hub Austin, interview requests or media RSVPs to the Workforce Development Accelerator Mixer on April 12, please contact Juice Consulting:
Heather Wagner Reed Tyler Ostby
713 208 3891 210 854 9119
heather@juiceconsulting.com tyler@juiceconsulting.com
