Leading California Technology Companies Join Path Forward to Improve Gender Diversity
New York, NY (PRWEB) August 23, 2016 -- Path Forward, a non-profit organization that helps people get back to work after taking a career break for caregiving, today announced the launch of its California return-to-work program. Beginning in October, GoDaddy, Zendesk, Demandbase, Coursera, CloudFlare and Instacart will offer multiple jobs, in the form of 18-week paid internships, to give people who wish to return to the workplace an on-ramp back into their careers. The program is open to mid-career professionals with a minimum of five years of work experience who have taken at least two years out of the workforce to take care of their kids, their parents or other loved ones. Jobs span a wide variety of functions, including marketing, engineering and sales. Applications are now being accepted directly by each company and a complete list of opportunities can be found at pathforward.org.
Path Forward is committed to helping companies achieve greater workplace diversity by actively working to reduce the stigma that comes with a career break and connecting great companies to a diverse talent pool that often gets overlooked. In addition to internships, Path Forward program participants receive training and tools to transition back into the workplace and are connected to a support system of other returnees at partner companies.
“Gender diversity is paramount for our company,” said Auguste Goldman, Chief People Officer for GoDaddy. “Our customers are super diverse. To build the most innovative products we need a broad mix of diverse perspectives and ideas from employees. Our Path Forward partnership is another means to attract and retain talented professionals who are incredibly capable, but often overlooked.”
“We take pride that Demandbase is not just a great company, but is a great company to work for, having been chosen among the ten best in Silicon Valley. We are creating an open, transparent and, most importantly, inclusive culture that we believe will make us even more successful,” said Landon Pearson, VP Human Resources & Talent Acquisition at Demandbase “We joined Path Forward because we believe that we have an environment that will be very attractive to returning professionals and we are eager to leverage their skills and experience to grow Demandbase.”
“We are thrilled to be working with this amazing group of partners to empower moms and other caregivers to get back to their career,” said Tami Forman, Executive Director of Path Forward. “Through our program, we connect companies with awesome talent that often gets overlooked. Our work with the participants gives them the chance to support each other and gives them the tools to successfully restart their professional lives.”
Path Forward has run successful return-to-work programs in California, Seattle and Colorado with PayPal, Return Path, ReadyTalk, SendGrid, Moz, SpotX, and MWH Global. To date, 80% of program participants were offered employment at the company where they interned and 90% are now employed.
About Path Forward
Path Forward is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization on a mission to eliminate the bias faced by people who take time off from the paid workforce for caregiving responsibilities and to support gender equality in the workforce. Path Forward creates programs that empower people to return to the workforce after a career break and implement these programs at companies that want to help. Learn more about Path Forward and sign up to get updates about our upcoming programs at http://www.pathforward.org.
Quotes from Path Forward Partners
“Attracting the best people has been critical to CloudFlare’s success. We have worked hard to make CloudFlare a diverse and accepting environment where employees can thrive and do their best work. We are proud to partner with Path Forward to continue to grow our team. Together, we can solve some of the biggest problems online.” - Michelle Zatlyn, co-founder at CloudFlare.
“At Coursera, our mission is to create more opportunities for lifelong learning, and the same goes for our talent strategy. Taking a break from work shouldn’t be a barrier to having a fulfilling career. We are excited to partner with the Path Forward program to provide mothers and other caregivers with the opportunity to reenter the workforce feeling confident and empowered.” -- Lila Ibrahim, Chief Operations Officer, Coursera
“Here at Instacart, we take pride in helping our customers live the lives they want with the people they love. This is why we are partnering with Path Forward -- to give employees the chance to come back to the workforce with the freedom to live the life they want.” – Udi Nir, VP Engineering, Instacart
"At Zendesk, we have always believed in the importance of forging real relationships - with our employees, customers, partners and community. Our partnership with Path Forward connects us to incredible talent who understands what it means to put relationships first and possess true empathy for others. These are all traits that help make us a more successful company, so it's a win-win for everyone involved." – Jim Chauncey-Kelly, Director of Recruiting, Zendesk
Tami Forman, Path Forward, http://www.pathforward.org, +1 646-367-3905, [email protected]
Share this article