How scholarships support tech diversity and inclusion at Sterling Bank
How scholarships support tech diversity and inclusion at Sterling Bank
What do gender, age, cultural background, and lifestyle choices such as Viking beards, dreadlocks, and living in one's head have to do with creativity and developing great products?
The answer is not implausible, and you may be surprised at who holds the key to this perplexing puzzle. David is an aging millennial, an avid video gamer, a gym bunny, a nature enthusiast, and a talented techie!
Even though he works at Sterling Bank, David (not his real name) adores his Viking-style beard and the sartorial nonconformity that his role allows, which ensures he fits in with the trademark looks of his informal clique.
David is quite serious about himself. And he is incapable of dressing for work as if it were Harvard Commencement. His priority is to be purposeful rather than to adhere to insular codes. He is frequently shunned for his unconventional views on work, religion, and culture.
Almost everyone understands what it is to be excluded and how it feels. David's experience was more intense and recurring. His alternative viewpoints were never truly considered, and he never felt truly welcomed, valued, respected, or heard until he discovered Sterling Bank by accident.
His plug came from a dreadlocked videographer who worked for the Bank at a Decagon Institute event. The catch was his gadgets, not his dreadlocks – they were best-in-class. It turned out to be work tools given to the young creative in order for him to excel at his craft.
Collaboration with Decagon
At the same event, he later met the executive who leads the Strategy and Innovation Group. A female in her youth! Also, the hip and cool gang at the event was identified as the Sterling Talent Acquisition team. They are collaborating with Decagon to fund the education of tech talent in order to advance their employability and socioeconomic status.
David was ecstatic. This must be the tribe he had yearned for his entire life. The rest, as they say, is history, and he is now a member of the Bank's diverse team, drawn from every sector of society and engaged in meaningful work. Months after joining Sterling, he continues to be awestruck by the company's level of inclusiveness.
For the first time, he is collaborating with a greater number of female technologists. They are titans of industry, with one of them being named a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional for his significant work at Sterling.
Nothing brings David greater joy than the Sterling Grow initiative for secondary school graduates. It enables them to pursue a bachelor's degree at Nexford University in disciplines such as Artificial Intelligence, Analytics, and Digital Transformation. The Bank covers 85 percent of their school fees, reducing their tuition contribution to less than $500 for a bachelor's degree from an American university.
What is the source of his joy? Prior to joining Sterling Bank, David worked with a brilliant colleague from another organization, and despite his groundbreaking ideas and enormous potential, he was constrained by his lack of a polytechnic or university degree. Due to his age and education level, team members rarely listen to or pay attention to him. A misfortune for everyone involved.
David shares his diversity and inclusion Sterling love story with his network, believing that it is his duty and obligation to change that. Informing them that it is the wellspring of innovation and the pipeline for new-to-market products.
