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AUTMHQ UPDATES Hola and Hello!
As you may recall, in our previous issue, I shared some fun facts about the members of the AUTMHQ team. In this edition, I'd like to introduce you to Mia White, our Digital Media Specialist. I decided to tell Mia's story individually because she is an AUTMite who works part-time for Austin Urban Technology Movement while still working full-time at another company. This is what I consider an empowered woman in tech!
Mia's story exemplifies very well the work we do for our AUTMites. This year at the ReThink Austin event, I met this lady who was wearing beautiful black eyeglasses that made her look very trendy. I recall introducing myself to Mia, and that's how I found out she's an AUTMite. Mia seemed thrilled to be at our event, which reassures us that our efforts are paying off.
At the end of the Phenomenal Women talk, Mia approached Muna Hussaini, Head of ESG Governance at Indeed.com, to tell her that she had just revealed something during the session that had changed Mia's life, and they chatted for a while. Muna then offered Mia to submit her resume for a referral. Muna and Mia's interaction perfectly illustrates the mission of AUTMHQ. We organize #autmhqevents in the first place to provide networking opportunities for our AUTMites and other guests to meet people who can help them advance in their careers.
This is how AUTMHQ is reshaping the tech landscape, one AUTMite at a time.
Paty Sesma
VP of MarCom at AUTMHQ
ATX EVENTS
Building Promise USA to Host Hiring Initiative for Re-Entry Empowerment (HIRE) Event for Formerly Incarcerated Individuals
Austin, Texas, July — Building Promise USA (BPUSA), the coordinating agency for re-entry supportive services for the City of Austin, is hosting the first-ever Hiring Initiative for Re-Entry Empowerment (HIRE) Event. HIRE is a community-based effort designed to provide pathways for formerly incarcerated individuals to access workforce development training and gainful employment. Participants can expect to find personal and professional skill-building opportunities and leave the 2-day event with either gainful employment or job training opportunities that provide stipends and lead to job placement upon completion. Attendees in need of more re-entry support can sign up for BPUSA’s pilot program, the One Stop Shop Initiative, which will launch in the fall as the City’s first wrap-around re-entry service program.
HIRE has been organized to utilize the combined resources of partnering organizations that include Indeed, City of Austin’s Equity Office, Workforce Solutions Capital Area, Community Coalition for Health, Austin Urban Technology Movement (AUTMHQ), Indeed Transitional Outreach Ministries, the Travis County Reentry Roundtable, Time Done, and other Austin-based organizations that focus on serving this target population. This event serves as a bold first step to help reduce the recidivism rate among formerly incarcerated individuals to help them successfully reenter society. The HIRE event will serve up to 100 participants. During Day 1, participants will attend workshops focused on resume building, and best interview practices, and learn the soft skills necessary to finding and retaining gainful employment. On Day 2, employers and training entities will be hosting interviews and seeking to hire or enroll participants on-the-spot during the event.
The HIRE Event will provide participants with free transportation through bus passes or Lyft vouchers to help them get to and from the event. Lunch will be served on both days. Through a generous donation from Indeed, each participant will also receive a laptop computer, internet hotspot, and one year of free internet service upon completion of both days of the event.
The event details:
Saturday, August 20, 2022: 9 am - 5 pm Impact Hub Austin - North Loop 5540 N Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78756
Wednesday, August 24, 2022: 9 am - 5 pm Impact Hub Austin - Bouldin Creek 411 W Monroe St, Austin, TX 78704
TECH NEWS
What are the best perks tech companies offer?
Benefits such as unlimited PTO and mental health support are increasingly celebrated in place of the once-omnipresent "wacky" perks like ping-pong tables. Here's what's most common.
Silicon Valley has long been known not only for its tech jobs but for the lavish perks that come with them, like free gourmet meals and on-site recreation.
With the pandemic-triggered rise in remote work at tech companies, some of the perks designed to make employees happy to come into the office every day have subsided. In March 2022, Meta famously cut its employees’ laundry perk, leaving them to wash and fold their own clothes or pay someone else to do it.
Still, tech companies remain known for offering some of the most expansive employer perks and benefits, and not just in Silicon Valley. Startups and corporations alike — the latter of which often rely on large tech departments in every city — tend to offer sweet perks to stay competitive and attract top talent.
TECH NEWS
Investing in the Next Generation of Tech Talent
Tech companies are experiencing an unparalleled — and well-publicized — talent shortage.
The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Survey 2020 reported that 55% of companies surveyed identify skills gaps in the local labor market as the main barrier to the adoption of new technologies. After decades of conversations around improving diversity and inclusion in the tech industry in the United States and globally, many organizations have come to the conclusion that old practices and standards of hiring are holding the industry back from reaching its truest potential.
TECH NEWS
Remote work fuels major diversity boost at Meta
By now, companies and employees worldwide are well aware that there are benefits and drawbacks to remote working. One benefit that corporations are experiencing is improvement in employment diversity.
This week, Meta announced that it had exceeded its diversity and inclusion goals, citing the increasing prevalence of remote jobs in the company. The tech giant—the parent company to Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp—publicized its progress in its annual diversity report.
“For the first time, we’re hiring individuals who are fully remote and working from locations where we don’t have offices, increasing the diversity of our candidate pool and workforce,” Maxine Williams, Meta’s chief diversity officer, said in a statement.
TECH NEWS
Samsung expanding planned Central Texas factory to $184B investment
State incentive records show that Samsung is planning a major expansion to its upcoming superconductor factory in Taylor, east of Austin, thus drastically increasing the original $17 billion investment. Once complete, the superconductor factory could bring over 9,000 jobs to the Central Texas area.
Samsung now plans on investing $184.6 billion into expanding its chipmaking factory across plans 10 semiconductor plants, or "fabs," according to Chapter 313 filings with the state. Chapter 313 is a Texas incentive program that offers a property tax break from school districts in exchange for a project that brings jobs to the area and turns it into a tech manufacturing hub.
TECH EVENTS
Energy Education for the Future: Renewable Energy Deals and Economics
In the Renewable Energy Deals and Economics course, you will receive comprehensive training on all aspects of the transactions, data analysis, site development, and valuation of wind & solar energy deals. This course will educate and equip you with the tools and resources needed to calculate the value of renewable deals and prepare you to transact. Course Content:
? Land Transactions for Solar & Wind Farms
? Analytics and Comp Data
? Value Drivers of Land for Solar & Wind Farms
? Valuation of Land to Lease for Solar Farm
? Valuation of Solar Farm Royalties/Rents
? Solar Farm Economics
? Valuation of Land to Lease for Wind Farms
? Valuation of Wind Farm Royalties/Rents
? Wind Farm Economics
Recommended For:
? Energy Professionals
? Solar Farm Developers
? Wind Farm Developers
? Financial Professionals
ATX NEWS
Project Connect Breaks Ground on the New McKalla Station
On July 18, the Project Connect team celebrated breaking ground on the new Red Line McKalla Station. The Red Line is a regional rail service that operates from downtown Austin through Central and Northwest Austin as well as the City of Leander. The McKalla Station is a new regional rail transit station being constructed as part of Project Connect and will provide increased mobility and transit options for the North Burnet area. The station will be located along the east side of the Q2 Stadium, near Delta Drive, on the MetroRail Red Line between Braker Lane and Rutland Drive. The McKalla Station is anticipated to be completed in 2023. Speakers at the opening celebration included Representative Celia Israel, Representative Sheryl Cole, Commissioner Jeff Travillion, ATP Chair Veronica Castro de Barrera, CapMetro Interim CEO Dottie Watkins, Interim Director of Austin Transportation Richard Mendoza, Austin FC President Andy Loughnane, and the event's EMCEE Adrian Healey.
Capital Metro Board Member and Austin City Council Member Leslie Pool shared “This partnership is a shining example of private and public organizations working together for the benefit of our city ?to bring affordable and connected living opportunities to our residents. This station will connect the entire city to the emerging businesses and mixed-income neighborhoods in the area, as well as address traffic and increase access for essential workers.”
AUTMHQ TEAM
Mia enjoys painting and her favorite color is pink.
Mia White works as a Digital Media Specialist with AUTMHQ. She is also an AUTMite herself, pursuing her studies in Cybersecurity with the hopes of concentrating on PCI compliance. She completed some college studies at Ashford University for a degree in Business Information Systems but had to withdraw due to difficulties in covering the costs of completing the program.
Mia’s goals are to continue finishing up her Cybersecurity program with AUTMHQ, as well as build her social media and marketing skills as AUTMHQ’s Digital Media Specialist. Mia’s hopes are to continue to share her experiences to date with AUTMHQ, with the understanding that her story can be the beacon call to those who are interested in acquiring the necessary skills to attain a career in the Technology field. Mia also wants to show others that completing this program without having to obtain a four-year college degree is possible, through hard work and persistence.
Mia resides in Austin, Texas but was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. From there, she resided in the Atlanta, Georgia area for twenty years. Mia currently works as a Claims Representative handling workers’ compensation claims for the University of Texas System. She holds an Associate in Claims insurance designation from The Institutes in Malvern, Pennsylvania. Mia is a member of the Austin Lions Club, which is a local chapter of the Lions Club International. The Austin Lions Club spearheads various volunteering projects throughout the city, with their focus on completing volunteer work for Keating Middle School, the first junior high school for Black students in Austin, Texas
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