In an industry characterized primarily by change and growth, inclusion is one area in which tech often stagnates. Diversity has become increasingly important to companies across a range of industries, but some organizations still struggle with cultural development and a talent gap that complicates inclusion efforts. That’s why the Cloud Network of Women, or CloudNOW, is working with schools and corporate partners to offer scholarships that extend science, technology, engineering and math opportunities to all.

“We’d been looking at how [to] make the most impact and have more women join technical ranks. … It’s not just about getting tons of women in the pipeline; it’s also about getting women that really want to take it the whole way,” said Jocelyn Degance Graham (pictured), founder of CloudNOW. By working with academic and corporate partners, CloudNOW is supporting science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, students at all income levels and enabling their pursuit of careers in tech.

Graham spoke with Lisa Martin (@LuccaZara), co-host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio, during the CloudNOW 6th Annual Top 10 Women in Cloud Innovation Awards on the Google Campus in Mountain View, California. They discussed the schools CloudNOW has partnered with through their scholarships and the corporate partners that enable the supportive program.

‘These students are doing phenomenal things’

CloudNOW began its scholarship initiative by identifying two academic partners. The first, Holberton School in San Francisco, runs by a uniquely equitable payment model that gives all interested students the opportunity to study at no upfront cost. The school only receives tuition payments once a student has accepted their first full-time job.

“The problem is how expensive it is to live in San Francisco. So the scholarships are actually a living wage stipend, because the school is too intensive for the students to actually be able to work,” Graham said. Funded by Google and Accenture, these scholarships help Holberton graduates go on to work jobs at companies like LinkedIn Corp. and The National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

CloudNOW is also partnered with The Shanti Bhavan Children’s Project, a non-profit-run pre-k-12 school in Bangalore, India. “The scholarships we put together with the help of Intel and Apcera and CB Technologies are to fund girls studying STEM at the university level in Bangalore,” Graham said.

These supportive programs are enabling students to reach new heights in professional development, an opportunity made possible by corporate partnerships like the one CloudNOW shares with Google. The company’s generosity was unexpected.

“I emailed [Vint Cerf], and said, ‘What I’m looking for is some money for a scholarship fund. I’m not asking you for it; I just know if you were to endorse this, the money would be very easily found.’ … The very next morning … he had sent me the money,” she said. Graham was especially moved by Cerf’s generous sentiment. “What he said in response was, ‘One does what one can to be of service,’” she said.

Graham predicted that this is just the beginning of CloudNOW’s scholarship initiatives and its contribution to the mission of creating greater inclusion in tech. “We really hope that in 2018 we can increase the number of scholarships and … the number of corporate partnerships as well, because these students are doing phenomenal things,” she said.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the CloudNOW 6th Annual Top 10 Women in Cloud Innovation Awards.

Photo: SiliconANGLE