I see a lot of talk in the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) space about problems, but very little on solutions. Think about it: how often do you read about the need for more diversity in the workplace? And how often do you read about actionable solutions to address the lack of diversity and, more importantly, inclusion?

As a society, our collective thinking about DEI must transition from problem identification to solution formulation. By solutions, I don’t mean feel-good press releases or one-off donations. We need to find scalable, ROI-driven solutions for DEI.

Several weeks ago, I spoke to 500 students and working professionals as part of a new training-to-jobs program in data analytics. The class was predominantly made up of Black and Hispanic individuals; the majority of the participants were women; and the learners included LGBTQ+, veterans, and members of other underrepresented groups. They came from 48 states and 200+ colleges.  

The program, Data Science For All (DS4A)/Empowerment developed by Correlation One, aims to be the most equitable data school of the future. It’s free for admitted participants—no student debt, income share agreement or form of liability. Entry is merit-based and selective, and teaching is instructor-led and personalized. Participants receive four months of practical analytics training, industry mentors, professional development, and community-focused learning.

Most importantly, participants gain access to jobs! 

Employers are integrated into the program and embed their business challenges into the curriculum. They offer their employees as mentors and endow scholarships to make DS4A/Empowerment free for participants. In return? They strengthen their ROI by recruiting program graduates, immediately adding data-capability and diversity to their teams. More than 30 employers are now involved in DS4A/Empowerment, including Accenture, Blackrock, Anaplan, Johnson & Johnson, and SoftBank.  

After my talk with the Fellows, I returned a few weeks later to participate as a judge for DS4A/Empowerment’s Data Open Championship to see what they learned. Over 100 teams developed projects over the course of the program, applying their newly-acquired data skills to real-world business and social problems. I listened to presentations from the top four teams and was incredibly impressed by their progress and what I learned.

One team used analytics to build tools to help restaurants weather the COVID-19 pandemic. They pulled data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the Federal Reserve, Retail Trade Surveys, social media mobility data, and Yelp APIs to build dashboards that will help restaurants determine when and how to reopen.  

Another team collected socioeconomic and demographic data from Louisiana to better identify which areas would be most affected by flooding. They emphasized that flood risk isn’t just a matter of geography; poorer neighborhoods have poorer infrastructure and will be impacted by flooding more than wealthier neighborhoods in the same geography. Their dashboards could help inform fairer allocation of city infrastructure budgets.

I was inspired to see how Fellows are using what they learned to develop innovative and tangible solutions to economic and societal challenges. 

DS4A/Empowerment not only provides enterprises an actionable solution for diversifying their workforces by hiring data-capable graduates, it also empowers graduates to develop their own data-driven solutions to business and social problems—many of which are exacerbated due to the pandemic.

We are heading into the data economy at full speed. Data skills are needed in every department across every industry, and the need goes way beyond data scientists. At SHRM, we see it in HR: people analytics is a rapidly growing field, along with marketing analytics, business intelligence, ethical AI, and more. As we adjust to a new reality of work and commerce, this is more important than ever.    

But the data revolution arrived so rapidly that data skills are hard to access, especially for individuals older than university age, those with fewer resources, and those without social capital. It’s more than a skills gap; there’s an opportunity gap in accessing these skills for under-represented groups. 

That’s what DS4A/Empowerment aims to address. Through this incredible program, diverse candidates will be enabled and empowered to realize their potential and shape the jobs of tomorrow.