New Era: Ahmed, Community Partner

Meet Ahmed Ali Bob, the Community Affairs Lead at Square and active supporter and advocate of Hack the Hood. Ahmed and Square have been champions in providing various opportunities to expose Bay Area young people to the tech sector and elevating their own economic mobility by hosting Hack the Hood cohorts at their community space, engaging with our small businesses partners, speaking at our graduations and events, and helping us fundraise for more years of impactful work! Ahmed and Square support our mission to diversify tech workforce and put value to action under the shared belief that the underrepresented communities we serve have “the skills and the experience necessary to thrive.” We are beyond grateful for their partnership and consider them a vital partner within the Hack the Hood community.

For 2020, Hack the Hood will be launching various professional development opportunities to expose Bay Area young people to tech jobs through direct placement such as internships and pre-apprenticeships.  We are doing this because more needs to be doneand it takes a coalition comprised of Hack the Hood, educators, and companies like Square to come together to build the next steps toward economic opportunity for underrepresented communities and their ability to gain access to sustainable careers in the communities they live in.  As said by Ahmed, “we are looking forward to supporting our employees to work in the community they live in.” With your help and support, Hack the Hood will launch programs and workforce opportunities to ensure that all community members have equitable access to local tech sector career opportunities in the years to come.