"Helping Staten Islanders Access Tech Careers"
A Center for an Urban Future Policy Symposium

Replay of the event
Event materials

New York's fast-growing tech sector has become the city's most consistent source of new middle- and high-wage jobs, but much work remains to be done—both citywide and in communities across the five boroughs—to ensure that far more New Yorkers of color are able to access these well-paying careers. To shine a light on this opportunity, CUF held a five-borough forum series to discuss what actions are still needed to close the opportunity gap for tech careers in New York and bolster tech education and training infrastructure in communities across the city.

This forum focused on the opportunity to expand access to tech careers on Staten Island. It featured Staten Island–based leaders discussing the borough's tech education and training ecosystem, and examined what more policymakers, employers, educators, and workforce practitioners should do to help more Staten Islanders get on the path to technology-powered careers.

Speakers included:

• Abby Jo Sigal, Executive Director, Mayor's Office of Talent and Workforce Development
• Linda Baran, President & CEO, Staten Island Chamber of Commerce
• Kristi Brescia, CUNY 2X Tech Academic/Career Advisor, College of Staten Island
• Kenya George, Program Director, BUILD.org
• Andrew Greenfield, Principal, Port Richmond High School
• Sabine Salandy, Tech Talent Pipeline Program Manager, College of Staten Island
• Scott Van Campen, Co-founder & Executive Director, Staten Island MakerSpace

A video of the full discussion is available here.

This symposium was made possible through generous support from Amazon. We are also grateful for general support from The Clark Foundation and the Altman Foundation, and ongoing support from a number of other philanthropic funders.