Star Simpson
Star Simpson works on leading aerodynamic engineering-related businesses at Otherlab in San Francisco. Star Simpson studied Electrical Engineering at MIT.
alloy
Why We Do It
Project Alloy was inspired by Kyle Kingsbury's public pledge to pay out-of-pocket for anyone from an underrepresented group in tech to attend a conference. The tech industry can and should be far more inclusive, and we founded Project Alloy as a vehicle for formalizing Kyle's approach and for seeing this change through.
When we give grants through Project Alloy, we give directly to people for whom we wish to open doors of opportunity. This approach is change we believe in, and also change within reach — we, as individuals who work in the tech industry, are capable of making this kind of difference for others. So we decided to form a nonprofit to centralize and scale the process so we could reach even more people.
If you're wondering — why does any of this matter? Obviously, there are questions of fairness and justness. Working to build a more just society is the right thing to do. And from an economic perspective, having broader representation in the tech industry drives business growth, increases returns on equity, promotes creative solutions, and improves problem solving. But most of all, it matters because that's the kind of industry we want to work in.
How We Do It
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Competitively select individuals who are early in their tech careers and underrepresented in the industry
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Give financial support to grantees so they can travel, attend the conference, meet other grantees, and go to networking events
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Provide pre-conference workshops to grantees on making the most of their experience
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Work with conference organizers to enable an inclusive experience for everyone
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Create community among each year’s cohort through events like an annual dinner
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Match alumni with incoming grantees to build a global movement towards inclusive leadership
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Build diversity within the tech industry
About Us
Ian Smith
Ian Smith works as a software engineer at Dark in San Francisco. His other projects include elevatoralerts.com, using public transit APIs to provide a better user experience for disabled riders. He studied Computer Science at MIT and Linguistics at Gallaudet University. He is Deaf and a wheelchair user.
Brooke Jarrett
Brooke Jarrett conducts global health research about the epidemiology and inequalities of infectious diseases like TB and HIV. She studied environmental engineering at MIT and is now a PhD student at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. Brooke identifies as a queer biracial feminist.
Special thanks to our uber volunteers
Karina Van Schaardenburg
Edward Loveall, who developed this site. Edward is an independent developer, artist, and mentor based in Cambridge, MA. He volunteers in the Boston area to promote diversity through technology. He is actively involved in youth tutoring programs, RailsBridge, and one-on-one mentoring for new developers coming out of bootcamp programs. You can find out more about him on his website.