NI Collaborates With Austin Urban Technology Movement and Austin Community College to Diversify the Local Tech Workforce

NI (NASDAQ: NATI) today announced two collaborations that will provide Black and Latinx Central Texans with new pathways to engineering and technology careers. The first is with Austin Urban Technology Movement (AUTM) to create workforce development opportunities in engineering to increase diversity across the tech industry. The second is a new NI Technical Scholar program that will provide Austin Community College (ACC) students with an internship-to-employment track at NI.

NI Awards Four-Year Grant to AUTM
As part of NI’s efforts to diversify the local technology workforce, NI will donate $400,000 over the next four years to support AUTM, a non-profit organization that bridges the gap between Black and Latinx communities and the technology industry through job placement, career development and networking opportunities. AUTM provides its participants with opportunities to receive training to enter and thrive in the technology industry, leading to career growth and increased income potential.

NI’s donation will specifically fund AUTM’s efforts to upskill and reskill adults into the technology industry. Additionally, the company will collaborate with AUTM to drive awareness of careers in technology while providing internships, apprenticeships, training and mentoring opportunities to AUTM program participants.

“NI’s funding, volunteerism and expertise will help us equip people at every stage of life with the in-demand skills they need to compete in the digital economy,” said Michael Ward Jr., president and CEO of AUTM. “Upskilling and reskilling members of our Black and Hispanic communities, combined with building their social capital, will significantly increase representation in engineering and tech, leading to generational change and closing the racial wealth gaps in our communities.”

NI is committed to investing $3.4 million globally over the next four years in STEM education initiatives that support underserved or economically disadvantaged students. In 2021, the company has awarded grants to Code2College and Project Lead the Way as well as a joint grant to Thinkery and Boys & Girls Clubs of the Austin Area to fund a new engineering education program, Collaboration to Realize Equity and Teach Engineering (C.R.E.A.T.E). With the grant to AUTM, the company now supports STEM education programs from kindergarten through the adult workforce.