Unemployment continues to be an issue here in the States, but the tech industry could prove a very valuable resource when it comes to building out the American work force. That said, I sat down with GroupMe co-founder Steve Martocci recently and he just may have a plan to help solve the problem.
In conjunction with former White House CTO Aneesh Chopra, musician Jon Bon Jovi, and Gilt Groupe’s VP of Quality Engineering Kevin Haggard, GroupMe and Steve Martocci will participate in a new initiative aimed at training young people in the ways of Quality Assurance tech positions. Jibe, OnSwipe and Newton are all participating, as well. The program was developed as a commitment to the White House’s Summer Jobs + initiative, which calls businesses to work with the government to offer a path toward employment for low-income youth.
The program will focus specifically on Quality Assurance jobs, which Martocci sees as a platform to go on and do even more creative things in the tech space. The goal is to provide at the very least 1,000 QA internships this coming summer.
But you can’t expect kids to just jump up and be ready for a tech job, especially when education for it is lacking. Luckily, SummerQAmp is partnering with the CK-12 Foundation to launch an online educational platform later this year, where young people can learn more about what QA is really about and help in the development of mobile apps. Of course, the site will also function as an internship listings page.
GroupMe helps people stay connected and get together better with their friends. GroupMe’s two core offerings are: GroupMe, the group mobile messaging service, and Experiences, a service for finding, planning and purchasing group activities. GroupMe is based in New York and was founded by Jared Hecht and Steve Martocci in May 2010 at the TechCrunch Disrupt Hackathon. In August 2011, GroupMe was acquired by Skype, which was subsequently acquired by Microsoft in October 2011. For more information, please visit...
Headquartered in New York, Gilt Groupe is a privately held company dedicated to providing its members with access to coveted fashion and luxury lifestyle brands at sample sale prices. Gilt Groupe includes sales for men, women, and home as well as Gilt City (geo-specific), Gilt Taste (food), and Jetsetter (travel). Gilt Groupe hand selects both established and up and coming brands relevant to its membership base. Each Gilt Groupe Shopping Event is designer-specific and held over a one day...
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