Tech diversity nonprofit shutting down after a decade of training people for software careers - The Boston Globe (2025)

Hack.Diversity, a 10-year-old local effort to train people from underrepresented groups for careers in tech, is shutting down at the end of August.

The nonprofit helped more than 600 students, mostly people of color, learn software coding skills and get internships at tech companies including CarGurus, Rapid7, and Liberty Mutual. Many applicants came from community colleges, historically Black colleges and universities, and schools serving first-generation students.

But lately Hack.Diversity has struggled raising money and finding internship opportunities. Hack could only offer 70 people spots at 15 partner companies this year, down from 120 spots at about 30 companies in prior years.

The political movement against diversity, equity, and inclusion was one factor, according to Jeff Bussgang, general partner at Flybridge Capital Partners and a co-founder of the group. Meanwhile, the tech industry is eliminating entry level programming jobs amid the slowing economy and the proliferation of artificial intelligence apps that can write software, he said.

“As we looked at 2026, we just didn’t see a path to providing internships and entry level opportunities for another cohort of 70 to 100 fellows,” Bussgang said. “We worked a number of different angles and playbooks, but in the end, if there are no jobs, there’s no Hack, or at least Hack as currently constructed.”

Michelle De La Isla, Hack’s chief executive, said she has been telling current participants, who will wind up their internships this summer as scheduled, and alumni that they can continue the program’s mission.

“The calling right now is for everybody that has participated in Hack to continue keeping that legacy alive, because the organization will not die,” she said.

The program arranged mentors for participants, so Hack graduates should become mentors in the future, De La Isla said. And graduates could help students prepare for job interviews and tune their resumes, as Hack helped them.

“Hack the organization may be winding down, but hack the concept lives on within all of you,” De La Isla wrote in a Slack message to program participants.

De La Isla impressed the tech community with her singing voice last fall at a Hack.Diversity fundraiser. The former mayor of Topeka, Kansas, belted out a rendition of “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” that echoed through the rafters of the sanctuary auditorium of the Museum of African American History on Beacon Hill.

Hack.Diversity grew out of a conversation between Bussgang and Jody Rose, who was then executive director of the New England Venture Capital Association, seeking to address the tech industry’s struggles attracting and retaining a diverse workforce. Together with Tech Connection founder Melissa James, they hatched the idea for a program. De La Isla took over for Rose as CEO in 2023.

The problem Hack was trying to address remains. Black and Hispanic or Latino people each accounted for only 4 percent of the tech workforce in Boston, while women made up just over one quarter, according to data from CompTIA, a trade association focused on the IT industry. In the total Boston workforce, Black people made up 8 percent, Hispanic and Latino people 11 percent, and women 51 percent.

Sara Fraim, chief executive of the Massachusetts Technology Council, said she was “devastated” by the news of Hack closing.

“They played a critical role in shaping a more vibrant, innovative, and inclusive tech community here in Massachusetts,” Fraim said. “We will honor their impact by redoubling our commitment to supporting tech careers, creating meaningful connections, and advancing diversity and professional development throughout the industry.”

Aaron Pressman can be reached at aaron.pressman@globe.com. Follow him @ampressman.