ColorStack Announces Arnell Calderon as President

It’s been a while! I hope you’ve been staying warm during these colder days, and that you’re ready for spring coming around the corner. I’m coming to you post-sabbatical, a long overdue period of rest after five years of building what you and I both know as ColorStack—but to me, is a bigger movement towards Black and Brown community building within the tech space.

When ColorStack first came to life in2020, it wasn’t part of some long-term plan—it was a response. A response to atech industry that didn’t reflect the brilliance and potential of Black andLatinx students. A response to the isolation so many of us felt in computerscience classrooms.

What started as a virtual community during the early days of lockdown in 2020 has grown into something truly powerful. Today, ColorStack is 13,000+ members strong, representing over 1,000 schools nationwide. We’ve partnered with 50+ leading tech companies that return year after year to connect with our students—not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because the talent speaks for itself.

Back in May, we hit a huge milestone — ColorStack’s fifth birthday, known fondly as The Quinny! Traditionally, a five-year anniversary is called a quinquennium—but let’s be honest, that’s a mouthful. So, we made it our own. Our Quinny was a celebration of what we’ve accomplished so far and how much further we’re ready to imagine and expand the work.

ColorStack releases its FY24 Impact Report – view how the organization is bridging the gap between access and opportunity for over 11,000 members launching careers In tech.

Our CEO Jehron Petty sat down with AfroTech to discuss ColorStack's vision and how his journey of supporting Black and Latinx Computer Science students at Cornell has turned into an organization with 10,000+ members nationwide.

ColorStack's First Annual Impact Report is here! We're so excited to give you all an inside look into our amazing members, our accomplishments, and our exciting future plans! Read our latest blog to learn more about what we've been up to this past fiscal year and to take a look at our full annual report.

Check out our latest blog where we chatted with DocuSign ERG chairs Cassandra Campos and Gerard Henry to learn more about why ERGs are important and what they can mean for your career. 

ColorStack announces the launch of ColorStack Member Profiles, a web-based application that will revolutionize the way that students engage with the online community. 

ColorStack's Student Panel series, launched earlier this year, has become a highlight of Fam Friday community gatherings. This interactive monthly event brings together ColorStack members to discuss various topics, including job tips, women in tech, and student projects, fostering a celebration of ideas and camaraderie within the community.

ColorStack is excited to publish its full list of partners for the 2023-2024 fiscal year. Check it out to see who's going to be on this amazing journey with us!

Dive into the world of ColorStack's Stacked Up Summit as we recap some incredible highlights from past summits. From captivating keynotes featuring industry icons to empowering career insights and advice, this blog offers a glimpse into the transformative experiences awaiting Black and Latinx computer science students at this biannual gathering.

Discover how to make the most of ColorStack's upcoming Stacked Up Summit with tips to enhance your networking, resume, and virtual presence. Don't miss this two-day virtual event filled with talks, panels, and opportunities to connect with top professionals and recruiters!

ColorStack sat down to chat with Dawon Hawkins, Director of Global Inclusion, Belonging, and Talent Programs at DocuSign to discuss defining success on your own terms.

ColorStack's Fall Stacked Up Summit is the must-attend virtual event for Black and Latinx CS students, connecting them directly with top tech recruiters and offering a chance to win over $7,000 worth of prizes. Secure your spot for this incredible 2-day experience on Aug. 17-18!

ColorStack is excited to announce that it has received a grant of $1.2 million from Reboot Representation!

Get ready to a fun summer with dope connections and vibrant experiences as ColorStack brings you an exciting lineup of in-person events!

ColorStack expands its reach with the addition of its Northeastern University chapter. This chapter aims to provide support, resources, and opportunities for Black and Latinx students pursuing careers in computing, fostering a more inclusive and diverse tech community.

We've launched an in-person chapter at Stony Brook University. The chapter is one of our many chapters we've created to as safe and inclusive environment for Black and Latinx computer science students that offers opportunities for mentorship, career development and community-building.

Join us as we take a look back at the exciting sessions of our April Fam Friday event, featuring insightful panels and talks on various topics from tech projects to stress management and imposter syndrome.

Welcome our Head of Engineering, Rami Abdou! Learn about projects he'll be working on to help us gain data to better serve the ColorStack community.

Our March Fam Friday event started with the exciting news that ColorStack has officially launched a store that will allow for members and supporter to purchase merch.

ColorStack provided NSBE scholarships for 26 computer science students to attend a major annual engineering convention.

Imposter Syndrome is a psychological pattern in which people diminish their own accomplishments. Learn from software engineer and the founder and CEO of Getting Black Women Paid, ‘Tine Zekis, on how to overcome it.

In honor of Black History month, ColorStack awarded their Family Fund Scholarship last week. This $750 scholarship was designed to support and empower ColorStack members in their academic journeys by removing obstacles that might stand in their way. 

This first Fam Friday of the year kicked off February 24, 2023! If you missed it, you missed out on insightful discussions and practical advice for navigating the tech world and the current economic climate and a chance to win over in $1k giveaways for participants.

Our wonderful partners at Duolingo started our month off right by hosting the ColorStack team at their headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Read about how this trip helped strengthen our bond.

The letter from our CEO, Jehron Petty, is here! ColorStack more than doubled its membership, welcomed new sponsors, raised funds, and launched new programs in 2022. Learn more about what we accomplished last year and what we look forward to in 2023.

This blog is based on a Fam Friday panel titled “Building a Brand: Black Founders Edition,” in which interviewer Brunix Michel sat down with Asha Christian (CEO, Coily), Joshua Ogundu (CEO, Campfire and former CEO, Heart to Heart), and Jehron Petty (CEO, ColorStack) to chat about their experiences as Black founders in tech.

The Stacked Up Summit, held on January 19th and 20th, was a virtual event that brought together 1,277 Black and Latinx computer science students from universities across the United States.

To demystify the career coaching process, I sat down with Catalina Peña, founder of Catalyst Creation, for a virtual chat about all things career coaching: what it is, when to seek it out, and why it can be an invaluable.

Four members of ColorStack, have been selected as Neo Scholars in the 2022-23 cohort of the Neo Scholars program. The program aims to foster the next generation of innovators and founders and provides them with access to promising startups and a diverse mentorship community.

ChatGPT is an AI software specifically designed for conversational text generation. Read about how this powerful tool for generates realistic and varied responses in a conversational setting, and can be used in a variety of applications, including customer service, language translation, and education.

ColorStack is excited and grateful to have received a $15,000 donation from Meta earlier this year. This generous gift helps us continue our mission to create the strongest community of Black & Latinx Computer Science Students.

ColorStack recently held its final Fam Friday event of the year on December 16th. The event was designed to provide students with a safe and welcoming space to relax and gather valuable insights as they approach the end of their school year.

ColorStack is launching its inaugural scholarship for Black and Latinx computer science students, sponsored by SambaNova Systems.

Join non-profit organization ColorStack at the Stacked Up Summit, a virtual event powered by Microsoft that offers Black and Latinx Computer Science students the opportunity to connect with top tech companies and further their careers.

November's Fam Friday Featured guest speakers from Figma, Jane Street Capital, Mastercard, and GoDaddy. The theme of the event was establishing happiness and belonging in the workplace. Overall, the event aimed to provide valuable career skills and advice to its attendees.

Kevin Prada is a first-generation student at the University of California at Riverside, and he has struggled with imposter syndrome for most of his journey as a CS student. Kevin joined the ColorStack community for underrepresented students in CS, and eventually enrolled in CodePath’s Technical Interview Course, which led to SWE intership.

October, the ColorStack team gathered in Nashville, TN for an in-person retreat. ColorStack team members used the in-person time to tackle a variety of projects including the Spring Stacked Up Summit.

This Fam Friday featured segments on helping attendees choose a career path as a new grad, effective strategies for debugging their code and more!

September's Fam Friday featured guest from Squarespace, Netflix, Southerwest Airlines, Gusto and awesome giveaways.

ColorStack is excited to announce its partnership with Catalyst Creation, a company with a mission is to help traditionally underrepresented professionals become more intentional become leaders in their field and their community.

ColorStack is excited to announce an impressive lineup of partners for the 2022-2023 year including many household names like Meta, and LinkedIn.

This past summer, ColorStack hosted five in-person social events in four major U.S. cities. These mixers are significant not only because they allowed Black and Latinx students to build local friendships and industry contacts in a casual social setting.

On August 17th, ColorStack kicked off its second annual Stacked Up Summit that boasted 1,702 attendees with NPS values of 86 and 74 for students and sponsors respectively.

Though imposter syndrome marked much of Ifeanyi’s early college career, his story is one of confidence and tenacity.

Meet Pauli, a software engineering intern at Salesforce in San Francisco that says the Stacked Up summit also served as an entrypoint into ColorStack.

Meet Melissa, a current Oregon State ECampus computer science major and fullstack engineering intern at Twilio!

July’s Fam Friday focused on developing the concrete skills necessary to attain a position at a tech company.

The Stacked Up Summit will feature a truly stacked lineup of speakers, including Amanda Seales of HBO’s Insecure, CodeSignal co-founder and CEO Tigran Sloyan, and Humane co-founders Bethany Bongiorno and Imran Chaudhri.

ColorStack’s Annual Summit Positions the Next Generation Black and Latinx Computer Science Students at the Forefront of the Tech Industry

Now that we’re in the second school year of operation, ColorStack has tripled its portfolio of sponsors who provide us with the resources we need to fulfill our mission.

“Increasing computer science enrollment for Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) students has to start with building community, and nonprofit ColorStack recognizes that...“

Founder & CEO, Jehron Petty, speaks about turning down the Google APM program and instead raising over $500K to seed ColorStack.

CEO & Founder, Jehron Petty, interviews with Kimmiko Jones of The Black Network Enterprise to discuss his jounrney of declining his product management job at Google to follow his entrepreneurial passion.

“Jehron Petty is a mentor at heart, so when he saw an opportunity to help his fellow computer science classmates, he couldn't pass it up. Petty is the founder and CEO of ColorStack...“

Meet ColorStack member, Nnamdi, a student at George Mason University. Learn why Nnamdi says ColorStack helped him find his tribe in the world of Computer Science.

CodeSignal, an interview and assessment platform, has partnered with ColorStack with a plan to provide mentorship and technical interview preparation.

Meet ColorStack member, Yesenia, a student at Johns Hopkins. Check out how ColorStack helped Yesenia find the direction she needed to succeed professionally.

Meet ColorStack member, Charlie, a Wesleyan University graduate. Learn how ColorStack's Slack community helped him overcome his struggles in one of his Computer Science classes.

Meet ColorStack member, Nia Asemota, a junior at NYU. Read about how Nia says ColorStack helped her find her community within and outside of school.

Meet ColorStack member, Caio Carnauba, a Computer Science and Math double major at Grinnell College. Check out how ColorStack's Slack community helped him during his internship interviewing process.

ColorStack is pleased to announce the addition of Kavita Bala and Raquel Romano to our Board of Directors.

We celebrate the founding of ColorStack and the work we’ve begun to carry out for Black, Latinx, and Indigenous Computer Science students.

CEO, Jehron Petty, was able to answer questions all day for OneReq Talent Community Slack members for their Slack AMA!

Today, we are thrilled to announce that several distinguished companies in technology and finance have partnered with us as founding sponsors.

“Triplebyte, a technical recruiting platform that emphasizes a candidate’s skills rather than background, has incubated nonprofit ColorStack, which aims to increase the number of...“