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ColorStack
Company type501(c)(3) nonprofit organization
Genre
FoundedMay 2020; 5 years ago (2020-05) in Cornell University
FounderJehron Petty
Headquarters
New York, U.S.
Number of locations
800 (2024)
Area served
United States
Services
OwnerJehron Petty
Members12,000 (2024)
Websitecolorstack.org

ColorStack is a nonprofit student organization which offers academic advising and career development opportunities for computer science majors in the United States. The nonprofit was specifically designed for students from minority backgrounds as a means to improve diversity in computing.

The nonprofit was founded by Cornell University alumnus Jehron Petty in May 2020, after realizing his success in the computer science field was an "anomaly in the ecosystem". Through largely mentorship-based operations, the nonprofit hosts multiple in-person and virtual support programs and events. The goal of these events in often for its members to obtain scholarships and internships. In 2024, the nonprofit claimed to have chapters in 800 schools and host 12,000 student members. Future goals stated were to increase brand recognition to be on-par with similar organizations like National Society of Black Engineers and Black Girls Code.

Activities

The 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization[1] is designed to build connections between minorities majoring in computer science in the United States, providing academic advising and career development opportunities as a means of doing so.[2] Through largely mentorship-based operations,[3] the nonprofit organizes a number of large events, including a 12-week computer science program, three-week virtual career-building camp,[2] and three-day virtual recruitment conference called "Stacked Up Summit".[4] Otherwise, smaller events are held which vary by location, but can include activities like learning technical skills, taking professional photos, networking, and attending conferences and speaker events with field professionals.[5][6] The end goal of these is for members to obtain scholarships and internships.[5][6] Outside of computer science-related activities, some locations also hold social and cultural events, which also vary by location but can include events like "Sip and Apply", where members eat foreign cuisines while applying to internships at Binghamton University,[5] or pizza dinners to discuss and ease fears about the field at Virginia Tech.[7] Virtual events between universities like "hackathons" are also organized by the nonprofit.[6] They also run a community on the team communication platform Slack,[2] where members can collaborate on coding and other personal interests.[6]

History

The nonprofit was founded by Jehron Petty, a student at Cornell University majoring in computer science in the class of 2020.[2] After working internships for Two Sigma and Gooogle as a software engineer and product manager respectfully,[1] Petty reportedly realized he was an "anomaly in the ecosystem", with the few other African American, Hispanic American, and Native American students studying with him not performing as well, which he credited to a lack of proper support.[2] While still a student, Petty was co-president of the club Underrepresented Minorites in Computing at Cornell (URMC), during his time there he helped increase club membership and saw the impact it was having on the problem.[8] Petty took many principles from this club, largely the focus on mentorship and inspiring and supporting minority students in computer science, to from an early version of ColorStack.[2][8] With help and advice from Makinde Adeagbo, founder of the similar organization /dev/color, to make the club national and a nonprofit,[8] ColorStack launched as its own organization shortly after Petty graduated in May 2020 after fundraising US$500,000.[2][1] In August 2020, the nonprofit partnered with the technical recruiting platform Triplebyte, which agreed to incubate the nonprofit and provide it's operational funding for at least two years.[2][3] Around this time the nonprofit had 600 students across 250 schools.[3] After one year, the nonprofit had grown to 1,000 students in its programs, and had raised over a million dollars from corporate sponsors and other investors.[2] The nonprofit had also grown to be managed by four full-time employees and one intern.[2] Further growth came after restrictions from the COVID-19 pandemic lifted some which stopped some locations from beginning operations.[8] In 2021, ColorStack gained Microsoft and Netflix as sponsors for one of their "Stacked Up Summit" events.[4]

Some stated goals of Petty's for the future of the nonprofit was to increase brand recognition to be on-par with similar organizations like National Society of Black Engineers and Black Girls Code, which he hoped to accomplish through increased marketing and operational support.[2]

Locations

A multicolored map of chapter locations by state in the United States
  States with chapter(s) present

The nonprofit is national, located at a number of universities across the United States.[5] According to an end-of-the-year report by ColorStack in 2024, the nonprofit has 800 schools as locations and 12,000 student members.[9] Some universities with chapters of the nonprofit include Kennesaw State University in Georgia,[10] Northwestern University in Illinois,[6] University of Nebraska–Lincoln in Nebraska,[11] Binghamton University in New York,[5] Virginia Tech in Virginia.[7]

Reception to the nonprofit at the schools is overall positive. Director of undergraduate programs at Virginia Tech, Paige Johnson, remarked the nonprofit was the first they had seen to bring similar organizations like the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers and the National Society of Black Engineers together under a centralized group.[7] The nonprofit's chapter president at Binghamton University, Julian Ortiz, remarked the nonprofit gave an outlet and resources to students who largely came from backgrounds without them.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Meet The 2021 Fellows". Blavity.org. 2021. Retrieved February 10, 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Graham, Michelai (July 15, 2021). "Jehron Petty's Nonprofit Inspires BIPOC Computer Science Students". Lifewire. Retrieved February 10, 2025.
  3. ^ a b c Dickey, Megan Rose (August 12, 2020). "Triplebyte incubates ColorStack to increase Black and Latinx representation in CS programs". TechCrunch. Retrieved February 21, 2025.
  4. ^ a b wpengine (September 20, 2021). "Startup Cornell Podcast Spotlights Jehron Petty". Cornell University. Retrieved February 21, 2025.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Robbins, Hadley (January 15, 2024). "ColorStack aims to help Black and Latinx computer science students launch careers". BingUNews. Retrieved February 21, 2025.
  6. ^ a b c d e Mella, Janelle (November 22, 2024). "ColorStack supports Black and Latinx computer science students through mentorship and professional connections". The Daily Northwestern. Retrieved February 21, 2025.
  7. ^ a b c Moxley, Tonia (February 12, 2025). "Nakyah Vaughan emerges as a first generation superhero". Virginia Tech. Retrieved February 24, 2025.
  8. ^ a b c d Provost, Kaitlin (November 23, 2020). "Cornellian addresses underrepresentation in computer science". Cornell University. Retrieved February 21, 2025.
  9. ^ Swan, Tennelle (November 8, 2024). "ColorStack Releases 2nd Annual Impact Report: "FY24 Wrapped"". ColorStack. Retrieved February 21, 2025.
  10. ^ Gates, Ashlynn (February 12, 2025). "16 Clubs and Organizations for Black Students". Kennesaw State University. Retrieved February 24, 2025.
  11. ^ "Attend ColorStack UNL Meeting". University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Retrieved February 24, 2025.
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