Break Through Tech: Innovating to Solve the Gender Gap in Tech

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Developing Strategic and Operational Program Manuals for Break Through Tech Flagship Programs

Break Through Tech (BTT), a non-profit organization, works to propel more women into tech careers through educational programs, work opportunities, and community building. Working at the intersection of academia and industry, BTT designs solutions to plug leaks in the tech pipeline for underrepresented women, working to close the gender gap once in for all- essential for being competitive in the digital age. Founded at Cornell Tech in partnership with the City University of New York, BTT implements innovative flagship programs (Summer Guild and Sprinternship) expanding across U.S. cities identified as tech hubs. Piloting the expansion with the University of Illinois Chicago as the first affiliate site, BTT found it necessary to design and build program manuals to support the replication and scalability of their program.

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OUR STRATEGY

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TYTHEdesign was selected to support BTT in the development of these program manuals geared to support affiliate sites across the nation to adapt their programs and programmatic approach. TYTHE led the manual development first through interviews with key organizational and operational staff, curriculum and evaluation partners, industry partners, and students who participated in the BTT flagship programs. This then led to the co-development of manual content and ongoing opportunities for collaborative feedback and copyediting. Upon completion of the content of both manuals, TYTHE led the design direction for the program manuals. Leading with the commitment to find alignment in the manual design with existing BTT communications, while providing an accessible and dynamic design for affiliate sites.

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THE OUTCOME

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Developing Materials for Two Flagship Programs 

TYTHE successfully completed two separate manuals to support Summer Guild and Sprinternship which provides affiliate sites embarking on BTT for the first time to be able to engage with a tool that shares the best practices, lessons learned, common misconceptions, and metrics for success with them. 

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Developing Materials for an Entire Program

In addition to supporting BTT stakeholders through programmatic operations, TYTHE also created a program manual that presents the framework for the initiative itself, and the principles of BTT. This manual supports the identification and selection process of affiliate sites, the programmatic approaches and components that lead with innovation, as well as the processes for evaluating the success of the initiative. It concludes with lessons learned shared from other sites who have implemented BTT. 

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Client: Break Through Tech National

Collaborators: Hillary Clark, Kristina Drury, Claudie Mabry

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Year: 2020
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