The road to 100: Insight drives diversity in software through JumpStart program
The tech space is evolving. With change comes opportunity, and the ScaleUps coming out ahead right now are those that maintain a focus on diversity, equity and inclusion — especially in challenging economic environments. If ever there was a moment to build more diverse teams, it’s now. Who better to help companies navigate and grow through this volatile time than those who have succeeded where the odds might have felt stacked against them?
Read: Driving Meaningful DE&I Strategies in 2023
Insight Partners has been focused on driving DE&I outcomes across its portfolio for years. But in 2020, we accelerated our efforts in partnership with SV Academy by launching the JumpStart program, which creates entry-level pathways into sales and customer success roles for historically underrepresented and underserved professionals. In the current economic climate, we’ve heard from ScaleUp leaders concerned about choosing between revenue growth and diversity investments.
Through JumpStart we’ve seen that diversity drives top sales performance
Through JumpStart, we’ve seen that diversity drives top sales performance, and we are proud to have created a new standard for what both sales excellence AND diversity, equity, and inclusion can look like in the software and tech sales industry.
Photo above and in header: in 2022, Diligent, an Insight portfolio company, hired 30 JumpStart graduates as a part of its Baltimore hub launch.
Together, we have…
Created career pathways for over 100 people
We’ve helped over 100 people from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds find roles at Insight’s portfolio companies, creating $6 million in income expansion for those individuals and a potential lifetime income expansion of over $300 million.
Helped our portfolio companies hire great talent
We’ve helped over 30 of Insight’s ScaleUp companies hit and exceed their sales and customer success (CS) targets by connecting them to highly trained JumpStart grads, of whom 90% are retained in their first year.
Developed a more diverse workforce
Nearly all JumpStart graduates come from communities that have been historically overlooked in the technology sector – particularly women, Black, Hispanic/Latine, and first-generation college students.
Changed lives
Behind the numbers are the incredible graduates who are ramping faster and farther, winning awards, breaking call records, and exceeding quotas (like Tatiana Yugay at Jellyfish, an Insight portfolio company, who hit 200% of quota within a few months of starting).
We’re incredibly proud of our progress, and excited to extend our commitment to JumpStart across Insight’s portfolio. If you’re an employer and would like to learn how you can hire JumpStart graduates, email the JumpStart team at jumpstart@sv.academy.
