OUR Approach
While there are notable organizations making strides to dismantle unjust systems, most efforts are uncoordinated across ecosystems and industries, and groups often compete for access to funds and insights. When we unify our efforts, we can craft a more vibrant economy where everyone can thrive.
By listening to historically excluded people about their experiences, sharing best practices, compounding resources, and more – GET Cities helped pinpoint pressing issues and crafted game plans accordingly.
We then collaborated on interventions and pilots – a series of activities designed to address a specific block in the pipeline to progress.
The Tech Equity Working Group (TEWG) is a dynamic cohort of accelerators, incubators, funds, and ecosystem supporters aligned across shared goals to design city-wide solutions and collective infrastructure to address gender and racial inequities for Chicago-based tech founders. The Tech Equity Working Group (TEWG) was originally incubated at GET Cities and is now powered by World Business Chicago.
These interventions were designed to:
Eradicate barriers to entry, advancement, and leadership for historically excluded individuals in the tech industry
Direct funding and resources to founders from marginalized communities to grow their businesses and expand equity throughout the ecosystem
Foster cultures of equity, inclusion, justice, and belonging
Motivate and guide those in positions of power to create diverse and inclusive teams, companies, and environments for underrepresented talent to flourish
Through pilots across multiple cities, we mapped out patterns and leverage points to increase scale and sustainability long term. And while our pilots were geared toward local communities with unique challenges and opportunities, each can be adapted for different cities and communities.
Learn more about our past interventions across these three sectors.