Bay Area

Highlights

1,961

Fellows SERVED

64%

of Braven Fellows from SJSU earned a strong first job within 6 months of graduation (compared to 47% of peers nationwide) 

90%

of Fellows at SJSU graduate on time 

Working towards equity in the Bay Area

Silicon Valley is a hub of discovery and innovation, but today’s tech sector doesn’t represent the diversity of its home community, and the region faces an enormous and growing wealth gap. While around a quarter of people working in Silicon Valley are Latinx, just 5% of tech jobs in the region are held by people who are Latinx. Black people hold only 2% of tech jobs in the region, and women (of all races) hold just 21%. This represents stark inequity. The Bay Area’s firms are missing out on diverse talent, and too many local college graduates are missing out on opportunity. 

Braven is proud to work toward opportunity and equity in the Bay Area. We have a long history in the region; our very first college partnership was with San José State University (SJSU) in 2014. We’re proud to partner with SJSU to empower students to find a clear path to a strong first job, economic mobility, and the career of their dreams.

Source: Silicon Valley Business Journal, KQED

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Our higher education partnership

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San José State University became Braven’s founding college partner in 2014. A group of associate deans and faculty at the university were eager to do even more to expand opportunity on their campus, particularly for students from low-income backgrounds, students of color, students who had transferred, and first-generation college students. Since then, we have partnered with the university to offer the Braven experience to 1,961 undergraduates. SJSU offers Braven’s Career Accelerator course as a 3-unit, credit-bearing course that meets once weekly in a hybrid modality.

Upcoming courses

Enroll in a Braven course at your college or university and jumpstart your career!

Braven Accelerator

Dates:

September – December 2023 | Fall

Priority Deadline:

Schedule:

Wednesday, 6 – 8:30pm PST | Thursday, 2 – 4:30pm PST

Final Deadline:

Eligibility

  • Open to all majors
  • Open to all undergraduate years; sophomore, juniors, and first-year transfer students are preferred
  • In good academic standing and able to register for ‘UNVS 101’ (lower & upperclassman can enroll)
  • Able to meet once a week on weeknight evenings during the semester
  • Able to commit an average of 4-5 hours a week to this course

Course Description
This course prepares students for the increasingly competitive, globalized job marketplace. Through online and peer learning, interactive experiences, and reflection, students will build meaningful networks, discover their innate leadership, and cultivate the “hard” and “soft” skills and habits of mind needed to thrive in twenty-first-century workplaces. This course will require your commitment. Nothing good comes easy, but this course will be equally rewarding as it is challenging.

Course Section
The Braven Accelerator is a 3 unit elective credit course that meets once a week in the afternoon or evening. Students must add UNVS 101 Leadership and Career Accelerator to their MySJSU.

  • There will be two options for the course in Spring 2023:
    • Tuesday or Wednesday, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm PT (hybrid)
    • Thursday, 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm PT (fully virtual)

Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course, students should be able to:

  • Exercise habits to persist through and thrive beyond college
  • Know and demonstrate the skills and mindsets employers hire for
  • Navigate the workplace
  • Build a record of achievement and apply skills to land a career-accelerating internship or research opportunity
  • Expand personal and professional networks
  • Lead with their assets and values

Location
There will be two options for the course. Select the one that best fits your personal preference:

  1. Fully virtual
  2. Hybrid: virtual AND in-person, on-campus sessions

Interested in bringing Braven to your campus?

Leadership

Staff

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Briannah Drew

Regional Managing Director

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Brisdy Carrillo Vega

External Affairs Manager

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Diana Phuong

Executive Director

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Elaha Yakubi

Program Manager, Recruitment

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Jasmine Sindico

Program Manager, Accelerator

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Neal Gutierrez

Program Manager, Workforce Development

Board of Directors

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Charlie Wolfson

Executive Director, Arrow Impact (National Board member)

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Jessica García-Kohl

Executive Director, Westly Foundation

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Muna Sheikh

Managing Director, Deloitte and Touche (Bay Chair)

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Sunita Suryanarayan

Manager Director - Global Strategy and Consulting, Accenture

We couldn’t do it without you

Higher Education & Employer Partners

UNIVERSITY PARTNERS
San José State University

EMPLOYER PARTNERS
LEAD
($250K+ and programmatic support)
Deloitte
Goldman Sachs One Million Black Women
LinkedIn
NBA Foundation
Salesforce

ANCHOR
($100K+ and programmatic support)
Adobe
ServiceNow

KEYSTONE
($25K+ and programmatic support)
Atlassian
Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance
Blackbaud
CIBC Bank USA
PwC
UBS
Western Digital

INNOVATION
($5K+ & programmatic support)
Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance
Blackbaud
PwC
UBS
Western Digital

IMPACT
(<$5K and/or programmatic support)
Cisco
Denali Therapeutics
DreamCatchers
Hall Capital Partners
Johnson & Johnson
Wipfli
Workday

Supporters ($10K+)

Arrow Impact
College Futures Foundation
Deloitte Foundation
Franklin and Catherine Johnson Foundation
Give Forward Foundation
Grace & Steve Voorhis
Greenbridge Family Foundation
Leslie Family Foundation
MR Macgill
Michelle Boyers
Peery Foundation
Sergey Brin Family Foundation
Silicon Valley Social Venture Fund (SV2)
Sobrato Family Foundation
Stupski Foundation
Tammy & Bill Crown
Tipping Point Community

Interested in learning more?

We’d love to connect with you to share more about our model and partnership structure.