https://i.imgur.com/6Ld94Vq.png

Techtonica is an educational program discriminating on the basis of sex and gender. Their sponsor company, SocialGood, has received federal financial assistance (DUNS 070492128). This means that the program will be subject to Title IX. They have 30+ employees on LinkedIn, all of them are women/female/femme presenting. As they have 15+ employees, EEOC will apply.

Companies sponsor students in this program and pipeline them into hiring. This is an EEOC violation, whereby the sponsors allow another company (Techtonica) do the discriminating for them. This is also a Title IX violation if the companies also receive federal financial assistance. Many of them do. Title IX covers programs run by third parties (Techtonica) if the institution that is providing assistance in any way (this could be funding, it could be space in a room) receives federal financial assistance. Below is a list of companies involved (listed on Techtonica's home page) that have received federal funds, along with ID's corresponding to their DUNS or specific contracts. I have done my best to make sure the funding info is correctly associated to the company, in some cases it might be the parent companies funding that I listed.

Establishing jurisdiction.

  • They must be discriminating on the basis of a protected group, in this case sex and gender.
  • You must show they, or a company that has helped them, has received federal funds.
  • This must be an educational program. Title IX does not just apply to a traditional school.

Title IX applies to all aspects of education programs or activities operated by recipients of federal financial assistance.1 In addition to educational institutions such as colleges, universities, and elementary and secondary schools, Title IX also applies to any education or training program operated by a recipient of federal financial assistance. For example, Title IX would cover such diverse activities as a forestry workshop run by a state park receiving funds from the Department of Interior; a boater education program sponsored by a county parks and recreation department receiving funding from the Coast Guard; a local course concerning how to start a small business, sponsored by the state department of labor that receives funding from the Small Business Administration; state and local courses funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency in planning how to deal with disasters; and vocational training for inmates in prisons receiving assistance from the Department of Justice (hereinafter referred to as "DOJ" or "Justice Department" or "the Department"). Generally, it covers all aspects of the education program, including admissions, treatment of participants, and employment. Title IX guarantees equal educational opportunity in federally funded programs.

Description of the program, bold is mine:

After the first trial month of full-time training, participants who work the hardest and meet and exceed expectations will be invited to continue for the next five months of training with stipends based upon need and funding available.[...]

Upon successful completion of the program, some participants will be placed with available partner companies via a two-way interview and rating system. As of the open of the January 2021 applications, we have seven positions for placement and will be accepting 10-15 participants. If you are placed with a company and you both meet the requirements, you may earn an OJT ("On-the-Job Training") certificate from the State of California's Division of Apprenticeship Standards.

Their first eligibility requirement to enroll is if:

you are a woman (cis OR trans) or non-binary adult.

Description for sponsoring:

By sponsoring, you're empowering the people most underrepresented in tech and most in need. You’ll also save time and money on recruiting, build diversity in tech, expand your network, gain new perspectives, make better products, receive a tax exemption, join other distinguished supporters, and lift the local community.

Techtonica's code of conduct allows racism and sexism explicitly.

[...] will not act on complaints regarding: 

“Reverse”-isms, including “reverse racism,” “reverse sexism,” and “cisphobia.”

​

  • SocialGoodFund (DUNS 070492128, EIN: 46-1323531)
  • Rackspace (DUNS 094763740, 082733192)
  • Zendesk (DUNS 961919805)
  • Python software foundation (DUNS 015143166)
  • Science Exchange (DUNS 968407002)
  • Beezwax (DUNS 127418338)
  • Stripe (DUNS 080204009)
  • Redfin (EIDLGT:3309850268)
  • Exygy (FAIN 9122188509)
  • Clover (EIDLGT:3302201549)
  • Quantcast (FAIN 8774377000)
  • Wikimedia foundation (PIID HHSN263200900874P)
  • HUGE (PIID 91003118F0340)
  • Mixpanel (FAIN 5554147104)
  • Onelogin (PIID 80NSSC20P1885)
  • Redbubble (FAIN 7404077307)
  • Airbnb (EIDLGT: [redacted], or any of the other payments given to hosts)
  • SurveyMonkey (DUNS 165637542)
  • Appdynamics (DUNS 962680190)
  • Indeed (DUNS 079424116)
  • Scale (DUNS 114034472)
  • Cisco Meraki (Parent Company Cisco, DUNS 809960586)
  • Qualcomm (DUNS 078581747, 144356508)
  • UPSTART NETWORK, INC. (FAIN 6662737106)
  • Fitbit (DUNS 829454672)
  • Major League Hacking (FAIN 1675367109)
  • Smugmug (FAIN 1021547203)
  • Trevor TCR (FAIN 8046587104)
  • Xignite (FAIN 5601227108)

A couple days ago I filed a Title IX and EEOC complaint against Techtonica / SocialGood and listed all these companies as being in violation. If anyone feels they would benefit from this program and meets the criteria except for gender, you should apply. You don't have to be apathetic and just complain that this sucks. You might be able to do something about it. If you are rejected you would be able to file a Title IX / EEOC complaint that would add context to this. There have been some bellwethers that OCR is willing to take action on these kinds of things now.

It's easier to file complaints than you think. There is a pdf form you fill out. The description boxes are small so just say "see email" then be clear what boxes you are answering in the email. Send it along with as much documentation as humanly possible attached to the email. You can amend and update your assigned case manager if things develop more.

I have been working with OCR on some cases I filed and it's been a better experience than I thought it would be.

You don't have to tolerate this stuff.

Edit: This case cost me nothing but time and mental/emotional energy. It should be staying that way, that's how it is supposed to work filing with OCR.

Edit 2. Reddit shadow banned my account for this. I appealed and they lifted it.