Virtual career information and networking event on a cutting-edge professional platform.
The USAID Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI) and Latinx Conference and Career Expo is hosted by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
As part of USAID’s commitment to building a diverse, inclusive, and equitable workforce, the Agency seeks to engage Latinx students and alumni from HSIs in learning about USAID’s work, HSI partnerships, and job and scholarship opportunities. Starting in 2021, TechChange partnered with key Agency stakeholders to develop a compelling and engaging program. The goal of these convenings is to provide accessible and inclusive content, hands-on training, and workshop opportunities for participants both in-person and all over the world.
For both the 2021 and 2022 iterations, TechChange provided a customized hybrid events platform to host and live-stream all sessions and presentations, including resume workshops and networking opportunities designed to engage this particular audience in dynamic and inspiring ways.
TechChange built on past successes hosting USAID career-focused conferences to provide consultative input design, and event hosting services. To curate a meaningful and exciting agenda, TechChange working with the USAID Organizing Committee over two years to plan a variety of session types, including interactive activities, high-grade networking, and luminary keynotes from USAID Administrator Samantha Power and US Representative Joaquin Castro. The TechChange team customized a branding package for the event including a unique logo, social media assets, and fresh platform graphics.
All sessions were livestreamed and hosted on the TechChange platform backed by TechChange moderators and tech support. Experienced with multi-stakeholder engagements, in the 2022 edition, TechChange worked with the consulting firm CollaborateUp to organize the in-person components at Florida International University and ensure their seamless broadcast to the virtual platform.
Hybrid events offer the best of both worlds in terms of accessibility and inclusivity. The first two days of the 2022 conference were entirely virtual on the TechChange platform. Session topics ranged from effective resume writing for federal jobs to the role of diversity in development to real-life career advice from USAID professionals. The third day, which focused on hands-on workshops in which students fine-tuned their resumes for particular federal jobs that they were interested in, was held in-person at Florida International University. Those in-person elements were livestreamed on the platform, with additional virtual networking opportunities provided to online participants who could talk to conference speakers, USAID staff and volunteers, and network with other participants via Social Hour. In total, twenty-four hours of content were provided to participants.
The hybrid format of this 2022 conference allowed USAID to reach an important community with substantive interactions, both online and in-person. The 2022 USAID HSI/Latinx conference provided a valuable skill-building and networking opportunity for the next generation of Latinx international development professionals to work with USAID on the world’s most pressing problems.
Nearly 1000 registrants joined the conference from fifty-two countries, geo-tagging 141 of their locations on the TechChange platform. Virtual engagement was robust, with more than 500 event chat messages and an average of 7.5 interactions between participants during the networking sessions. Zero security breaches were reported.
TechChange’s plug and play platform and hands-on management allowed USAID to focus on speaker recruitment and student outreach, while the TechChange team handled set up, production, and support. Participants could engage with the content and speakers in a wide variety of ways including discussion boards, advice panels, and question and answer sessions.
Our expert team can help you unlock the technology and supports to make your vision a reality.
We love to work with our partners to deliver top-notch courses. Start the conversation today.
