Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in August 2022 and has last been updated on December 16, 2022.

In the context of the Great Resignation and a tight labor market, our industry is no exception to the difficulties many markets are seeing today. More studies are showing that Gen Z and Millennials care deeply about company culture and are more likely to quit if they don’t agree with a company’s culture. To shape a positive company culture, one of the things that organizations can do is increase their charitable giving and to become more proactively involved in local nonprofits that support various causes.

For ProLink Solutions, as a key technology player in the affordable housing industry, we are at a crossroad between technology professionals and housing professionals. As we are headquartered in Englewood, Colorado, a few miles south of Denver, we have supported various local organizations over the years, such as Saint Francis Center  and Habitat for Humanity of Metro Denver. We have also recently discovered and started supporting STEMblazers, a local nonprofit based out of Highlands Ranch, Colorado, whose mission is to promote girls in the STEM fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math.

STEMblazers envisions a world where women feel they are equally represented in the STEM workforce, and it provides them with the resources and mentorship they need to pursue a career in STEM. They partner with local middle and high schools and provide mentoring opportunities between students and local professionals. Women are underutilized in the STEM workforce and STEMblazers aims to help remedy this by getting more women involved in a variety of STEM employment opportunities, and in generating interest when it comes to women in STEM.

As EVP for ProLink Solutions, I frequently notice the lack of female representation, not only employed with tech firms already, but also qualified and available for hire. I’m proud that over the last two years, the majority of ProLink’s new hires have been female—but it takes a lot of work to find them compared to equivalent male candidates. Getting more females interested and educated in STEM fields is where the foundation must be laid to achieve a more equitable, diverse and female talent pool in the future.

On July 28th of this year, we had the honor of partnering with STEMblazers for their 6th Annual STEMblazers Golf Tournament. We are aligned with the vision that STEMblazers has for women in tech and are happy to support them.