• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Calgary.Tech

Calgary.Tech

 
 
 
  • Home
  • News
  • Interviews
  • Thought Leaders
  • Jobs
  • Bulletin Board
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

Tacit Edge Aims to Diversify Tech Talent in Alberta and Beyond

January 9, 2023 by Bulletin Board Leave a Comment

Tacit Edge is taking applications for the next cohort of its gender and race Equity, Diversity and Inclusion-based Product Management education programs, which the organization claims is among the most successful globally.

Founded by corporate veterans Christa Hill and Renee Matsalla, the Calgary-based tech-education startup is looking to shift the number of women and visible minorities graduating into Product Management and related roles with top companies throughout Alberta, across Canada, and around the world.

In partnership with the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology and with funding from Alberta Innovates, Tacit Edge’s 12-week Applied Product Management Program graduated their first students last year.

“Product Management is a career that has very few opportunities to gain post-secondary education unless you’re already hired at a company and rise through the ranks or participate in online theory-only education,” argues Matsalla. “It’s trained in-house at many companies, yet businesses regionally and globally need diverse Product Managers.”

Product Management is defined as the business process of planning, developing, launching, and managing a product or service. It includes the entire lifecycle of a product, from ideation and development to market—a field that “bridges the gap between technology innovation and business strategy,” according to Matsalla.

The issue is that companies “don’t have a trusted standard source of Product Managers to draw from, and students struggle to find a trusted high-quality place for low-risk hands-on learning,” she says. “These are the two sides of the problem we are seeking to solve.”

Tacit Edge claims a 73% hire rate of graduates into product management and related roles of which more than half are women and nearly three-quarters identify as visible minorities. The company believes this is an improvement over industry figures, which skew two-thirds male and white, according to data from career platform Zippia.

“Our education is ideal for anyone who wants to learn the latest best practices for building great products, from startup, scale-up, to enterprise,” the company states. “Anyone can benefit from the innovation that Product Management education creates.” 

“Under-represented groups, newcomers to Canada, and those who have faced adversity often make the best Product Managers we can imagine,” commented Hill. “These individuals thrive in ambiguity and have already overcome challenging situations unique to their lives navigating the complexity of starting a new life in a new country.”

According to the Boston Product Management Association’s Study on the State of DE&I in Product Management research/survey, less diverse teams may share limited perspectives, build less successful products, and perform at a lower level.

“The Product Management function is at the center of our innovation ecosystem, bridging the gap between technical development and market demand,” stated Doug Holt of Alberta Innovates. “It is the driving force behind the development and success of products the market actually wants and is crucial for driving the growth and scale-up of businesses in our ecosystem. ”

Tacit program graduates have gone on to work for major corporations like Microsoft, as well as regional firms like Calgary’s Small Business of the Year, legal-tech upstart Goodlawyer.

“We can’t wait to bring the world diverse talent, and the next generation of successful Product Managers who are primed to disrupt industry and help solve problems for businesses and people alike,” Hill said.

Filed Under: Bulletin Board Tagged With: Goodlawyer, Tacit Edge

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

 
 
 

Stay Connected

  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Bulletin Board

Bring Your Business Idea To Life In 2023 With Platform Calgary’s Startup Essentials

Platform Calgary brings together the resources of … [Read More...] about Bring Your Business Idea To Life In 2023 With Platform Calgary’s Startup Essentials

Calgary’s Hottest Hackathon Warms Up Winter This February

Albertan winter is often associated with Banff and … [Read More...] about Calgary’s Hottest Hackathon Warms Up Winter This February

Minister Vandal Announces Federal Investment To Advance Alberta’s Hydrogen Economy

Funding of more than $9.74 million through … [Read More...] about Minister Vandal Announces Federal Investment To Advance Alberta’s Hydrogen Economy

Tacit Edge Aims to Diversify Tech Talent in Alberta and Beyond

Tacit Edge is taking applications for the next … [Read More...] about Tacit Edge Aims to Diversify Tech Talent in Alberta and Beyond

MP Chahal Announces Two Projects to Build Capacity of Women Entrepreneurs and Investors in Alberta

Today George Chahal, Member of Parliament for … [Read More...] about MP Chahal Announces Two Projects to Build Capacity of Women Entrepreneurs and Investors in Alberta

Copyright © 2023 · Incubate Ventures · Privacy