Case Study
EVT leverages Advancing San Diego to hire intern, expands its learning platform
ServiceTalent Pipeline Development
February 2023
Through Advancing San Diego’s internship program led by EDC, local edu-tech startup Educational Vision Technologies (EVT.ai) hosted a fully subsidized intern from a top, local education program, and went on to hire them as a full-time employee.
CHALLENGE
San Diego’s small tech companies face numerous challenges in attracting and retaining top software talent. Small companies generally have less ability to provide competitive internship wages compared to large corporations, and are usually unable to dedicate employees and time to talent attraction. Additionally, many small companies and startups have fewer connections to top education institutions and training programs.
This is where Advancing San Diego (ASD) was able to help.
SOLUTION
After a competitive application process, San Diego small businesses EVT.ai was selected to host a paid ASD software intern from a vetted Verified Program, formerly known as a Preferred Provider program, at no cost to the startup. EVT.ai’s founder and CEO, Monal Parmar, founded the company during college at UC San Diego as a first-generation college graduate with a disability.
ASD’s grant-funded internship program provided a competitive wage and stipend, as well as access to a vetted pool of emerging software talent. Additionally, EVT.ai had the opportunity to work with ASD’s staffing partner, Manpower San Diego, which administered the interview process, administrative HR tasks, payroll, and more.
The business also had the opportunity to participate in promotional content across EDC’s website, email, and social media channels for additional visibility to potential future talent.
RESULT
After the cohort’s end, EVT.ai extended a full-time employment offer to its intern. The student came on board as a Machine Learning Engineer and has since leveraged their skills to build out EVT’s title generation software in three months—less than half the time originally estimated for the enhancement’s completion.
Since the program’s launch in 2020, interns have been placed at 67 small companies to date, with 82 percent of interns placed being priority students*. currently completing remote internships. ASD has so far saved local companies more than $1M in payroll, overhead, and talent sourcing expenses.
*Priority students = first generation, community college, HS students in low-income area
“Advancing San Diego helps level the playing field for underrepresented founders to build a successful business. The program has connected us to skilled, mission-driven talent, that has in turn has helped us connect diverse students to our accessible learning tools.”
-Monal Parmar, Founder & CEO, Educational Vision Technologies