It is no secret that the technology industry is suffering from an intense shortage of talent. It has been reported that there are over 3 million unfilled positions in cybersecurity alone. With an acceleration of digital transformation, the risk of cyber attacks continues to increase. Rapid7 understands that in order to accomplish the goal of making the world a more secure place, cybersecurity companies need to find talent expeditiously and build an employee base as diverse as the customers and communities in which we serve. This includes looking for and nurturing talent outside traditional networks and top-ranked universities.

With this objective, in 2017 Rapid7 became a founding partner of Hack.Diversity, a Boston Based division of the New England Venture Capital Association, aiming to connect high performing talent--who predominantly identify as Black or Latinx--to launch careers as software engineers, IT professionals and data analysts within the innovation economy. In the program’s founding year, Rapid7’s summer fellows were paired with managers who sought to provide a summer packed with experiential learning. So impressed with the talent from the program, Rapid7 extended permanent roles to every fellow, and has every year since. In total, these 10 new “Moose” (the term that refers to Rapid7’s employees, both individually and collectively), have since become impactful leaders at Rapid7.

Rapid7’s partnership with Hack.Diversity has continued to expand through volunteering and mentoring with the organization, making financial contributions to the program to support its growth and scale, and ultimately bringing on and then hiring its fellows. The Hack.Diversity community collaborates with Rapid7 by providing opportunities for managers to participate in continuous learning centered around creating workplaces that are inclusive and welcoming to all. The partnership has allowed Rapid7 to tap into phenomenal talent that we likely would not have found through our traditional recruiting efforts. Each of our fellows have been extended permanent offers, and they continue to make meaningful, long-term impact at Rapid7 in our mission to close the security achievement gap to provide a secure and prosperous digital future for all.

Peter Kaes