News / Insights

The National Historically Black Colleges & Universities Alumni Associations Foundation and i3, LLC Announce Strategic Partnership

     

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 29, 2022

The National Historically Black Colleges & Universities Alumni Associations Foundation (NHBCUAAF) and i3, LLC (i3) are pleased to announce a new strategic partnership to address revenue generation along with workforce development challenges for the nation’s historically Black colleges and universities. This alliance actualizes the intent of the Executive Order on White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity through Historically Black Colleges and Universities’ (HBCUs), the Propelling Agency Relationships Towards a New Era of Results for Students (PARTNERS) Act of Congress, and the HBCU’s Research, Innovation, Security, and Excellence (HBCU-RISE) Act of Congress.

At a time when students are facing the challenges associated with the COVID pandemic, social injustice and economic instability and uncertainty, the importance of student engagement must be reaffirmed as an essential element of “Diversity, Inclusion & Equity Education.” Students need the relevant knowledge and skills to develop abilities that allow them to connect to meaningful employment. 

According to a 2021 Supply Chain Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Survey published by Association for Supply Chain Management (ASCM) and Gartner reports these alarming stats:

• An almost 50% drop in representation of people of color starting at the first level of leadership, at the manager and supervisor level.
• At the senior manager and director levels, people of color compose barely one-tenth of either level. Only 9% of vice presidents in the supply chain are people of color.
• These percentages are relatively consistent across all supply chain industry segments.

The findings show that there is crucial and essential work required to increase the workforce of African American science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) professionals and leaders. To meet the accelerating demands for STEAM talent and the call for more representation in the industry, i3’s focus is to prioritize initiatives to raise education awareness and enhance technical skillsets through mentorship and hands-on training.

This partnership between i3 and NHBCUAAF will focus on strengthening and integrating STEAM academic programs and activities around student engagement at every level of the academic institutions. We intend to design and disseminate information on the importance of meaningful education that leads to professional employment for students and graduates of our beloved HBCUs.  The goal is to generate revenue for HBCUs to educate, train, and mobilize students at our HBCU campuses to benefit from employment and mentoring opportunities in Cyber Security, Cloud & Managed Services, Data Analytics, Application Development & DevSecOps Services, and other emerging technologies.

“As a refugee immigrant growing up in an impoverished environment, I witnessed the value of having a good STEAM education to break out of the poverty cycle.  I’m passionate about giving back to disadvantaged communities and believe our partnership with the NHBCUAAF will promote and affirm the power of HBCUs and bring positive change to the lives of countless students,” said Nicholas Nguyen, CEO of i3, LLC.    

Tyrone Couey, President, NHBCUAAF added, “This partnership will have an enormous impact on the lives of thousands of young men and women at HBCUs.  They often face nearly insurmountable barriers to securing gainful and meaningful employment that connects to their field of academic study and interest.” 

i3, LLC (i3)

Incorporated in 2014, i3 is a systems integration firm that Informs, Innovates, and Integrates technical solutions on behalf of its clients.  i3 is an 8(a) certified small, disadvantaged business providing technology services with a proven track record of implementing technical solutions for mission-critical IT programs supporting the Federal Government. i3 specializes in data analytics and visualization, software development, artificial intelligence/machine learning, cloud engineering, digital transformation, and mission IT support. i3 has extensive experience supporting major IT programs for the Civilian and Intelligence Community agencies. i3 brings uncompromising quality and process maturity as evidenced by our ISO 9001:2015 Certification. i3 has staff in 8 states and is headquartered in Fairfax, VA.

Wide Variety of Options to Acquire our Services:

1. Un-competed 8(a) direct sole source awards of up to $4.5M
2. GSA MAS IT (Contract # 47QTCA19D005J)
3. GSA 8(a) STARS III (Contract # 47QTCB22D0366)

i3, LLC is a for profit organization. For more information about i3, please visit: https://i3llc.us/  

Media Contacts: Nicholas Nguyen at ncnguyen@i3its.com or Tom Dawson at tdawson@i3its.com

The National HBCU Alumni Associations Foundation (NHBCUAAF)

Established in 2016, the NHBCUAAF is a premier organization comprised of alumni leaders and associates from HBCUs. We are experienced professionals with the knowledge, skills and expertise to provide technical assistance to HBCUs and other institutions on a wide range of topics. We deliver our products, consultation and services with the highest degree of professionalism and integrity.

NHBCUAAF is a 501(c) (3) tax-exempt organization. For more information about NHBCUAAF, please visit: www.nhbcuaaf.org or follow us on Social Media: LinkedIn I  Facebook I Instagram.

Media Contact: info@nhbcuaa.org