Tim Bryan joins Healthfirst’s CIO, GT Sweeney, on BronxNet hosted by Daren Jaime, to discuss the Outsource to New York City™ initiative.
Full Transcript
Daren Jaime
Welcome back. Healthfirst recently announced its collaboration with GalaxE.Solutions to create full-time local tech jobs for Bronx residents. Now the Outsource the New York City initiative aims to recruit and train a culturally racially and ethically diverse and inclusive workforce from local communities to full-time salary technology jobs and is positioned to bring hundreds of technology jobs to the city. Join us now to share more details we are pleased to have the Chief Information Officer at Healthfirst, GT Sweeney and also the CEO of GalaxE.Solutions, Tim Bryan and gentlemen thank you and welcome.
Tim Bryan
Hey, Daren.
GT Sweeney
Thanks for having us, Daren.
Daren Jaime
Thank you GT, I think this is a great opportunity of course for New York city and more particularly for Bronx Heights given the fact that as we look at how you know the workforce is developing we’re seeing more in the area of science technology engineering math and we know that tech jobs are really at the forefront these days and now the ability to bring it home to New York City.
GT Sweeney
You know, at Healthfirst we’ve got about 1300 people working on technology and you know the war for technology talent has never been more intense um you know so we’ve gone offshore for talent. At the same time, you know Healthfirst is a very unique insurance company the only reason we exist is to serve New Yorkers and help them meet their health care needs. And you know we’ve been talking at Healthfirst increasingly about some of the social determinant barriers that our members face. They oftentimes have challenges accessing healthcare but they also have challenges accessing other services they are underrepresented in some fields including technology and so it was really those two ideas coming together. The idea that I need talent and we haven’t really tapped into the talent in the communities that we serve so let’s bring those two forces together. And in about at about the same time I met Tim and the team from GalaxE and learned about their model, and you know Tim can talk a little bit more about the history of Outsourced to America kind of more broadly, but it was a very compelling model that I’m really excited to kind of be the launch partner in the Bronx with GalaxE.
Daren Jaime
Yeah, so Tim, give us a little bit more about the model and what GalaxE does.
Tim Bryan
Well GalaxE is fortunate to have visionary clients like Healthfirst and GT Sweeney. What’s going on here is that we build technology solutions for major corporations and as GT said, it’s all about great talent in addition to
great automation and processes and the rest. And if you look at the Bronx in particular for example you have maybe the third most densely populated county in the United States you have maybe something like a 30 percent poverty rate and you have a need for talent. So what we’ve done with GT is that we’ve put these things together and said look, let’s develop talent locally let’s develop talent in our inner cities and let’s really give the folks that live there an opportunity to participate in the American dream. So we’ve aligned our work for Healthfirst with workforce development in the Bronx and basically, people are going to be able to go to the GalaxE. Solutions website, galaxe.com, and apply for jobs and they will receive training they will get the opportunity to join our workforce and to support Healthfirst and other companies in the neighborhood. And in doing so we really are changing the way outsourcing has been for the last 25 or 30 years where these jobs go
offshore because of visionary organizations like Healthfirst that are focused on their communities what we’re going to do is we’re going to build out the workforce locally we’re going to give people the opportunity to join the workforce, to join a technology company like GalaxE and really change the paradigm of their lives. So Daren, if you can imagine our vision there’s a dinner table in the Bronx, and the individual that is providing for that household if they have a good job with GalaxE, it changes the entire perspective of that household. It becomes a household with expectation of safety, a household with expectation of good health care, a household with expectation of a well-paying job, and really a future for that family. And so our partnership with Healthfirst is all about changing those lives one dinner table at a time in the Bronx.
Daren Jaime
Yeah, and I want to commend you, gentlemen, too because I know part of you know to be more specific for our viewers you really are targeting those who are underserved in the Bronx community as well and that’s definitely a particular passion, and yes it does have the opportunity to really transcend a person’s way of life. And also you know, either one of you can jump in on here, but really a firm career path.
GT Sweeney
Yeah, that’s right. I think you know in particular, African American and Hispanic individuals are underrepresented in the technology industry. You know we’re better than most with our we’re a very diverse company but in technology, it’s been hard to achieve that diversity and so I’m very excited to have the communities that we serve build the technology solutions that serve those communities. Who better who better to build solutions for the communities that we serve than people who grew up and then and live in
the communities that we serve so it’s always been a part an important part of our strategy.
Daren Jaime
Yeah, can you share with us a little bit about the jobs the actual jobs that people actually be able to apply for?
GT Sweeney
What I would say is that it’s across the entire breadth of the technology spectrum. So everything from kind of helpdesk staff to analytics to mobile app developers, cyber security engineers. So you know very compelling leading-edge technology.
Tim Bryan
American companies need talent and they need talent across the life cycle of software development and so it really is an opportunity to address that need through training and also as GT said, to identify people in the community that haven’t had these kinds of opportunities and give them the opportunity to be trained and
to join the workforce. So families in Kingsbridge or in Claremont Village or Mott Haven, South Bronx you name it that have said to themselves geez how do I participate in this technology wave. Well, we’re going to give them that opportunity. We’re going to give them an opportunity for training, employment participation and really all of the benefits that go along with that so that they can each take their shot at achieving the American dream.
Daren Jaime
That’s great. And also for people who want to get connected what do they actually do they’ve heard the work
they’ve heard the word now that this is available and out there how do they go about doing this?
Tim Bryan
I think number one is go to galaxe.com and you’ll see a special link for New York and Bronx applicants that
are interested in participating in the program. They click that link it’ll start them down the process of a better technology job in the Bronx and really give them the opportunity to hopefully change their life and really make a difference for their families.
Daren Jaime
Well gentlemen, I definitely want to thank you guys for being here and sharing with us here on the show it’s
been a pleasure having you and thanks for joining us.
GT Sweeney
Thanks, Daren.
Tim Bryan
Thanks, Daren, good talking with you.
Daren Jaime
All right well for more information, you heard the websites you saw the websites on our lower thirds make sure that you take an opportunity to get connected as we can talk to both GT and Tim about the work the technology jobs coming available to the Bronx.
