Top 10 (12!) TAO Accomplishments of 2018

As we head into the remaining days of 2018, I asked the team at TAO to share their top ten accomplishments.  We came up with twelve. Luckily, we hired Elizabeth Allen as our Finance and Operations Manager this year, and she more than makes up for the rest of the team when it comes to math.  

• Launched NW Salary Survey and Future of Work initiatives to help local tech companies and our community benchmark their performance and gain insight when it comes to sourcing and developing talent.  
• Increased availability of computer science courses in Lane County by 900%.  
• Launched Apprenti, a registered tech apprenticeship program certified by the U.S. Dept. of Labor, in two regions in Oregon and graduated first cohort of apprentices in November.
• Building on momentum following the launch of CyberOregon.com, completed a series of cyber security trainings for small businesses throughout Oregon in partnership with Oregon’s Small Business Development Centers, organized a series of cyber security summits focused on education/workforce, policy, and best practices/tools, contributed to a plan for a Cyber Center of Excellence for Oregon, and organized the PDX Blockchain Summit and Hackathon.  
• Provided guidance to and developed programs and policies for smart city/community initiatives throughout Oregon and at the national level through the NIST/DHS Global City Teams Challenge while organizing another international smart city/community conference in Portland that brought cities and governments, leading tech companies and academics to the region from around the world.
• Organized Convergence: Tech Policy 2018, which brought together thought-leaders from the public, private, and academic sectors from around Oregon and nationally to explore the intersection of technology and public policy with a focus on identity.  The Summit resulted in two working groups that have gone on to help guide the development of future policies on identity at the state and federal levels.
• Helped to bring ride sharing to Eugene.
• Expanded Hack for a Cause hackathon to Portland with 6 teams competing in 3 challenges: accessible services for those in need, addressing housing affordability and improving efforts to reduce traffic fatalities through Vision Zero.
• Achieved an increase in diversity among our board over 3 years from 25% to 56% and an increase of female representation on the TAO Board from 19% to 42%; also delivered diversity, equity and inclusion training programs for tech execs in Greater Portland and Central Oregon.    
• Introduced Lunch & Learn program connecting thought-leaders with our network of local tech professionals.
• Expanded Tech Kickball to three regions in the state with teams comprised of over 600 tech professionals.
• Implemented a new social media strategy that dramatically increased followers across all platforms.