PepsiCo Foundation & Robin Hood Four-year Partnership Transformed the Lives of More Than 37,000 Young Women From the Bronx

The poverty rate for women in New York City is double the national average, and in the Bronx, home to the city’s highest concentration of people living in poverty, 1-in-3 women — more than 220,000 women — lack the resources to support themselves and their families.

In 2018, as part of a global commitment to elevate women and girls out of poverty, the PepsiCo Foundation invested $4 million in a place-based partnership with Robin Hood to provide 20,000 women and girls in the Bronx with education, training, skills, and the tools needed to prepare for careers in the high-paced, high-paying world of tech.

For many, the Robin Hood/PepsiCo Foundation partnership sparked new beginnings and opened pathways to opportunities that are too often denied to low-income women.

Working with four community partners — Computer Science For All (CSforALL), Lehman College ACE program, Nontraditional Employment for Women (NEW) and Hot Bread Kitchen (HBK) — PepsiCo Foundation has helped 37,770 women in the Bronx to see their futures with a different perspective.

Community partners like CSforALL used the funding to break down barriers for women to join New York City’s thriving tech sector, while other partners like NEW are giving more women and girls the freedom to choose their career path and create a brighter future for themselves, their families, and our city.

We think you should meet some of them.

Meet Fox: electrician, robotics mastermind, and poverty fighter who used the skills she learned with help from Nontraditional Employment for Women (NEW) to become a NYC electrician. Fox has a “try-anything-once” attitude, and believes that the trades have provided her the greatest engine of opportunity.

Meet Ali: techie, college-bound and poverty fighter who is using her coding skills from CSforALL to prepare for her next step when she goes to college. Ali finds computer science to be a creative outlet and believes that, in the future, tech will bridge the gap between age groups and income gaps.

Meet Shanae: construction worker, outdoors lover, and poverty fighter who used the skills she learned from Nontraditional Employment for Women (NEW) to get into NYC construction. Shanae is a self-motivated, “get out there and try everything” kind of person who is doing everything she can to get more women to join the trades.

Meet Alia: dreamer, coding genius, and poverty fighter who is using the skills she learned with help from CSforALL to express her art in mediums she never thought possible. Alia loves studying connections and relationships, and believes coding is her best tool for expression.

Meet Nyaisha: feeler, community builder, and poverty fighter who used the skills she learned from Nontraditional Employment for Women (NEW) to jump sectors from IT and office administration to construction and electrical work. Nyaisha loves her family, both born and chosen, and wants to do everything she can to make them proud.

Meet Nancy: advocate, trades member, and poverty fighter who is using the construction skills she learned from Nontraditional Employment for Women (NEW) to make sure her family gets their fair shot. Nancy leads with empathy first, and seeks to offer the friendly face and kind gesture that so many New Yorkers who are facing poverty need.

Watch their inspiring stories and take your first step to fighting poverty with Robin Hood and the PepsiCo Foundation in New York City.