Award Recognizes Andrea and Perficient’s Efforts to Advance STEM Education and Career Opportunities
Andrea Lampert, vice president of people, Perficient, was one of 10 HR professionals honored with a 2022 HR Award, recognizing the important work individuals, companies, and organizations perform in the field of human resources to make businesses successful. The annual awards ceremony was held Thursday, May 19, in conjunction with the 2022 Best Places to Work Awards where Perficient was also recognized as a finalist in the “Big Company” category.
Andrea was the sole recipient of the 2022 HR Innovation Award, celebrating her efforts in guiding Perficient’s programming to advance STEM education and career opportunities for underrepresented constituencies and communities.
“I am honored and so pleased to be recognized by the St Louis Business Journal with the Innovation in HR Award, and I’m humbled to join past recipients who I have respected and admired,” said Andrea. “This award is representative of the journey we’re on at Perficient to be as innovative within our organization as we are with our clients. The Innovation in HR extends beyond our people team to our senior leaders and colleagues who have embraced putting our people in the center of all we do. So truly, this award is for everyone at Perficient and is a celebration of the meaningful achievements we’ve made as a people-centric organization.”
READ MORE: Perficient Promises to Challenge, Champion, and Celebrate Our People
At Perficient, we believe innovation is best achieved when every perspective is considered, and that diversity and inclusion are constant pursuits. As an industry leader, we recognize that the responsibility to drive equity throughout the broader technology industry falls on us. Under Andrea’s leadership, we’re bringing the same mindset to the communities where we live and work.
READ MORE: How Perficient is Making Meaningful Change in Our Global Communities
A prime example of that commitment is Perficient Bright Paths, an education and career advancement program bringing more insights and skillsets into the conversation to drive true innovation forward. Created in late 2020, the Perficient Bright Paths Program is designed to advance STEM education and career opportunities while helping to close the employment gaps that exist in the technology industry, especially among women and minorities.
We’ve partnered with Strayer University to create relevant learning experiences that prepare students for the IT field. Students attend a 16-week, customized training bootcamp where they learn the foundational concepts of software engineering, study in-demand programs, receive an inside look at what it’s like to work in the consulting business, connect with mentors, and even have the opportunity to engineer their own innovative applications.
Perficient fully funds the Bright Paths training programs to provide opportunities to ambitious, deserving, and committed candidates who otherwise might be unable to pursue them. By the end of each Bright Paths Program, our goal is to extend qualified graduates employment offers in the software engineering and development field where they will work with many of the world’s largest enterprises and biggest brands.
To date, the Bright Paths Program has featured three cohorts of diverse students with 67 graduates, many women and minorities, joining Perficient. Two additional cohorts in Detroit and Minneapolis are set to begin in June.
READ MORE: Bright Paths Graduates Share Their Experience in the Program
“It’s so exciting to have the Bright Paths program recognized through this award, as it’s truly an incredible offering,” said Andrea. “There are so many benefits to programming like Bright Paths: expanding opportunities for diverse populations, increasing talent pools in technology, and most importantly changing lives and delivering dreams. Our people strategy at Perficient is to enable our people to do their best work. The Bright Paths program creates opportunities for students to learn new skills, begin a new career, and be surrounded with support, encouragement, and mentorship to focus on their strengths.”
2022 Detroit and Lafayette Bright Paths Graduates
In addition to the Perficient Bright Paths Program, Andrea has influenced the development of Perficient’s company-wide Employee Resource Groups (ERGs). Namely, she serves as the executive sponsor of Perficient’s Women in Tech ERG, which aims to promote education and career growth for women of Perficient, and to facilitate networking and connection for women, peers, and allies.
Another community-based initiative is Perficient’s collaboration with the Mark Cuban Foundation AI Bootcamps in Dallas, which is paving the way for the future of high schoolers who have an interest in AI technology and now have an opportunity to pursue that interest. Perficient and Perficient colleagues can also support organizations like Girls Who Code and FIRST Inspires through our charitable match program.
Due in part to Andrea’s efforts, Perficient and our colleagues are making meaningful change in our global communities, and we’re honored to be recognized by the St. Louis Business Journal for those efforts.
Congratulations to Andrea and to the other 2022 recipients!
