Discovery Partners Institute Pritzker Tech Talent Labs (PTTL)
About Discovery Partners Institute Pritzker Tech Talent Labs (PTTL)
The Discovery Partners Institute’s (DPI) goal is to propel Chicago and Illinois into a pre-eminent and inclusive tech economy over the next decade. Led by the University of Illinois System, it does three things: 1) tech talent development, 2) applied R&D, and 3) business building.
DPI’s Pritzker Tech Talent Labs (PTTL) takes a systemic approach to developing promising and diverse tech talent. This includes programming for middle, high school, community college, 4-year and graduate student learners, K-12 teachers, as well as workforce and upskilling programs.
These programs are all focused on better preparing students for career readiness and making connections to Chicago’s tech community as we seek to expand the diversity of our tech workforce, with an emphasis on pathways into computer science, data science and other tech-oriented fields.
Our goals are to significantly increase the numbers of Black, Latinx, young women, and other minoritized populations pursuing and completing degrees and certificates in computer science, data science, and related fields of study at Illinois institutions and thriving in high-growth jobs in Chicago’s tech ecosystem.
Our programs have reached more than 3,000 participants since launching programming in 2020. 70% of our students self-identify as Black or Latinx, and 39% as women or non-binary. We anticipate reaching more than 2,500 students and teachers in 2024-25 and scaling our reach to thousands of students and teachers annually by 2029, with a continued focus on underrepresented populations in tech — Black, Latinx, and women.