The Lightning Pitch: ReBoot Accel, career accelerator for women

Company: ReBoot Accel Career Accelerator For Women

Headquarters: Redwood City, CA

Founders: Two women passionate about community, Diane Flynn and Patty White

Why we like it: The ReBoot Accel Career Accelerator For Women gets women current, connected, and confident to return to work.

With programs in eight cities across the US, ReBoot is an accelerator by women, for women. ReBoot’s roots are in the concept of “it takes a village.”

It took a village to successfully create and launch ReBoot. Diane and her co-founder, Patty White, along with a team of accomplished, results-oriented, and innovative women launched ReBoot Accel in early 2015. Since then, several ReBoot Accel alums and college interns have made significant contributions to the progress, programs and culture at ReBoot Accel.

ReBoot is for women who have been out of the paid workforce for more than two years and are interested in returning to or creating some type of paid work, full or part time, in profit or non-profit sectors. Others have recently taken jobs and are polishing their workplace skills, and some are in discernment and preparing to step out in a new direction. All are welcome and add to the vitality of the ReBoot experience.

According to ReBoot, “There is a large demographic of educated women (35-60 years old) who held demanding, interesting, lucrative positions before pausing their careers for caregiving or other opportunities.”

They are now looking to reenter the workforce for financial reasons and to increase their impact on society, and most feel they have decades left to contribute to their companies, customers and communities.

By retooling and tapping into this seasoned pool of talent, ReBoot looks to re-energize and add a needed, diverse perspective to better solve many of business’ and society’s toughest challenges.

There are eight sessions in the program. Six of the eight sessions are devoted to helping women learn current office and social media technologies through hands on training — think of a survey course in: Apple’s Keynote; Google’s mail, docs, calendar, forms, drive; Evernote, Canva (a great design tool), Twitter, LinkedIn and more.

The other two classes help women identify their strengths, determine their interests and learn current job search strategies and tools.

Additionally, ReBoot Connect (formally called Club ReBoot) will be launching in 10 cities in the near future. ReBoot Connect is an ongoing community for women in the program, and it includes bi-monthly educational sessions and support for women returning to work.

Perks include a gym membership model at $30/month, and topics include negotiation skills, discernment, balance, office productivity, a deep dive into LinkedIn and Evernote, language for women, powerful presentations, networking tips, and more.