The Diverse Tech Talent Program (DTTP) initiative by World Innovation League (WIL) in collaboration with Atila, Co.Lab, Skillhat, and Riipen. DTTP is on a mission to bridge the diversity gap in the tech industry and provide essential skills, mentorship, and job placements for Black Canadians and new immigrants. DTTP is poised to reshape the future of tech by fostering diversity, providing specialized training, and opening doors to exciting career opportunities.

DTTP allows participants to benefit from work-based learning experiences through 40-hour remote placements. Participants can enhance and showcase their digital tech skills, form employer networks, and connect with long-term employment opportunities. Completed remotely over 4 weeks, employer projects provide an authentic work experience and support career clarity to pave the way for success in the dynamic job market.

DTTP is an exclusive opportunity for participants of the DTTP program specializing in Product Management, Web Development and UX/UI Design. Feel free to check out the Getting Started with DTTP help article to find out more.

Participants will be grouped into teams of 5 by the DTTP team. Each team will complete one employer project. Each project is 40 hours of work per participant and will be completed over a 4 week period.

While completing your employer project, you will have continued access to DTTP mentor sessions where industry experts will offer personalized mentorship, guiding participants through challenges, sharing insights, and expanding your professional network.

Yes, DTTP is available in French on the platform. If you'd like to use the Riipen platform in French, you can navigate to your dashboard, click the drop down arrow in the top right corner and again on "Settings". Under "Accessibility", you will be able to change your language preference to French.

Final submissions may include multiple files. This could include files of your work, a detailed timesheet, or a comprehensive written summary of the work completed. Your final submission upload should demonstrate that 40 hours of work have been completed for the project. If our team is unable to ascertain that a good faith effort has been made to complete the project as defined by the employer, we will have to follow up with you and the employer. This may cause a delay in receiving your DTTP certificate.

Once you submit your final project submission, employers will have the chance to leave feedback on their experience working with you - both public (on your Riipen profile) and private feedback. They will also be asked to approve the deliverables, confirm that the project adhered to the DTTP Terms and Conditions, and that the project deliverables were completed within 40 hours per learner.

We encourage you to keep open lines of communication with the employer during the project to ensure you are both in agreement about the desired project outcomes.

The DTTP team will also review your final deliverables. If our team is unable to ascertain that a good faith effort has been made to complete the project as defined by the employer we will have to follow up with you and the employer. If 14 days have elapsed and the employer has not provided feedback, please reach out to the Riipen DTTP team. We will contact your employer again and if we do not hear back we will review your final deliverable on behalf of the employer.

In an effort to create a good DTTP experience for all parties, we have Terms and Conditions, which can be found here. Please take a moment to read through them. You will be asked to sign the T&Cs agreement before you can apply to an employer project. We've also created a three-strike system. This means that if any DTTP user goes against the Terms and Conditions, they will receive a strike. You will be notified via e-mail when/if you've received a strike. If you receive three strikes, you will be removed from the program and will no longer be able to participate and receive a stipend.

If you’re struggling to get in contact with a member of your team, be sure to let the employer know straight away. You should also let the DTTP team know via email (dttp@riipen.com), or via live chat on the platform. The DTTP team will then reach out to the team member and the employer, with the aim of re-engaging the team member and to understand if there’s additional support we can provide.

Continued unresponsiveness or a lack of commitment is a breach of the program’s T&Cs and is considered a strike (see three-strike system). This may lead to a team member being removed from the project. If that happens, you should work with the employer to readjust the project deliverables and continue your 40 hour placement project.

If you’re struggling to get in contact with an employer you should also let the DTTP team know as soon as possible via email (dttp@riipen.com), or via live chat on the platform. The DTTP team will then reach out with the aim to re-engage them and understand if there’s additional support we can provide. Continued unresponsiveness or a lack of commitment is a breach of the program’s T&Cs and is considered a strike (see three-strike system). This may lead to the employer being unable to post additional projects on the platform.

No. Participants are neither employees of the organization they complete a project for, nor of Riipen (who will pay their stipend). As such, participants do not qualify for any benefits and will not obtain payment nor any record of employment (ROE) from either organization. This work placement is the final part of the DTTP certificate program

Yes. It is the responsibility of the organization to provide software license/access to participants if required to perform the work.