BROADENING PARTICIPATION IN THE INNOVATION ECONOMY
Floreo Labs meets with stakeholders from NYC Tech Talent Pipeline | June 2019
Creating sustainable economic opportunities and building resilient communities in the NYC tech ecosystem
Building durable economic opportunity in NYC requires more than access.
Results here require practical, applied pathways into technology.
Despite NYC’s position as a global startup hub, much of the city’s talent and small business base remains disconnected from tech‑driven economic opportunity.
Floreo Labs partners with social impact organizations across New York City to design and implement technology and innovation initiatives spanning education, workforce development, and small business support.
INITIATIVES
Education (K-12 / Higher Ed)
Workforce Development
Business Incubation
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Instructional Design
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Technical Trainings
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Curriculum Development
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Product Development
CREDITS
Every initiative was a collaborative effort with each of the teams listed below. This work is made possible through deep collaboration with partners across the NYC tech ecosystem.
ADDRESSING THE GAPS
Our work focuses on strengthening economic participation in New York City’s tech ecosystem by addressing the gaps between education, workforce readiness, and business ownership. While the city leads globally in startup activity, too much talent and too many small businesses remain disconnected from the skills, systems, and pathways needed to participate in tech‑driven growth.
Through applied education, workforce development, and business incubation, Floreo Labs intervenes at key points where opportunity is often lost, helping individuals translate skills into jobs, founders translate ideas into revenue, and communities translate innovation into durable economic outcomes.
K-12 EDUCATION
DEPLOYING TECHNOLOGY CURRICULA IN 19 NYC SCHOOLS
We are supporting the implementation of creative technology education programming for over 1000 youth in K-12 schools across NYC.
At a moment when schools were forced into remote learning, and engagement became more critical than ever, Floreo Labs partnered with Roads to Success to reimagine what meaningful, technology‑enabled education could look like for NYC youth.
Working closely with RTS leadership and instructional staff, we designed creative, applied tech curricula that translated seamlessly from classroom to hybrid environments while connecting directly to the interests and lived experiences of students across New York City.
Together, we developed hands‑on programming in game design, photography, videography, and digital content creation, and trained educators to confidently deliver the material. Since 2020, this curriculum has been implemented across 19 elementary, middle, and high schools throughout all five boroughs—reaching students where they are and building practical, creative, and digital capability that extends beyond the classroom.
This work reflects Floreo Labs’ approach to long‑term ecosystem building: combining hands‑on skill development with deep institutional partnership so programs can scale and endure.
HIGHER EDUCATION
EXPANDING ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN THE BRONX
Lehman College Blackstone Launchpad Keynote
Floreo Labs has a deep and ongoing relationship with the Bronx innovation community. Through our partnership with Lehman College, and the leadership of Lawrence Fauntleroy, we’ve had the opportunity to support hands‑on entrepreneurship and experiential learning initiatives that connect education directly to real economic opportunity.
That partnership led to an invitation for Cameron Flowers, co‑founder of Floreo Labs, to deliver a keynote to aspiring entrepreneurs completing the Blackstone Launchpad program, a national initiative that works with colleges and universities to provide students with startup resources, mentorship, and access to professional networks.
The keynote focused on entrepreneurship as a pathway for participation in local innovation ecosystems, emphasizing practical skills, confidence, and the realities of building alongside uncertainty. Programs like Blackstone LaunchPad play an important role in helping students translate academic experience into real‑world opportunity.
We’re grateful for Lawrence’s leadership, both through the NYC Tech Talent Pipeline and in his role shaping experiential learning at Lehman College, and for the chance to support efforts that expand access to entrepreneurship for Bronx residents seeking to engage in New York City’s broader innovation economy.
(Photo credit: Lehman College)
TECH WORKFORCE
Floreo Labs has partnered with the City University of New York (CUNY) on technology workforce development initiatives since 2019, supporting applied learning experiences that connect students directly to real‑world industry practice.
Our work with CUNY began at Lehman College as a host company for Cohort 4 of the NYC Tech Talent Pipeline (CUNY2x Initiative). At the time, while operating as part of Betaworks Studios, we designed and launched the Lab Accelerator Program to deepen the training and mentorship experience for participating students.
Through the Lab Accelerator Program, students received hands‑on professional development in full‑stack web development, product management, and design, alongside real project experience supporting early‑stage startup partners working with the Lab. The program was intentionally structured to move students beyond entry‑level exposure and into more advanced, mid‑level workflows that reflected real industry expectations.
As a result of this applied, portfolio‑driven approach, program participants secured full‑time roles in tech‑enabled organizations following graduation. Today, Geidy Molina (’19) serves as an AVP Global Analyst at Citi, and Jasmin Hernandez (’20) works as a Systems Engineer at the Advocacy Institute.
This work reflects Floreo Labs’ long‑standing commitment to workforce development that prioritizes real experience, practical skill‑building, and career‑ready outcomes, ensuring students are prepared not only to enter the tech workforce, but to grow within it over time.
NYC TECH
TALENT PIPELINE
TECH WORKFORCE
Kura, launched in partnership with Floreo Labs, is a workforce development initiative focused on expanding access to high‑growth technical careers. The program provides free training and job placement pathways in Cloud Infrastructure Engineering, DevOps, and Site Reliability Engineering (SRE), roles that are critical to today’s technology workforce.
Floreo Labs partnered with Kura during its early stages to design the instructional foundation of the pilot program. Our work focused on aligning curriculum directly to real industry roles and expectations, ensuring participants were developing skills that translated into on‑the‑job readiness. During the pandemic, we also helped reimagine the classroom experience for fully virtual delivery, adapting instructional design to support engagement, collaboration, and applied learning in a remote environment.
The outcomes demonstrate the broader ecosystem impact of this work. Graduates of the program have secured roles at leading technology companies, with an average starting salary of approximately $100,000, despite coming from households with an average annual income of roughly $30,000. On the industry side, organizations employing Kura graduates have realized more than $50 million in savings through improved cloud infrastructure practices, including automated deployment pipelines and elastic systems.
This partnership served as a proof point for Floreo Labs’ approach: showing how applied, role‑aligned training can create economic mobility while delivering measurable value to the organizations that employ CUNY students and graduates.
ACCLERATING PATHWAYS TO CLOUD COMPUTING
TECH WORKFORCE
Floreo Labs’ Residency Program is an accelerated, applied learning experience for university students seeking real‑world exposure to innovation, strategy, and technology‑enabled work.
Over the course of several months, residents are immersed in Floreo’s approach to innovation and collaborate directly with principal and lead consultants on live initiatives.
In our most recent cycle, we welcomed Rachel Ng, Linda Chen, Ivory Hillery, and Megan Eng to the team. Throughout the residency, they demonstrated a strong commitment to the tech‑for‑good work at the center of our practice.
Residents contributed meaningfully across multiple areas of the Lab, including:
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Collaborating with marketing and sales teams to research, analyze, and define ideal customer profiles in emerging markets
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Researching and presenting on regional media and ecosystem landscapes
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Supporting the design and evolution of Floreo’s signature workshop series
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Conducting user research and interviews to inform future product, media, and content initiatives
The Residency Program reflects Floreo Labs’ approach to early‑career development: pairing hands‑on responsibility, real client and product work, and close mentorship to help emerging creative technologists build confidence, capability, and professional direction. Supporting these early career experiences is a core part of our broader commitment to strengthening innovation ecosystems over time.
FLOREO LABS BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT RESIDENCY
SMALL BUSINESS
Our innovation lab has been working to accelerate small businesses in New York through our consulting and accelerated learning programs. We have helped dozens of founders understand their business model, mobilize around their economic goals, build agile workflows, and reflect and adapt in order to continuously innovate.
Our Lab Accelerator Program was launched to digitize our consulting practice, making it more accessible to a wider range of individuals. Through this program, we have been able to reach even more small business owners and entrepreneurs, providing them with the resources and tools they need to succeed.
One of the program’s most successful engagements involved a small business owner who had reached a growth plateau. Through targeted consulting and guided learning, we helped her identify key operational constraints, refine her strategy, and implement new workflows. Within three months, the business saw a 30% increase in revenue, demonstrating the impact of pairing clarity with execution.
Our work with small businesses has been instrumental in driving economic growth and sustainability. We're proud to be a part of the solution and look forward to continuing to support small business owners and entrepreneurs in the years to come.
