What makes TechTown a cool place to work?

TechTown was recently named to Crain’s Detroit Business’ 2022 Cool Places to Work list! While our company tagline is “We Mean Business” based on the work that we do supporting entrepreneurs, at the end of the day we are all about our team. 

Learn about some of the benefits the TechTown team receives and initiatives that help create a “cool” and meaningful workplace culture.  

We pride ourselves on equity 

In 2021, TechTown Detroit’s board of directors officially adopted equity goals targeting improved representation at the board, staff and vendor levels by 2025. While this work is championed by the board, TechTown team members are involved every step of the way. 

Our motivation was to allow the community we serve to see themselves represented by our team and to provide TechTown team members with a clear and accessible professional growth plan.

Some of our five-year goals include:

• 75% board seats and executive committee seats filled by BIPOC
• 51%+ of board seats and executive committee seats filled by Detroit residents and filled by women 
• Representation of BIPOC, women and Detroit residents in every hierarchical layer of the team

Unplug and unwind 

We understand that burnout is a problem for nonprofit employees, so we take actionable steps to counteract that.  

• 25 PTO days a year; no questions asked
• 22 paid holidays: These days include federal holidays, as well as a week off in the summer and two weeks off in December
• Mental health days: Team members are given a mental health day once every month
• Summer Fridays: During the summer months, we hit the pause button organization-wide and “close” at noon to start the weekend early

Investing in professional growth 

Each team member receives $2,500 annually to put toward professional development opportunities. The goals of this program are to provide team members the opportunity to develop their skills in their current role, to enhance their potential for advancement within TechTown and to meet educational goals that are beneficial to their development at the organization.  

These funds can be used for: 

• Training seminars 
• Professional coaches 
• Tuition reimbursement 
• Conferences 
• Certificate programs 

Prioritizing parents 

Our parental leave policy allows team members to bond with their newborn or newly adopted child. If taken together, the benefits may provide any person who gives birth to a child up to 14 weeks and other parents up to six weeks of paid time off in addition to other leave options. 

When parents return to the virtual office, fellow team members are always genuinely happy to see a little coworker make an appearance during a Teams meeting! 

Work and play 

At TechTown, we work hard and we have fun. We conduct spirit weeks, team outings and we value community service.  

• We meet frequently as a team to understand everyone’s scope, including Monday town halls and quarterly full-team meetings  
• This summer, the TechTown team gathered for a walking restaurant tour around New Center and had a series of virtual gatherings to discuss strategies for centering equity in TechTown’s work
• Food vendors are at the TechTown building weekly serving up lunch

Time is valuable 

Time management is important to us. That’s why we only allow meetings to be scheduled during core meeting hours: 

• Monday: 1 – 4 p.m. 
• Tuesday through Thursday: 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. and 1 – 4 p.m. 
• Friday: 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. 

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Join our team 

Wondering what’s the absolute best part about working at TechTown? Every day, we know we are making a difference in Detroit. If you are interested in working at TechTown, check out our job openings at techtowndetroit.org/jobs.