IMPACT
For over 25 years Tom has worked with many great leaders. His most meaningful work has involved creating opportunities for his community and affecting positive change. He is excited to bring his network and skills to the greatest issues of our time: climate and sustainability.
Award-winning Board-Ready Bootcamp
It's no secret that the tech industry skews white and male. This is especially true in the corner office and on boards of directors. In 2019, inspired by a conversation with Rapid7 CEO Corey Thomas, Tom set out to build a bootcamp to address board composition and governance, while helping women, BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and differently-abled tech leaders along their journeys to the board room. The program engages HBS, PWC, and many tech executives in leading sessions. To date, we have seen nearly 300 alumni graduate, many of whom have landed board seats. Learn more.
According to a 2017 Boston Globe survey, 54% of black individuals nationwide believe Boston to be unwelcoming to people of color. In Season 1 of On the Tech Trail, Akamai CHRO Anthony Williams shared how his friends tried to dissuade him from taking a job in Boston. Teeing off this episode, Season 2 of the podcast took on "the Boston Brand Problem" and how a legacy of racism was keeping some of the best talent away, limiting their opportunities, and hampering the innovation capacity of the region. The conversations put a spotlight on the topic, and later received national recognition, including two Anthem Awards (Webby Awards), a Hermes and a Vega award. Learn more.
Award-winning On the Tech Trail Podcast
2030 Challenge and Tech Compact for Social Justice
After the murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, Tom brought together his executive diversity and inclusion steering committee to discuss how the Council and its members could respond and be a positive force for change. The result was the launch of a "2030 Challenge" to double the percentage of black and Latinx workers in tech occupations in Massachusetts by 2030. While the Challenge was to lawmakers, educators, community groups and industry, the Council's "lane" was tech companies. We created of the Tech Compact of Social Justice and enlisted 100 companies willing to commit to meaningful change at their company and to work together towards change with other Compact signers. Learn more.
In 2017, Tom stood with Mass. Attorney General Maura Healey as she launched a legal challenge against President Trump's Executive Order barring entry into the U.S. from several Muslim-majority countries (the Trump Travel Ban). He gathered impact statements from companies and commissioned a report documenting the economic impact of immigrants as innovators and job creators. This research served as the basis for seven amicus briefs, including two we filed in the United States Supreme Court that were cited by Justices Sotomayor, Ginsburg and Breyer. In 2021, President Biden overturned the order upon taking office. Learn more.
U.S. Supreme Court Amicus Brief in Travel Ban case
Mass. girls and young women participating in Ed Foundation STEM programs
As Chair of the MassTLC Education Foundation, Tom's vision and the work of the Foundation has helped inspire hundreds of young women to pursue careers in tech. In 2021, one participant, Alexis Costales wrote,
"I met Tom Hopcroft in 2015 when I was a student at Winchester High School. His organization ran the regional division of a STEM program that changed my life. The experience inspired me to study computer science in college and as a result I will be starting a full-time job this August as a software engineer at Microsoft." Learn more.