We are pleased to announce that thanks to the support of our industry partner, the International Microelectronics and Packaging Society; and the generosity of all our sponsors for the 2022 3D InCites Awards, our annual Mural Project, and the First Annual Hike for DEI; we raised $25,000 for the 3D InCites DEI Fund. Together with last year’s $20K, that brings our fund total to $45,000. We are still a long way from our $100K goal, but with your support, we’re confident we’ll get there.
Our Fund-Raising Story
$25,000 is the largest amount we’d ever raised for a cause through our 3D InCites Awards Program and Mural Project. When we first started the 3D InCites Awards in 2013, we decided to make it a fund-raising event. As a community, we wanted to create a way to give back and support causes that our members cared about. In those early years, we made donations ranging from $2500 to $5000 to specific STEM scholarship funds, such as the IEEE Women in Engineering Scholarship, SEMI High Tech U, and the IMAPS Foundation. We’ve also made donations to find cures for childhood cancer, through the Give a Buck Fund and Phoenix Children’s Hospital.
Last year, we decided we wanted to do more – start our own fund, find a good cause, and build something that would keep on giving. With diversity equity and inclusion (DEI) at the forefront of our member’s minds, we decided to establish the DEI Fund to help tech businesses owned by women and under-represented minorities grow and thrive. After all, 3D InCites was originally founded by a woman (me) and struggled to thrive in those first years until Martijn Pierik and Dave Richardson decided to invest it in, and me, in 2012. So, it seemed a natural choice.
What is DEI?
When I talk about the DEI Fund, I’m surprised to hear some people ask, what is DEI? So those of you who don’t know, DEI stands for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. And it’s not just a buzzword or a political platform. By now it’s a well-established fact that fostering DEI in the workplace increases innovation, productivity, and the bottom line. In fact, according to Diversity Wins: Inclusion Matters, McKinsey and Company’s third study on DEI, they show “The most diverse companies are now more likely than ever to outperform less diverse peers on profitability.”
Over the past few years, the semiconductor industry has caught on to this fact, and industry-wide efforts are underway to level the playing field for women and underrepresented minorities (URMs). But as an industry, we’re not even close to gender and URM parity. That’s why we at 3D InCites want to support technology businesses that are actually owned by women and URMs. Those companies tend to have DEI built right into the fabric of the company from day one.
Who Made it Possible?
Check out the names on this year’s Mural. Many have participated every year, and some are new this year.
- KLA – 3D InCites Awards Platinum and title sponsor of the Hike for DEI
- EV Group – 3D InCites Awards Platinum Sponsor
- ASE Group – 3D InCites Award Platinum Sponsor
- YES – 3D InCites Award Silver Sponsor
- Evatec – 3D InCites Award Silver Sponsor
- Veeco – 3D InCites Award Gold Sponsor
- CyberOptics – 3D InCites Award Gold Sponsor
- Amkor – Logo Sponsor and Water bottle sponsor for the Hike for DEI
- Logo Sponsors:
Our heartfelt thanks to each and every one of you for helping us get this far.
We’re Looking for Ideas and Sponsors
Our goal is to raise $100K through ongoing fundraising efforts throughout 2022 so we can begin awarding grants to qualified applicants in 2023. But we need your help. If you or your company is interested in sponsoring a DEI networking event at IMAPs Advanced SiP Conference in June, or the International Symposium in Boston in October, contact us!
