Meet Lesley Toche of Nextplay Events in Downtown LA

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lesley Toche.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Lesley. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Prior to Nextplay, I worked in tech as a Recruiter and Diversity Program Manager for four years. I saw an opportunity to help my employer attract, engage and hire more people of color in an authentic manner. So I came up with an idea to host networking events for Black & Latinx tech talent centered around culture–live performances, live DJ’s, authentic food, etc. We called those events Open Mic events and hosted them across the U.S. We targeted Black & Latinx professionals that we wanted to hire and invited them to our events. The events were successful as we hired tons of attendees because our events were the only place in tech they felt they could be their authentic sense and truly feel a sense of belonging. As a result, the attendees (who were not looking for jobs) decided to interview and we ended up hiring them.

Given the success of the open mic initiative, we got some press for those events and companies started reaching out to me asking if they could get involved. The event attendees also asked me to host those events for the entire tech industry as that was the environment in which they wanted to have conversations with companies instead of stale, buttoned up traditional recruiting/networking events where they didn’t feel comfortable. So I quit my job and founded Nextplay.

Nextplay has now been around for three years, we’ve worked with 50+ major tech companies and our community has grown to 20,000+ Black/Latinx professionals in tech across the U.S, Europe and Africa. Today, we build community and connect people of color with career opportunities in tech through networking events centered around culture. Our events include keynotes from tech CEO’s from companies like Instagram, Snapchat, Slack, etc., networking with 500+ Black & Latinx professionals, recruiters/hiring managers from tech sponsors, live dance performances, live paintings, live Dj’s, clothing themes and community vendors selling clothing & accessories, etc.

The talks at our events are centered around unwritten rules. While our events open doors in tech by connecting attendees with recruiters/hiring managers from major tech companies, our speakers share their stories and specifically share how they’ve learned and applied unwritten rules to rise to senior leadership. Our vision is to close the global economic gap for people of color through our events and advising programs.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The journey has had ups and downs. Our approach is extremely unique as there’s no other diversity recruiting company that hosts recruiting events centered around culture. I’d say we were probably a bit early as the industry needed to watch and see if our solution was effective, so most companies did not sign up to partner with us in our first and second year. Now that we have a proven track record of success, the floodgates are open. We’re seeing a surge in demand from companies to partner with us but our first and second year was tough in terms of getting customers on board. Our strategy seemed too good to be true. Our events seemed too authentic and fun so companies weren’t quite sure how we convert attendees into candidates. Our secret sauce is by creating these authentic experiences for attendees, they’ll want to work for companies that support what we do because it sends a direct message that they value the talent in our community and want to engage with them in an environment where they could be their authentic self.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Nextplay Events – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of and what sets you apart from others.
I’m proud of building a social good platform that shifts the power dynamic. At a Nextplay event, companies step into our space which is very different from conferences or career fairs where lots of people feel intimidated and don’t feel comfortable being their authentic self. Because our events are centered around culture, it yields lots of positive outcomes. Attendees building meaningful relationships that lead to job offers, companies are able to raise awareness about their brand in an authentic manner and the community supports artists/small businesses–performers, visual artists, DJ’s and vendors. Everybody eats and it makes me happy to open doors for people of color in tech at scale.

We’re different from other diversity organizations because our events are centered around culture. There’s no other diversity recruiting organization whose events are centered around culture 100% of the time. Authenticity and belonging is at the core of everything we do. But to take things a step further, we ask our attendee’s detailed questions about where they’re at in their careers so in addition to helping companies engage in an authentic environment, we share a list of interested candidates with them to interview after the event. It’s a new, innovative and extremely strategic approach from a recruiting standpoint.

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
Given COVID 19, we’re now hosting our events virtually and they’re actually more effective from a networking standpoint. We plan on scaling our events across multiple regions simultaneously.

The big thing we’re excited about is plug N play, our initiative connecting students with industry professionals for 30minute advising conversations. We’re partnering with a coalition of tech CEO’s and their companies in truly opening doors in tech by making themselves available to connect with students for exploratory conversations on a weekly basis. We’re making a call to action to every member in our community and all allies to commit at least 30minutes a week to chat with a college student.

14-18% of computer science graduates are Black & Latinx but most tech companies rarely exceed 2-5% of their engineers being Black & Latinx. We want to open the doors for all these students so they can successful transition into tech and grow within the industry.

#theysaywedontexist is another initiative we’re excited about. Black & Latinx professionals in tech share their stories of how they got into tech, shed some light on the impact of their current role and one career achievement they’re proud of coupled with some words of wisdom. The vision here is to inspire the next generation to pursue careers in tech after seeing that we do exist and we’re making an impact in the industry. We’re calling on every member in our community to contribute to our #theysaywedontexist campaign!

Contact Info:

• Website: nextplaycommunity.com
• Instagram: @nextplaycommunity
• Facebook:  @nextplaycommunity
• Twitter: @nextplayevents

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