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Gainsight Kicks-Off 9th Annual Pulse Conference with the Launch of Pulse Impact which has Helped Usher In $2.5m in Corporate Commitments to Expand Equal Access to Education and Career Opportunities in Customer Success

By: Gainsight via Business Wire

June 09, 2021 at 11:00 AM EDT

Partnerships with SV Academy, Insight Partners, Hire Heroes, and Mentorloop Significantly Expands Program Access

Gainsight, the Customer Success company, kicked off it's 9th annual Pulse Conference today, welcoming more than 15,000 Customer Success and Product professionals from around the world for three days of virtual education and networking. The event features seven learning tracks, more than 50 sessions and over 100 industry-leading speakers and thought leaders from across the industry, as well as an interview with Emmy-nominated Writer, Producer, Actor, Director, and Best Selling Author Mindy Kaling, who joined Gainsight CEO Nick Mehta on the keynote stage.

The day was highlighted by two live, in-person keynote sessions at August Hall in San Francisco, where Nick Mehta and Gainsight’s Chief of Staff and Senior Vice President of Community & Career Programs, Robin Merritt, announced the launch of Pulse Impact, expanding the company’s commitment to support equitable access and opportunities in Customer Success. The move formalizes a $2.5M industry-wide commitment for training and internships for underrepresented communities in tech through CS YOU, the outcome of a partnership with SV Academy and a second commitment by venture capital firm, Insight Partners.

“We set some lofty goals when we launched CS YOU at last year’s Pulse,” said Robin Merritt. “Despite the challenges of the pandemic, the program not only exceeded everyone’s expectations, but in doing so, it laid the foundation for something even bigger. Together with our entire CS community, I’m thrilled to announce Pulse Impact.”

The mission of Pulse Impact is to advance a “human-first” vision for the future of Customer Success by ensuring fair and equal access to education and career opportunities for those in underprivileged or underrepresented communities. Impact programs focus on:

People of color
US military veterans
The LGBTQIA+ community

The program will seek out individuals with highly transferable skills in affected industries such as hospitality and retail, while removing barriers for those without college degrees.

“To date, CS YOU trained 74 students and placed them in paid internships with 34 different corporate partners, with a full time offer rate over 97% and an NPS score of 84,” said Rahim Fazal, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer at SV Academy. “With Pulse Impact, the training will be extended to include Customer Success Operations and Gainsight Administration, two areas where we’re seeing significant workforce demands.”

To support the expanded initiatives around the Customer Success Operations (CS Ops) and Gainsight Admin community, Gainsight also announced:

The promotion of Seth Wylie to Director of CS Ops and Admin Community, where he’ll be responsible for fostering increased appreciation, thought leadership and support for new professionals to join this community.
A new CS Ops Central online resource and CS Ops Journey infographic to help budding professionals more easily define their career trajectory.
A new partnership with Hire Heroes, an organization dedicated to assisting U.S. military members and veterans.
And a new CS Ops Mentorship program, built in partnership with leading mentorship software platform Mentorloop.

More than 30 corporate partners, including Athenahealth, Box, and Boomi, have committed to $2.5M, which underwrites enrollment and internships for selected CS YOU applicants. All graduates also receive a Gainsight Associate Admin Certificate administered by Credly.

Venture capital firm Insight Partners has doubled-down on their original CS YOU commitment by placing an additional 60 graduates of SV Academy’s programs into their portfolio companies. Said Jeff Lieberman, Managing Director at Insight Partners, “We believe increasing training and access for entry level roles is critical to improving diversity and performance across the sector. As one of the earliest investors in Gainsight, we are proud to deepen our commitment to CS YOU.”

“Building a diverse and inclusive sector is important on the basis of social values, and it also has a material impact on business performance - the double bottom line,” continued Robin Merritt. “Our mission is to be living proof you can win in business while being human first - meaning we have a responsibility to create an industry that represents the diversity of the world around us. As seen at Pulse, our community of customers, partners, investors, and teammates puts us in a truly unique position to transform the industry’s success by creating opportunities for underrepresented communities in tech. Graduates of the CS YOU program have already collectively seen $2.2M in wage expansion; now we can confidently say that was just the beginning.”

Organizations can get involved in Pulse Impact as a corporate partner by sending an email to: pulseimpact@gainsight.com. Individuals interested in learning more or applying to the program can do so by visiting Gainsight.com/pulseimpact.

About Gainsight:

Gainsight’s innovative technology helps companies prevent churn by identifying at-risk customers, creating systematic processes to mitigate concerns, and efficiently ramping up engagement efforts. The company’s Customer Cloud offers a powerful set of solutions focused on customer success, product experience, revenue optimization, and customer data, that together enable businesses to put the customer at the center of everything they do. Learn how leading companies like Okta, SAP Concur, and Box use Gainsight at www.gainsight.com.