LINCOLNSHIRE, Ill. – April 27, 2021 – CDW (Nasdaq: CDW), a
leading multi-brand technology solutions provider to business, government,
education, and healthcare customers, today announced that it has partnered with
Chicago:Blend, a non-profit organization led by local venture capitalists
focused on tracking, supporting and increasing diversity, equity and inclusion
among Chicago startups and VC investment teams. The partnership officially
began in March 2021.
CDW is Chicago:Blend’s first Foundational donor, and CDW
will also serve on the organization’s Advisory Board, which is currently in
formation. In its role, CDW plans to offer guidance and thought leadership to
support Chicago:Blend’s 2021 programming.
“At CDW we are committed to embedding diversity and
inclusion into the fiber of everything that we do, and we are proud to
strengthen that commitment by partnering with Chicago:Blend,” said Kristin
Malek, director of business diversity, CDW. “With Chicago:Blend we are looking
forward to increasing our engagement with Chicago startups led by women, Black,
Hispanic and Indigenous founders as well as other founders of color, and
finding opportunities for mentorship, information exchange, Chicago:Blend event
sponsorship and more.”
Serving business customers of all sizes, CDW understands the
unique challenges facing the entrepreneurial landscape and regularly works with
emerging small businesses across the country. CDW provides a range of
technology solutions and services designed to meet the growth needs of an
up-and-coming company and knows how to leverage the right tools to help a
startup go to market and succeed.
“CDW is a tremendous hub of technology expertise and brings
incredible resources and extensive experience working with startups to the
founders and funders we serve,” said Joey Mak, executive director,
Chicago:Blend. “We are grateful for this partnership and are excited to work
together in advancing our shared vision of making the Chicago region the most
inclusive tech ecosystem in the world.”
For more information about CDW’s role supporting startups,
please visit the Startup Technology Solutions section of the company’s website.
About CDW
CDW Corporation (Nasdaq: CDW) is a leading multi-brand
technology solutions provider to business, government, education and healthcare
customers in the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada. A Fortune 500
company and member of the S&P 500 Index, CDW was founded in 1984 and
employs approximately 10,000 coworkers. For the year ended December 31, 2020,
CDW generated Net sales over $18 billion. For more information about CDW,
please visit www.CDW.com.