As a teenager, Dr. Rachel Angel hit the ground running, working full-time in addition to her role as a student. Navigating the difficulties of balancing both roles, she acknowledges built character, but she knew it would be critical to position herself in a high-paying job role she could succeed in. After a pivotal conversation with her classmate, she was then compelled to become a pharmacist.
Upon graduating high school, Angel’s path would lead her to become a student at the University of Hampton, where she would eventually earn a doctor of pharmacy degree. She once again wore various hats during her tenure at the University, which included working two jobs at an assisted living facility and a pharmacy to begin developing her career path. Eventually, her efforts would lead her to serve as an intern, landing a job as a pharmacist. Despite finally securing a job role predestined by years of hard work, Dr. Angel felt crippling survivor’s guilt entering a space in which few Black individuals get to enter.
“I think even a lot of black people feel this when we are successful. We’re like, ‘Okay, I made it. Why didn’t everybody else make it? How can I help everybody else make it?,” said Dr. Rachel Angel exclusively to AfroTech.
These are the questions that became the catalyst for helping minorities and people of color land their dream job.
Peerro Is Born
“It’s not about where you start, it’s more so about understanding how you can get there,” Dr. Angel says.
Bringing her motto into fruition, Dr. Rachel Angel would launch an engaging career management platform to connect young adults interested in securing employment in 2018.
The Peerro app not only seeks to fulfill the career expectations for prospects but also prioritizes their career salary expectations as well. The application creates a progressive pathway with matching companies to provide the user with an understanding of their initial and final goals to reach their objective. Users will have the opportunity to interview for employment opportunities they currently qualify for and a pathway will be suggested within the organization to encourage progression.
Dr. Rachel Angel also connects with various employers to register their company to the platform with the contingency they will provide complex pathways within their organization that can serve as a gateway for the youth. Partnering with schools in the area has also served as an important measure to help identify corporations and more employment opportunities to steward more pathways within those organizations. For the current employers on the platform connecting with new talents provides them the convenience of decreased hiring time and lowered acquisitions costs.
Adjusting To COVID-19
Dr. Angel’s clear commitment to propelling the future of children was honored with a $1.5 million raised in funding led by CincyTech in July. Her efforts were further rewarded when Franklin County — the largest district in Ohio — tapped into Peerro’s software. Before COVID-19, the partnership hoped to create training for the youth and scheduled opportunities with employment prospects to secure job opportunities for the summer.
Due to COVID-19, it was necessary to shift the project’s trajectory to be sensitive to the new reality the youth would face in the disrupted job market. As AfroTech previously reported Black workers are not being rewarded with jobs even with hopeful statistics pertaining to economic recovery.
Creating new provisions, training modules were provided to aid in the development and preparation of the employment process. The Franklin county pooled nonprofits to aid in the conceptualization of new modules and help place the youth through training through Peerro’s software. Participants received compensation once the training was complete.
The Gateway Of Opportunity Peerro Provides To Youth Of Color
Dr. Angel learned to leverage every opportunity throughout her life to ensure she would be one step closer to meeting her target. Her season at the assisted home living facility, which provided financial resources to support her academic pursuits were a part of the bigger picture to acquire success.
The key is to have a plan and Peerro will provide it.
“We don’t want to dismiss the need for opportunities today. We don’t need to dismiss the need for employment today,” Dr. Rachel Angel told AfroTech. “I couldn’t dismiss that and still succeed. This is why we need to help others leverage today and leverage entry-level opportunities. It doesn’t have to be college. It’s about developing and identifying the progressive path and sticking with it.”
Peerro can be downloaded through the Apple App Store or Google Play, and the services will be free to all users.
