Our Inspiration

Launched in fall 2025, the Workplace Innovation Now (WIN) Challenge is a new initiative led by Aspen Digital, a program of the Aspen Institute. Supported by Pivotal, a group of organizations founded by Melinda French Gates, the WIN Challenge aims to discover and scale innovative ideas that will help women thrive and everyone win in a rapidly changing workplace. Because when we remove barriers that women face, we build better workplaces for all — and the benefits will be felt across communities and the economy at large.

The WIN Challenge inspired BUiLT to syndicate a winning team to shape new narratives that help women thrive, so everyone wins as workplaces transform.

BUiLT was one of the 20 nonprofit awardees of the 2024 Google Tech Equity Collective program. From that, BUiLT conceived and delivered the BUiLT REIT program to help its predominantly Black participants to "retain employability in tech."

In 2025, DEI and racial equity-program were eliminated, as were worldwide relief programs, public broadcasting, and thousands of other charitable and social equity organizations. Still, in 2026, 73% of BUiLT REIT graduates remained employed in tech.

Now, BUiLT RITE broadens the curriculum, benefits, and oversight of BUiLT REIT into a scalable program that serves a new audience and addresses a new adversary---the collateral damage and casualties from the benefits of artificial intelligence.

As we learned from the BUiLT REIT predecessor, BUiLT RITE will maintain retention through its program with virtual check-ins, ongoing recognition, interim awards, and after-program follow-ups.