Changing Lives with Software Testing: The PLATO Testing Story
Aboriginal people across Canada face an unemployment rate more than twice the national average. Meanwhile, vacant IT positions continue to rise across the country, with an additional 218,000 new openings expected by 2020. Denis Carignan shares how PLATO Testing is building a network of Aboriginal software testers across Canada to help solve these problems. Students begin with intensive lab-based training, followed by an immersive internship, and end with full-time employment at PLATO Testing as professional software testers. As this initiative grows, so does the ability to capture large testing contracts currently being sent offshore. It allows us to keep testing in North America and to work in the same time zones, in the same language, with the same standards. Denis tells the story of PLATO Testing and how an opportunity for an IT career is changing the lives of Aboriginal people, their families, and their communities across Canada. Learn about growing a business rooted in social impact, rapidly scaling a team of software testers, working fluidly with satellite offices, and shifting corporate culture.
Denis Carignan is a graduate of First Nations University of Canada and has devoted his career to working with First Nations and Indigenous communities and organizations in Saskatchewan and Atlantic Canada. Prior to joining PLATO Testing, Denis worked in various management positions with Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada as well as Employment and Skills Development Canada. Denis is a member of the Pasqua First Nation in Saskatchewan and has a strong understanding of Indigenous culture, community make-up, as well as historical and contemporary issues and challenges facing Indigenous Peoples in Canada. Denis is currently working as President of PLATO Testing to bring meaningful employment to Indigenous people in IT through training and careers in software testing.