New Jersey-based True Acquires First and Leading Diversity & Inclusion Tech Company Jopwell
Jopwell Joins True Platform Companies AboveBoard and True Search in Mission to Address Diversity at Every Stage of the Recruitment Lifecycle
NEW YORK, N.Y. – April 27, 2023 – True, the premiere global platform of innovative talent management products and services, announced today it is acquiring Jopwell, a hiring platform focused on advancing the careers of Black, Latinx and Native American students and early-to-mid-career professionals. Jopwell perfectly complements the executive-level recruitment focus of True Search and sister organization AboveBoard. This holistic offering solidifies True as the leading technology and services firm for advancing diversity, equity and inclusion in leadership.
“Jopwell and True share three significant goals–to empower underrepresented talent in the workforce; to help companies meet their goals for diversifying leadership; and to bring the most innovative talent solutions to market. We couldn’t be more excited about the impact we can make together, especially under Jopwell’s continued leadership of co-founders Ryan Williams and Porter Braswell,” said True co-CEO and co-founder Brad Stadler.
Jopwell CEO Ryan Williams and Executive Chairman Porter Braswell will continue to lead the company as a business unit within True Platform. Jopwell’s 130,000 community members, 96% of which self-identify as Black, Latinx, and/or Native American, can access opportunities from partners across a list of well-known brands including American Express, BlackRock, Bloomberg, Deloitte, Citi, Google, and Johnson & Johnson.
“This partnership with True’s global reach and resources expands the value we deliver to our partners and community members,” said Jopwell CEO Ryan Williams. “We’re aligned from our technology roots to our shared visions for disrupting the talent industry for the better of all people.”
Williams and Braswell started Jopwell after meeting on the trading floor of Goldman Sachs and finding common ground in their desire to find a better way to connect talent from underrepresented groups with top employers. From their initial launch in 2014, Jopwell has facilitated tens of thousands of connections between the Jopwell community members and its partners. The company has been recognized in the press, including Entrepreneur Magazine’s “100 Most Brilliant Ideas,” Fast Company’s “World’s Most Innovative Companies,” and Business Insider’s “One of The Hottest NYC Companies to Watch.”
“The truth is that you can’t improve diversity at the executive level by working at the executive level alone,” said Porter Braswell, Jopwell executive chairman. “Starting with interns, Jopwell empowers our partners to recruit, hire and retain underrepresented talent and develop those high-potential employees to be the leaders of tomorrow.”
Through True’s platform companies Jopwell, AboveBoard, and True’s tech-enabled approach to retained search, True is transforming the talent industry to be more transparent and provide more pathways than ever for underrepresented talent to reach critical leadership positions.
The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions.
The True Platform consists of a collection of brands including True Search (retained executive search), TrueBridge (advisory, interim and fractional executive placement), Thrive (Talent CRM software), and Synthesis (leadership assessment and development tools). Additionally, True helps companies fulfill their diversity and inclusion goals with business units AboveBoard (an inclusive executive platform and community), and Jopwell (the first and leading diversity tech platform for early-mid career professionals). True also backs promising companies through its investment firms True Equity and Vera Equity.
