In the news
Leverage Assessments
We are always on the move. Find out more about Leverage Assessments and our partners.

July 27, 2022
Town Hall
July 8, 2021
Join us today for the Inaugural Black Government Contracting Club Town Hall at 6pm EST tonight!

Sponsorship announcment
July 6, 2021
The Workforce Development Institute, Lehman College, and Innovative Community Solutions are the first to sponsor The Black Government Contracting Club (BGCC) Micro Accelerator, an applied learning program which will support twenty New York based Black Owned businesses in the pursuit of government contracts. The New York Pilot is scheduled to open Nationwide in January of 2022 using a Matchmaker model to support “businesses owner-agency pairs” to work on a customized government solution that utilizes the expertise of the business owner. More to come in the full Press Release!

The Micro Accelerator Launch
June 29, 2021
The Micro Accelerator, our first step in the creation of a pipeline for Black thought leadership developing solutions for City, State and Federal Governments.
The Black Government Contracting Club Accelerator series
June 23, 2021
Creating Black Contracts in the city, state, and federal agencies is key to leveraging the critical thought leadership that black-owned firms bring. We can increase the participation of Black Firms by creating a pipeline, like The Black Government Contracting Club Accelerator series. The #MicroAccelerator focuses on creating opportunities for New York based Black businesses. This program will soon be Nationwide….Stay Tuned
Leverage Assessments will be presenting at the SPCP for the 2nd year in a row
June 21, 2021
Register for the conference to hear more about “Innovative Solutions: How I/O Psychology Can Help Police Organizations to Think and Act Outside the Box” with Kyana Beckles and Recia Gomez.
Foundation for economic democracy in the Bronx
June 17, 2021
I am proud to announce that Black Government Contracting Club member, Ashli Gibbs, will be leading the Bronx NYC Small Business Initiative facilitated by Silver Lining, lead by Carissa Reiniger. This connection was fostered by BronxChange, a network of community and labor organizations, non-profit institutions, and small businesses working together to build a foundation for economic democracy in the Bronx.
See all Thank You 100 Winners, including Bronx Based Businesses
Civic engagement is a responsibility
June 14, 2021
Last month, the Black Government Contracting Club with Founder’s Kyana Beckles and Terrell Brown spoke to candidates Maya Wiley, Joycelyn Taylor, Eric Adams, Kathryn Garcia, Reshma Patel, Senator Brian Benjamin, and Brad Lander for the Mayoral and Comptroller elections to understand their platforms for the Black Business community.
Understanding the candidates is always a critical component of one’s civic duty, but instead of choosing one – you get to choose 5! We spoke with Civic Education expert Nicole Yearwood, referred to us by NAACP leader Deborah Harris, in order to understand the power of ranked choice voting. If you missed this conversation, watch the video!
What can Industrial Organizational Psychologists do to support Police Reform?
June 9, 2021
For those of you who missed our session at this year’s SIOP conference, Dr. Phani Rhadakrishnan has so graciously stitched together a number of our rehearsals so you can pick up what we were putting down. Check out Recia Gomez, Dr. Joel Wiesen, Craig Miles, Dr. Phani Rhadakrishnan and Me as we get have some real discussions about “Engendering Change in Policing: One Community At a Time.
We’re thrilled to be working with DCAS!
June 7, 2021
Leverage Assessments is proud to announce that we now serve the NYC Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) to provide Multiple Choice Test Administration. This is the third city agency that Leverage will serve after completing contracts with NYPD in 2018 and HRA in 2019 of last year for Pre-employment Psychological Assessments for Public Safety candidates. The contract for Test Administration Services was secured through the “MWBE Solicitation Process,” a method that the city is using to increase contracting participation from minority vendors. DCAS facilitated the contract process completely online using the city’s latest rollout of Passport. Leverage is proud to support NYC through the City’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. We’re All in This together
Kyana Beckles Moderates the 2020 Virtual Government Procurement Conference
November 17, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic created a free for all for medical equipment across the city and the state. Cuomo worked with neighboring states to create a purchasing consortium while DeBlasio suspended laws relating to procurement to allow the city to quickly purchase what it needed. As things start to move through phases how does purchasing and procurement return to normal? The Government Procurement Conference will foster business partnerships between the city and state level government, prime contractors, and small, minority, service-disabled veteran-owned, and women-owned businesses.
How to Recruit and Select to Increase Your Organization’s Diversity
October 29, 2020
Emily Solberg and Valerie Rogers from SHL and CEO and Founder of Leverage Assessments Kyana Beckles share how addressing key areas of your recruitment and selection processes can help your organization attract and hire more diverse candidates.
Leverage Assessments awarded the NYS MWBE Certification
October 12, 2020
New York State’s Minority and Women’s Business Enterprise (MWBE) Certification Program is administered by Empire State Development’s Division of Minority and Women’s Business Development (DMWBD). The mission of DMWBD is to promote equality of economic opportunities for MWBEs and to eliminate barriers to their participation in State contracts.
Recia Gomez featured in Careers in Psychology:
Industrial/ Organizational Psychology, hosted by Black Psychology Network
October 5, 2020
A UK based podcast for any one who wants to hear about the career journey’s of black psychologists who have followed varied routes after qualifications in psychology. The podcast will also showcase careers and stories about applying psychology to a variety of different settings from people from Asian and underrepresented groups. It also offers analysis of social issues including, race, ethnicity, gender and class.
Kyana Beckles joins Senator James Sanders MWBE Roundtable Discussion: Impact of the Coronavirus on MWBEs
September 24, 2020
Senate Standing Committee on Commerce, Economic Development and Small Business.
Leverage CEO Kyana Beckles will be testifying before the Senate
September 23, 2020
Senator Ann M. Kaplan, Chair of the Senate Commerce, Economic Development and Small Business Committee and Senator James Sanders, Chair of the Senate Democratic Conference MWBE Task Force, will co-host a virtual MWBE Roundtable discussion to hear how the COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected MWBEs throughout the State and your business in order to brainstorm on what actions can be done to help MWBEs survive the pandemic.
A recent survey by the New York City Comptroller’s Office found of the 500 certified minority-and women-owned business enterprises that were surveyed, 85% of those MWBEs reported they may not be able to be in business in another six months unless they receive assistance either in the form of funding or legislative actions. Your participation in this very important roundtable is
invaluable in understanding the dire needs of all MWBEs in this state to help them survive the pandemic.
Winners announced for the SIOP Anti-racism grant
August 30, 2020
SIOPs first ever anti-racism grant announces the winners on their page.
Kyana Beckles leads the launch of the new Blacks in IO “Law Enforcement Task Force”
August 21, 2020
Who is more qualified than a group of Black Industrial Organizational Psychologists to lead conversations about police reform? Industrial Organizational Psychologist are responsible for the creation of business and Human Resource processes, we solve organizational problems, we select employees, we transform leaders and do so much more! Stay tuned to the happenings of this new movement by checking in to the Blacks in IO website
Leverage CEO, Kyana Beckles addresses the IO community
August 11, 2020
Ben Butina’s Department 12 Podcast is a favorite among inquisitive minds in the Industrial Organizational community. While on the podcast, Kyana answered questions from the IO community.
Join the Leverage team in Action
August 5, 2020
Leverage team members Kyana Beckles and Recia Gomez are collaborating with the newly expanded Blacks in IO group. Join the Movement, and make a difference!
Leverage CEO joins the SIOP Visibility Committee
August 3, 2020
There is always more work to be done to educate the community about the world of Industrial Organizational Psychology and what we do. The SIOP visibility committee is a great start.
Learn about Industrial Organizational Psychology
Turn the EIDL Loan into a grant for Minority Owned businesses
July 17, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused racial disparities to become clearer for all to see. Small businesses employ 50% of the workforce in America. Supporting Black-owned businesses will enable a large portion of the workforce to return to work.
Leverage recieves $5k Grant from TruFund Financial Services ‘COVID-19 Re-Opening Grant’
July 20, 2020
Leverage received a $5,000 grant from TruFund, a non-profit CDFI working to invest in small businesses. Learn more about TruFund’s work in the community
Leverage is breaking barriers in NYC
July 06, 2020
Long time journalist Greg Smith reached out to Leverage CEO, Kyana Beckles to get her perspective on his research regarding NYPD spending. Mr. Smith used checkbooknyc.com to do a breakdown of MWBE spending by category and found that Leverage was the only black-owned firm that the NYPD has hired as a prime vendor in the past 10 years.
Police Reform is top of mind for minority communities, and IO Psychologists
June 29, 2020
Calling the police can lead to very different outcomes for ethnic minorities in America. Industrial Organizational Psychologists from the black community have a unique understanding of the disparities in the justice system. Leverage CEO, Kyana Beckles spoke on her personal views to some of the most popular calls to action; to include, the defunding and abolishing of police.
Leverage Goes Remote
June 1, 2020
As a virtual company, Leverage Assessments is no stranger to remote life. At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, our team introduced our clients to new innovative methods for the secured delivery of test solutions. Read more about the transition with our government client; the NYC Human Resource Administration (HRA).
Leverage responds to the deaths of George Floyd and of other citizens
June 3, 2020
The public has questioned the efficacy of psychological assessments as many videos which document incidents of police shootings surface. Leverage published its first white paper which speaks more about Psychological Assessments and how they function in police selection. Leverage Assessments is committed to sharing more research around psychological assessments in an effort to answer questions from the community.
Learn more about our services
Leverage Assessments
2501 Grand Concourse 3rd Floor
Bronx, NY, 10468
info@leverageassessments.com
+1 (917) 736 1674