Akraya + iRelaunch FAQs

Akraya Inc. a global managed services and talent solutions company headquartered in San Francisco, California, is acquiring iRelaunch. Akraya employs 650 professionals across three continents.

Originating as a staffing company, Akraya has evolved into helping companies address high volume, complex, “managed services” challenges, by deploying large teams of specialized, trained professionals. Founded in 2001, Akraya serves Fortune 500 enterprises across the US and globally, with services spanning Data and AI, Product Engineering, UX research, and Supply Chain digitization. This year is Akraya’s 25th anniversary!

Akraya’s co-founder, Sonu Ratra, founded Women Back to Work (WBW) in 2015, identifying professionals returning from career break as a high caliber talent pool. WBW was established to develop and scale returnship programs and provide resources for returners as they navigate the journey back to work after career breaks. Last year, Akraya celebrated WBW’s 10th anniversary!

WBW’s ambitious goal is to offer the most comprehensive, sophisticated range of career reentry products and services to enable employers to access, hire, integrate, and retain experienced business and technology professionals returning to the workforce.

To that end, WBW has taken two significant steps:

1. Last year, WBW hired Tami Forman, formerly Executive Director of Path Forward, as Women Back to Work’s Executive Director to lead the expansion of these efforts. Tami is a driving force in the career reentry world and a leading voice in the broader conversation about women’s participation in the labor force, demographic trends, and innovative talent strategies.
2. Now, by acquiring iRelaunch, Akraya brings together two organizations that have shaped the return-to-work field over nearly two decades and draws on the combined expertise of three of the top leaders and thinkers in the industry. It combines iRelaunch’s leadership in corporate reentry programs, recruiting events, and returner support with Akraya’s ability to deliver full-service returnship programs at scale through its capabilities in sourcing, screening, and onboarding returners.

Yes! Carol will be working closely with Tami Forman and Sonu Ratra over the next three years.

Tami Forman will lead iRelaunch as executive director.

Employers will have access to a bigger, more comprehensive set of offerings that combine a large and growing returner community, outreach capabilities, program design, training and onboarding expertise, and multi-pronged recruiting elements, including a job board, career reentry events, job fairs and a staffing platform that delivers a pipeline of qualified talent. This approach is designed to help companies not only identify qualified candidates, but also hire, onboard, and retain experienced professionals who are often overlooked by traditional hiring models.

Returning professionals will have expanded access to structured reentry programs for getting back into the workforce, along with greater visibility to employers seeking experienced talent.

All the programs and services currently offered to returners through Women Back to Work and iRelaunch will continue under the new combined organization, including weekly Power Hours, the iRelaunch Return to Work Conference and Job Fair, and the iRelaunch Job Board. This acquisition is focused on helping employers access experienced professionals whose judgment, adaptability, and real-world experience are increasingly valuable in this environment.

For returners, access to growing numbers of employers with talent acquisition strategies focused on tapping high caliber talent pools, including the relauncher pool, will create a more effective and reliable pathway to employment.