Indeed meetups and conferences are great to create connections. People in the tech industry are generally super friendly and eager to help. There are also a lot of initiative to help underrepresented demographics to enter the industry. Your partner fits the box.

At a school level, we would do this by having a network of mentors; industry-professional who are interested in coaching the next generation of software engineers. A lot of them would recommend students for interviews and internships. We would also have relations with companies and send resumés to them. Some companies were so eager to hire our students that they would interview any of those who wanted to apply.