Per Scholas Baltimore, led by Managing Director Jessica Diaz Council, was featured in Technical.ly Baltimore, highlighting their skills training and professional development aspects. The Baltimore campus holds mock interviews and headshot lounge sessions in addition to our tuition-free tech training.

The article also noted Per Scholas Baltimore’s efforts to close the diversity gap in tech and recent Bank of America Neighborhood Builders award and featured alumna LaLonnie Moseley’s story.

Read the full story here!

Per Scholas Baltimore has been named as a 2022 Bank of America Neighborhood Builders® awardee for their work in Baltimore and Greater Maryland. As a Neighborhood Builder, each organization receives a $200,000 grant over two years. In addition to the grant, Per Scholas Baltimore will receive comprehensive leadership training for the executive director and an emerging leader on topics including increasing financial sustainability, human capital management, and strategic storytelling. The program also enables Per Scholas and Innovation Works, the other Neighborhood Builder honoree, to join a network of peer organizations across the U.S. Neighborhood Builders® continues to be the nation’s largest investment into nonprofit leadership development.

“Organizations like Per Scholas and Innovation Works are the backbone of our local community—they work closely with individuals, entrepreneurs and community members to understand obstacles and develop programs and services that help eliminate the barriers to economic mobility,” said Janet Currie, president, Bank of America Greater Maryland. “It’s important that we direct capital and the necessary resources and training to help position these non-profits for long-term success as they continue to make a positive impact.”

Per Scholas Baltimore provides free technology training to residents of Baltimore City, Baltimore County, Anne Arundel County and Howard County. Conveniently accessible by CityLink bus lines, the Baltimore-based organization offers cybersecurity certifications, professional certification programs for IT support, AWS Cloud certifications, TEKsystems training, and more. Through its no-cost training, graduates are able to transform their lives, gaining jobs with competitive salaries in the tech industry. In 2023, Per Scholas Baltimore will train 150 future technologists.

“Being named a Neighborhood Builder grantee is incredibly humbling and will enable Per Scholas to continue to advance economic mobility right here in Charm City,” said Per Scholas Baltimore Managing Director Jessica Diaz Council. “Our graduates go on to earn three times their pre-training wage—increasing opportunity in the city we love.”

The invitation-only program is highly competitive, and organizations are selected by a committee comprised of community leaders and past Neighborhood Builders honorees. 

Since 2004, through its Neighborhood Builders program, Bank of America has partnered with 31 nonprofits in Baltimore, investing $6.2 million to provide economic mobility opportunities within the Baltimore area. Through 2021, Bank of America has invested over $280 million in 50 communities through Neighborhood Builders, partnering with more than 1,400 nonprofits and helping more than 2,800 nonprofit leaders strengthen their leadership skills. Neighborhood Builders is just one example of how Bank of America deploys capital in communities, builds cross-sector partnerships, and promotes socioeconomic progress as part of its approach to responsible growth.

Alongside 16 other organizations, Per Scholas Baltimore recently received a groundbreaking grant from the Baltimore Mayor’s Office of Employment Development (OED) as part of the Train Up initiative. The initiative provides free job training for unemployed and underemployed Baltimore City residents impacted by COVID-19 and is funded through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). It is 

Per Scholas Baltimore will enroll 45 Baltimore City residents participants annually in our cost-free tech training, ensure that at least 75 percent of our learners will complete training, and connect at least 80 percent of our graduates into family-sustaining careers paying a minimum of $15 per hour. All participants completing training will obtain at least one industry-recognized credential. 

In regard to Train Up, Baltimore City Mayor Brandon M. Scott stated, “I look forward to working closely with the Mayor’s Office of Employment Development as we increase access to opportunity, promote local job growth, support low-income households, benefit historically underinvested neighborhoods and create wealth in Black and Brown communities.”

As Per Scholas Baltimore prepares Baltimore City residents for careers in technology, a high-growth industry, we will also provide our learners with career coaching and business and professional development. Upcoming courses offered at our campus in Little Italy can be found here.  

“We are grateful for the Mayor’s Office of Employment Development’s investment in Per Scholas Baltimore, which will enable us to continue to serve Baltimore City residents with no-cost technical training,” stated Per Scholas Baltimore Managing Director Jessica Diaz Council. “We are actively trying to change the face of the tech workforce nationally, but also locally. If you are a company that serves the people of Baltimore, then you should be employing local talent. We’re committed to increasing access and creating opportunities for individuals who aspire to work in tech because we truly believe that the right career changes everything. The Train Up program will allow us to do just that.”

To learn more about the Train Up program from the Mayor’s Office of Economic Development, click here. 

Per Scholas Baltimore‘s growth in 2022 was featured in Technical.ly.  The feature mentioned our Nicholas Kristof Holiday Impact Prize and the impact the funding will have on our reach for tuition-free tech training.

With the additional funding, our cohort will double in size from 25 to 50 individuals. “Folks who have participated in our courses go back and tell others how we’ve changed the trajectory of their careers or opened up opportunities for them,” said Jessica Diaz Council, who recently joined Per Scholas as Baltimore’s Site Director.

To read the full article, click here.

September was a busy month for Per Scholas!  We were featured in various media outlets that showcased our President and CEO Plinio Ayala and the impact of a few of our seventeen locations.  Did you read the OpEd Plinio Ayala wrote for New York Daily News on the job market and how creating a more inclusive labor market for employers and employees is beneficial for the country or see that Per Scholas was named a top tech program preparing youth to build the future in Baltimore?  Per Scholas Newark also made waves in September in the headlines striving for job equity while one of our Dallas graduates was featured in Parade Magazine.

Plinio Ayala penned an opinion piece for New York Daily News on creating a more inclusive labor market for employers and employees. “By prioritizing funding for evidence-based programs, we can do a better job of ensuring that federal legislation is actually supporting economic mobility rather than just funding nonprofits,” he mentions.  In this essay, titled ‘The Missing Link in Biden’s Jobs Plan,’ Ayala reflects on how tech training programs such as Per Scholas are able to bridge the gap between the abundance of open jobs and individuals with the skills necessary to fill them. “As the president and CEO of Per Scholas, a nonprofit that provides tuition-free training for careers in the technology sector, I’ve seen firsthand the impact programs like these can have on transforming workers’ careers, advancing economic mobility, and positively impacting local economies.”

Per Scholas Newark was featured in New Jersey Business Magazine in an article focused on Newark’s commitment to equitable access to bridge the digital divide.  Per Scholas Newark’s Managing Director LaToya Ball noted, “Per Scholas Collaborates with industry-leading employers to build more diverse talent pools, directly connecting our graduates to new career opportunities in fields such as IT support, cybersecurity, AWS re/Start, and software engineering.”  Days before that publication, the Arman Roy Foundation hosted their 3rd Annual Run for Hope 5k in partnership with Per Scholas Newark.  The 5k was in-person and had a virtual run option as well and raised over $30k towards their mission of bridging the digital divide and creating equity and opportunity for disadvantaged young adults.  

Tara Jacobs, a Per Scholas Dallas 2020 graduate, was featured in Parade Magazine for their annual ‘What People Earn’ issue.  Tara was showcased on the cover of the publication and noted that because of Per Scholas, she has been able to launch her career in tech.  “I serve as the first line of contact within the Service Desk to resolve issues for our customers: troubleshooting, technical support, system set-up, and all things related to customer service. It’s a career I could have never envisioned for myself if not for the tuition-free tech training I received from Per Scholas,” she noted.

Additionally, Per Scholas was named a top tech program preparing youth to build the future in Baltimore by Technical.ly.  This is a great recognition noting the impact of Per Scholas in the Baltimore community that we are so proud to have read about.  We are excited to continue our efforts to connect individuals underrepresented in the tech industry with thriving tech careers. 

With so much great representation in the news in September, we are thrilled to see our impact as we head into the last quarter of the year.  Stay tuned to see how we close the book in 2021!