Per Scholas Expands Cybersecurity Training to Brooklyn: Monthly Impact Report – Nov. 2016
October was Cybersecurity Month, and at Per Scholas, we’re proud to offer several cybersecurity training opportunities – including one we kicked off this fall.
Our newest Per Scholas site in Brooklyn is home to a 16-week cybersecurity training track, developed in close partnership with Barclays – which has committed to hiring 10 Per Scholas cybersecurity students for six-month paid internships upon graduation.
In 2015, there were more than 209,000 unfilled cybersecurity jobs in the U.S., and more than one million around the world. By 2019, that number is projected to reach 6 million. Our collaboration with Barclays will enable Per Scholas students to gain real-world experience in the financial services cybersecurity after graduation that will prepare them for careers in this growing field.
The site in Brooklyn joins the National Capital Region as the second Per Scholas site to offer cybersecurity training. Just one year ago, we launched a partnership with cybersecurity giant Symantec when it invested $375,000 in cybersecurity training at our National Capital Region site. We became a Cyber Career Connection (S3C) partner to train military veterans for careers in cybersecurity.
Through the SC3 cybersecurity program, Per Scholas provides military veterans with tuition-free training in IT support and cybersecurity. The first eight weeks of training facilitated by Per Scholas prepare participants with the foundation of IT infrastructure and support leading to the CompTIA A+ certification. The second phase of the training is provided in partnership with Anne Arundel Community College (AACC) and provides four additional months of training that leads to Network+, Security+ and Ethical Hacker Certifications and entry-level employment assistance into cybersecurity.
Through this partnership, Per Scholas has trained seven veterans so far for the National Capital Region’s growing cybersecurity industry.
Plinio Ayala Honored by Crain’s New York Business’ Inaugural Hispanic Executive And Entrepreneur Awards
President and CEO Plinio Ayala (second from left) is joined by fellow finalist Paloma Hernandez (second from right) who serves as the CEO of Urban Health Plan. They are joined by Per Scholas Chief Operating Officer Michelle Pullaro (left) and Urban Health Plan Chief Talent and Learning Officer Rosa Agosto (right).
Per Scholas President and CEO Plinio Ayala was named among the finalists in Crain’s New York Business, Custom Division, inaugural Hispanic Executive and Entrepreneur Awards. This year’s awards, presented during Hispanic Heritage Month, celebrated the tremendous impact Hispanic executives and entrepreneurs make in the Empire State and recognize Hispanic leaders who are executing innovative business ideas and solutions as well as demonstrating a deep commitment to the New York City business community.
Throughout his career, Plinio has been dedicated to fostering success among diverse populations. He has more than 20 years of nonprofit management experience and is deeply committed to the fight against poverty. He was appointed President and CEO of Per Scholas in 2003, and in 2012, joined a diverse group of stakeholders with decades of experience in New York City’s workforce system to develop a blueprint for the new mayor titled Re-Envisioning the New York City Workforce System.
“I’m deeply humbled to have been recognized as a finalist for the inaugural Hispanic Community Leader award by Crain’s New York Business. Positively impacting the lives of my fellow New Yorkers has always been my focus,” said Plinio Ayala, Per Scholas president and CEO. “Diversity of thought – and talent – encourages innovation and creates solutions to problems that often one person or just a handful of people may not achieve.”
Here at Per Scholas, Plinio has led the organization in its national expansion, overseeing six new Per Scholas sites and supporting thousands of individuals as they launch successful careers in technology. Under Plinio’s leadership, Per Scholas is building a more diverse technical workforce by creating on-ramps for women and people of color, groups staggeringly underrepresented in IT employment today. 90 percent of our students are people of color, a third are women and a third are disconnected young adults.
Additional information about the finalists and winners of this year’s Hispanic Executive and Entrepreneur Awards can be found by visiting http://www.crainsnewyork.com/custom-media/hispanic-executive-awards.
Job market expected to get hotter — and harder for employers
PER SCHOLAS NAMED AS FINALIST IN 2016 NEW YORK COMMUNITY TRUST NONPROFIT EXCELLENCE AWARDS
Tech Training Nonprofit One of Six Finalists Eligible of $60,000 in Prizes and Scholarships
New York, N.Y. (October 11, 2016) – The Nonprofit Coordinating Committee of New York (NPCC) announced Per Scholas as one of six finalists of the New York Community Trust Nonprofit Excellence Awards Program. In its 10th year, the New York Community Trust Nonprofit Excellence Awards, a program created and managed by the Nonprofit Coordinating Committee of New York, is the only award of its kind recognizing excellence in nonprofit management among nonprofits in the five boroughs, Long Island, and Westchester.
An expert 32-member selection committee chose Per Scholas as one of the six finalists from a pool of 11 qualified semifinalists, following an intensive second round application that looked deeply into eight key areas of nonprofit excellence. As a finalist, Per Scholas is eligible for $60,000 in prizes and scholarships for the Columbia Business School Executive Education Programs in Social Enterprise. The $60,000 will be split among the three winning organizations.
“We’re honored to have been selected as a finalist for The New York Community Trust’s Nonprofit Excellence Awards,” said Per Scholas President and CEO Plinio Ayala. “Since our inception, we’ve remained committed to improving the lives and communities in which we operate and we believe lasting impact on communities is best achieved through an intentional and reflective approach to organizational management.”
Through rigorous and tuition-free technology training and professional development, Per Scholas has helped thousands of individuals who are unemployed or underemployed launch successful careers in technology, while creating real onramps to businesses in need of their talents.
“We are very excited to announce the six finalists for the 2016 New York Community Trust Nonprofit Excellence Awards,” said Sharon Stapel, President of the Nonprofit Coordinating Committee of New York. “These organizations have demonstrated that making excellence a continuous practice is critical to mission achievement.”
All finalists represent a range of nonprofit sub-sectors including human services, social justice, and education throughout New York City and Westchester. The other finalists include, Jewish Board for Family and Children Services, Neighbors Link, New York Peace Institute, NYC Outward Bound Schools, and the Children’s Aid Society. The winning organizations will be announced and honored at a special Best Practices Workshop and Awards Presentation on December 2 at the New York Hall of Medicine.
NPCC created the Nonprofit Excellence Awards in 2007 and the program has attracted 750 applications from across New York City, Long Island and Westchester over its first ten years. The program is produced in collaboration with The New York Community Trust and Philanthropy New York. WNYC and JPMorgan Chase sponsor the program. Additional financial and in-kind support is provided by The Clark Foundation, Ford Foundation, RSM US LLP, and Columbia Business School Executive Education Programs in Social Enterprise. Learn more about the Nonprofit Excellence Awards, NPCC’s guiding Eight Key Areas of Nonprofit Excellence, past winners, and selection process.
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Per Scholas is a national nonprofit that drives positive and proven social change in communities across the country. Through rigorous and tuition-free technology training and professional development, Per Scholas prepares motivated and curious adults who are un- or underemployed for transformative careers in the tech sector, while creating onramps to businesses in need of their talents. Per Scholas provides its solution in six cities across the country: Atlanta, GA; Greater Cincinnati, OH; Columbus, OH; Dallas, TX; the National Capital Region; and New York, NY. To date, Per Scholas has trained over 6,000 individuals, helping them build lasting, life-changing careers in technology. For more information, visit perscholas.org, Twitter @PerScholas and Facebook.
The Nonprofit Coordinating Committee of New York (NPCC) serves as the voice and information source for the New York City area nonprofit community. NPCC’s mission is to create a sector that is better informed, managed, governed, and represented at all levels of government. With a membership representing 1,400+ organizations, NPCC helps member nonprofits to improve their organizational management so they become more effective in meeting their missions and saves nonprofits money through cost-savings programs. NPCC also serves as a watchdog for nonprofit regulation on the city, state and federal levels, assuring that the nonprofit regulatory environment is fair and efficient. Established in 1984, NPCC is the largest such organization in the New York City area.
Since 1924, The New York Community Trust has been the home of charitable New Yorkers who share a passion for the City and the suburbs—and who are committed to improving them. The Trust supports an array of effective nonprofits that help make the City a vital and secure place to live, learn, work and play, while building permanent resources for the future. The New York Community Trust ended 2015 with assets of $2.5 billion in more than 2,000 charitable funds, and made grants totaling $165 million. The Trust welcomes new donors. See nycommunitytrust.org.
Full press release can be found here.
NEW TECH BOOT CAMP LAUNCHES FREE OPPORTUNITIES FOR UNEMPLOYED BROOKLYNITES
PER SCHOLAS NAMED AS FINALIST IN 2016 NEW YORK COMMUNITY TRUST NONPROFIT EXCELLENCE AWARDS
Tech Training Nonprofit One of Six Finalists Eligible of $60,000 in Prizes and Scholarships
There’s now a free tech bootcamp for Brooklyn’s unemployed and underserved
Ethnically-diverse companies are 35% more likely to outperform their peers: Monthly Impact Report – Oct. 2016
Per Scholas hosted the first of several national conversations on diversity in the workplace
At Per Scholas, we are committed to fostering an equitable, diverse and inclusive tech sector. We took a big step in championing this message when we launched Diverse by Design this summer. Diverse by Design is a conversation series dedicated to building diversity in the workplace. In June, we kicked-off the series with the Information Technology Senior Management Forum by hosting a terrific event in New York City. Nearly 200 guests, including C-Suite leaders, employer partners and representatives from the business and workforce development communities, convened at Google’s NYC Headquarters to hear from Fortune 500 thought leaders in technology, finance, energy and social impact.
This event series started in New York, but we’re certainly not stopping there. We’re taking this show on the road and plan to announce the next event in the national series in the coming weeks. Plus, to continue building momentum, we launched the Diverse by Design National Working Group. The working group is comprised of leaders across industries and sectors who are committed to ensuring their workplaces are more inclusive, equitable and diverse.
As Plinio said from the stage in New York, “We can’t achieve a greater level of diversity in the workplace alone, by working in silos, as we’ve done for so many years. If we work collectively to spark relationships, build partnerships like we have done today, I am hopeful that our tech sector will begin to reflect and celebrate the beautiful diversity that makes up our country.”
Per Scholas Expands to Brooklyn, NY: Monthly Impact Report – Oct. 2016
Per Scholas gathered hundreds of community members, nonprofit and business leaders, and students and alumni to celebrate our expansion to Brooklyn this past month. Kelly Richardson, Per Scholas New York Managing Director emceed the event and was joined by NYS Department of Financial Services Superintendent Maria Vullo; Jes Staley, CEO, Barclays; Deputy Brooklyn Borough President Diana Reyna; Maria Shorenstein, New York State President, AT&T; Roderick Jenkins, Senior Program Officer, The New York Community Trust; Joe Tazewell, New York City Regional Director, Empire State Development; and Ivan Rivera, Per Scholas Grad & Barclays Apprentice.
Superintendent Vullo applauded Per Scholas’ tenacity in providing rigorous, tuition-free technology training to New Yorkers striving for careers in technology. The grand opening celebration marks the organization’s second New York location, which will enable Per Scholas to train an additional 140 New Yorkers annually. The expansion of Per Scholas New York will result in more than 550 New Yorkers trained and prepared for technology careers every year.
The 3,000-square-foot space features two classrooms each with 20 student workstations. In addition to the classrooms, the location offers open work space, a testing center, as well as kitchen, wellness and conference room amenities for students and staff.
As part of the new Brooklyn site, Per Scholas New York launched a new 16-week cybersecurity training track, powered in large part by Barclays. As the financial industry becomes increasingly digital, employers are faced with the difficult task of providing first-rate security to protect their assets against increasingly sophisticated threats. The race for tech talent is in high demand, yet data shows that fewer than 25 percent of applicants are qualified for available cybersecurity roles. Twenty new Per Scholas students began the new course at the organization’s South Bronx headquarters on September 22 and are expected to move to new classroom space at 630 Flushing Avenue in Brooklyn this fall. More than half of the new students call Brooklyn home and, staying true to its commitment to student diversity, Per Scholas is welcoming a class in which 40 percent of students are women and 30 percent are veterans.
Jes Staley, CEO of Barclays reflected, “It was an honor to be part of this special day as Per Scholas opens its doors to help many more people in Brooklyn and the surrounding communities with this fantastic new facility. Barclays is proud not only to partner with Per Scholas but to play a part in driving economic growth and social progress overall. This is not just about ensuring we’re operating with transparency and integrity, but also highlighting the humanity that sits behind finance, and the ability of financial services, and banks like Barclays, to support people in achieving their ambitions. It is about our determination to leave things better than when we found them and we know that if we partner with the best, like Per Scholas, we can make an even deeper impact in our communities.”
PER SCHOLAS CELEBRATES EXPANSION TO BROOKLYN
Tech Training Nonprofit’s Growth Supported by Barclays, AT&T, Office of the Brooklyn Borough President, The New York Community Trust, and Empire State Development
BROOKLYN, N.Y. (September 28, 2016) – Hundreds of community members, nonprofit and business leaders, and Per Scholas students and alumni celebrated Per Scholas’ expansion to Brooklyn yesterday, marking the organization’s second New York location. New York State Department of Financial Services Superintendent Maria Vullo applauded Per Scholas’ tenacity in providing rigorous, tuition-free technology training to New Yorkers striving for careers in technology. The expansion to Brooklyn will enable Per Scholas to train an additional 140 New Yorkers annually, resulting in more than 550 New Yorkers trained and prepared for technology careers every year.
Department of Financial Services (“DFS”) Superintendent Maria T. Vullo remarked, “I want to congratulate Per Scholas for providing New York communities with innovative and vital opportunities for advancement in technology, and for educating the next generation of leaders. I am honored to be part of the grand opening of Per Scholas’ second New York location and its first in Brooklyn, my hometown borough. As Superintendent of DFS, I believe it is imperative that we serve all New Yorkers in their financial services needs, and that we are committed to innovative leadership, such as with our recent cybersecurity regulation, the first of its kind in the nation. Through training provided by Per Scholas, New Yorkers will have the necessary skills to flourish at the forefront of emerging and groundbreaking industries.”
Per Scholas’ expansion to Brooklyn was made possible through the generous support of lead sponsor Barclays, as well as AT&T, The New York Community Trust, the Office of Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, Empire State Development, and individual contributors.
“It was an honor to be part of this special day as Per Scholas opens its doors to help many more people in Brooklyn and the surrounding communities with this fantastic new facility,” said Jes Staley, Group Chief Executive Officer, Barclays. “Barclays is proud not only to partner with Per Scholas but to play a part in driving economic growth and social progress overall. This is not just about ensuring we’re operating with transparency and integrity, but also highlighting the humanity that sits behind finance, and the ability of financial services, and banks like Barclays, to support people in achieving their ambitions. It is about our determination to leave things better than when we found them and we know that if we partner with the best, like Per Scholas, we can make an even deeper impact in our communities.”
“The jobs of today and tomorrow are rooted in technology, and our workforce must be planted in the high-quality tech skills needed to succeed in the marketplace. I am pleased to support Per Scholas in the outfitting of training labs for their new Bedford-Stuyvesant facility that promises to support a diverse and talented array of students,” said Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams.
“As a global tech company that is on the front lines of innovation, AT&T is constantly thinking about what the workforce of the future – and our future employees – will need for success. That is why we are so proud to have stepped up our commitment to education, including with our continued support of Per Scholas as it expands its unique training model to Brooklyn,” said Marissa Shorenstein, New York State president, AT&T. “Not only is Brooklyn home to many tech companies, it is also home to many communities in need of the career opportunities that Per Scholas provides. We know that this new Per Scholas site in Brooklyn will empower many more New Yorkers to hit the ground running with the skills they need to succeed.”
“Per Scholas has a great track record of being ahead of the curve and teaching the right skills at the right time,” says The New York Community Trust Senior Program Officer Roderick Jenkins. “Their new location in Brooklyn shows that they’re also doing their work in the right places.”
“Per Scholas provides training for low-income New Yorkers to obtain good jobs in the high growth IT sector, providing the tools needed to launch a career,” said Empire State Development President, CEO & Commissioner Howard Zemsky. “Under Governor Cuomo’s leadership we are doing more than ever to support workforce development across New York State.”
Last week, Per Scholas New York launched a new cybersecurity training track, powered in large part by Barclays. Twenty new Per Scholas students started the course at the organization’s South Bronx headquarters and are expected to move to new classroom space at 630 Flushing Avenue in Brooklyn this fall. More than half of the new students call Brooklyn home and, staying true to its commitment to student diversity, Per Scholas is welcoming a class where 40 percent of students are women and 30 percent are veterans.
Through rigorous and tuition-free technology training and professional development, Per Scholas has helped thousands of individuals who are unemployed or underemployed launch successful careers in technology, while creating real onramps to businesses in need of their talents. Per Scholas’ training has been evaluated and found to be among the most successful in independent, controlled, and randomized research, most recently reflected in MDRC’s WorkAdvance report.
“We’re very grateful to our supporters including Barclays, AT&T, the Office of Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, The New York Community Trust, and Empire State Development, to help us expand into one of New York’s hottest boroughs for tech,” said Per Scholas President and CEO Plinio Ayala. “For more than 20 years we’ve remained steadfast in our commitment to training individuals in overlooked communities who may lack the opportunities, but not the motivation or intellectual curiosity, to join the ranks of our nation’s growing tech sector.”
To learn more about Per Scholas Brooklyn, please visit www.PerScholas.org/Brooklyn.
Full press release can be found here.
EDITOR’S NOTE: High-res photos from yesterday’s Grand Opening Celebration are available upon request. To request photos or to coordinate interviews with leadership from Per Scholas, Barclays, AT&T, The New York Community Trust, the Office or Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams, and Empire State Development please contact Sara Neumann at [email protected] or (202) 256-8687.
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About Per Scholas
Per Scholas is a national nonprofit that drives positive and proven social change in communities across the country. Through rigorous and tuition-free technology training and professional development, Per Scholas prepares motivated and curious adults who are un- or underemployed for transformative careers in the tech sector, while creating onramps to businesses in need of their talents. Per Scholas provides its solution in six cities across the country: Atlanta, GA; Greater Cincinnati, OH; Columbus, OH; Dallas, TX; the National Capital Region; and New York, NY. To date, Per Scholas has trained over 6,000 individuals, helping them build lasting, life-changing careers in technology. For more information, visit perscholas.org, Twitter @PerScholas and Facebook.
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