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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