Greater Boston’s dominance in the tech world is ever-growing. It’s on a roll. Boston continues to cement its reputation as one of the country’s top tech hubs, consistently ranking among the top 10. In fact, Boston is the ninth likeliest city globally to become the “leading technology innovation hub outside of Silicon Valley over the next four years”, according to a recent KPMG annual survey of the tech industry. With a steady flow of venture capital funds, a robust talent pipeline, a vibrant start-up scene and a who’s who of major corporations and institutions with large technology departments, Greater Boston will continue to make a big impact across the tech world. Per Scholas could not be prouder to be a part of this tech hub.

We opened our doors here in Kendall Square, Cambridge this past spring, and our inaugural class recently graduated in June, with students ready to take their places in the professional world. Just three weeks post-graduation, certified students are employed at companies including Deloitte, Mass General Hospital, R.G. Vanderweil Engineers, and even our own organization Per Scholas Greater Boston (yes, we even hired one of our own grads!) earning an average of over $21/hour. Per Scholas is a 25-year-old nonprofit that started in the South Bronx. We offer tuition-free technology training to students, age 18+, who are unemployed and underemployed. We also collaborate with businesses to design industry and job-specific courses based on employers’ IT needs, evolving and reshaping courses as required. Our first customized training partner in Greater Boston is TEKsystems, a leader in Full-Stack Technology Services, Talent Services and real-world application. Led by Managing Director, Alanna Hughes, the program graduated over 20 Full-Stack Java trained developers in August. Our next class with TEKsystems launches in October. The class will focus on building Network Support skill sets, culminating in achieving Net+ and A+ certifications.

Technology doesn’t stand still, so neither do we.

10,000 Graduates and Counting

We have Per Scholas sites in 11 cities nationwide and just enrolled our 10,000th student! And we plan to go even bigger. Earlier this year, Per Scholas received funding so that by 2023, we’ll be able to serve 4,000 technology career students a year.

Opportunities for Individuals, Communities & Companies

Per Scholas is committed to creating meaningful advantages for individuals. Our students are either unemployed or underemployed, meaning they may have been able to find work but have had a difficult time establishing a career. Our objective is to train our students and enable them to move into a career pathway.

Nationwide, Per Scholas has an 85% graduation rate and an 80% placement rate for graduates, with students increasing their wages by 400%, on average, in their first tech role.

We are also about building a more diverse technical workforce at companies and throughout the technology ecosystem. Women and people of color are staggeringly underrepresented in IT employment today. In a recent EEOC study of 75 Silicon Valley companies, just 2.2% of professional-level workers were African American, and 4.4% were Hispanic, while estimates of the percentage of technical roles filled by women are as low as 15%. Meanwhile, 86% of Per Scholas students nationally are people of color and a third are women. We create onramps for underrepresented groups so that a technology career is not only in reach but attainable.

Tackling the Tech Gap & the Power of Partnership

The U.S. DOL projects the creation of nearly 500,000 new IT jobs between 2014 and 2024, making the tech sector one of the largest and fastest growing employment sectors nationally. In the Greater Boston area, between job creation and turnover, there are more than 10,000 annual tech job openings that Per Scholas graduates are qualified for. Although we’re talking about only a few hundred Per Scholas graduates per year, every little bit helps. We won’t singlehandedly close the tech gap, but we can make a dent. Which brings me to my next topic: optimizing workforce and talent development.

Our expansion into Greater Boston was made possible with generous support provided by BlackRock, The Boston Foundation, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Workforce Skills Cabinet, The Demond and Kia Martin Foundation, Salesforce.org, SkillWorks, TEKsystems and generous individual donors.

Most recently, Per Scholas Greater Boston was the latest organization selected by the GreenLight Fund Boston for a four-year $600,000 investment to expand our employment training to Boston residents and further contribute to the growing tech sector that has been witnessed within the region. This level of support from one of Boston’s most innovative social impact leaders, to invest in our mission to closing to the local tech talent gap, is critical to our expansion and inclusion in the broader Boston tech network. We are thrilled to be their 12th portfolio organization and look forward to their partnership as a thought leader and network builder. (Listen here for the radio feature including Per Scholas Greater Boston alum, Hector Miranda Vaquer).

Workforce and talent development – and more specifically, preparing employees for a future constantly redefined by technology – is best accomplished with coordination, cooperation and collaboration among the public and private sectors, along with nonprofits. No one entity or group of entities can go it alone when it comes to truly making an impact. Tapping into our combined resources, knowledge, networks and expertise, we are far better equipped to make strides in reducing the tech gap and bring about true transformation in Greater Boston which also includes changing policy, practice and perception. As we do this as part of a system, we are far better positioned to match the right people, resources, training and available opportunities. In short, we are stronger together.

While Per Scholas is new to the Greater Boston area, our stellar team brings considerable experience to this work and a desire to innovate, collaborate and create meaningful change. We bring our expertise to work for employers and businesses by providing talent development and DEI solution. And we simultaneously partner with our students to assist them in achieving their goal to enter or advance in the ever-growing tech field in our region.

Robin Nadeau, Managing Director, Per Scholas Greater Boston

You can reach Robin Nadeau at RNadeau@perscholas.org.

On June 19th 2019, we held an exclusive screening of “VICE Special Report: The Future of Work,” followed by a panel discussion where panelists reflected on how current perceptions, strategies, and solutions on skills, work, and work retraining influence an extensive economic and social network made up of current and prospective students, workforce development organizations and government agencies.

Featured guests panelists:

• Kelly Richardson | Managing Director, Per Scholas Newark and New York

• Krishna Sai Andavolu | Correspondent for VICE Media on HBO and the host of “The Future of Work” documentary

• Kathy Meier-Hellstern | Assistant Vice President of Optimization, Reliability & Customer Analytics (ORCA) for AT&T’s Advanced Technology & Services Organization

• Shaniece Crumpler | Recent graduate of Per Scholas’ CodeBridge full stack web development course in partnership with General Assembly featured in the film

A special thanks to all of our panelists and our partners at AT&T Xandr HBO and VICE Media for supporting our mission to provide access and opportunity to talented individuals across the United States.

Per Scholas is excited to partner with Macy’s for their Shop for a Cause Charity Challenge! By supporting Per Scholas with a $5 donation or more, you’ll receive an exclusive Macy’s Shop for a Cause savings pass.

Your donation will support Per Scholas’ goal to graduate over 1,000 individuals across our six sites in 2017. These future technologists are not just finding their next job, they are finding a career to grow and support their families, their communities and their new workplace.

By supporting Per Scholas, you’ll be saving at Macy’s! Visit https://www.crowdrise.com/per-scholas2 to start saving today!

Last month, Per Scholas was recognized nationally by CNN Money for building a proven workforce model that is creating pathways to career success in technology for individuals across the country. To date, we have enrolled 7,000 students.

At Per Scholas we have a firm belief that our students do not need anyone to save them. Instead, we believe in their success and offer the tools and support for them to succeed. Per Scholas Ambassador, Sade Strachan, is the perfect example of a New Yorker who worked tirelessly through her IT Support class to receive industry recognized certifications and find a job as an ATM Service Technician.

Sadé’s journey is not unique, but it is remarkable. At Per Scholas, our students are creative and determined. They are the next generation of the Information Technology workforce in America. They bring their passion and intelligence and we put them on onramps to careers in technology.

This is not just a job—this is a springboard for success. Our training impacts our students, their children, their parents, neighborhoods, the companies where they work, our entire country.

The zip code where you were born should not determine your success.

In 2016, Per Scholas was recognized by the White House for demonstrating strong evidence of impact. This year, budget proposals cut federal funding for workforce training by 40% in key areas.

Per Scholas will continue to carry forward our mission to build onramps to success. A good job changes everything – help us change the face of technology.

Per Scholas Cincinnati celebrated the second Toss for Techs Cornhole Tournament at the CityLink Center on Tuesday, April 25th with close to 150 guests representing employer partners, community leaders and Per Scholas students and alumni.

The event succeeded in raising over $23,000 to support future Per Scholas students enrolled in IT Support and Software Testing courses. Per Scholas partnered with the American Cornhole Organization for the second year in a row to organize a fun tournament for supporters. Fifteen local employer partners invested in Gold and Silver level sponsorships to enter twenty-four cornhole teams into a competitive frenzy that lasted from 5pm-8pm. Returning champions from The E.W. Scripps Company defended their title going on to win the event for a second year in a row!

The race is on to see who can take down Scripps at future tournaments.

The evening’s program featured 2016 Per Scholas Graduate, Angela Bedford, a Quality Assurance Analyst at Thrive Impact Sourcing. Angela shared her journey to Per Scholas, working as an Access Service Representative at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. She described her annual 20 cent increases and the mounting bills and overtime hours required to take care of her family. Angela always had an aptitude for technology, supporting doctors at the hospital with IT troubleshooting needs, so when she found Per Scholas, a viable option to advance her career, she jumped at the opportunity. Currently working for Per Scholas’ largest Cincinnati partner, Thrive Impact Sourcing, Angela shared “I’m not dreading going to work everyday. I’m not frazzled, frustrated, or disappointed anymore.” She experienced a $12k or 30% raise after switching careers and is able to cover her bills and experience more free time with her family. Angela was recently featured on the local WCPO channel and to hear her interview, click here.

Guests were also treated to food catered by Montgomery Inn and a live DJ, a raffle, auction items and drinks that contributed to a shared night of celebration and collaboration. Over the past year, Per Scholas Cincinnati has experienced improving metrics driving renewed interest in the trainings and support that the organization offers.

In 2016, 98% of students who entered into Per Scholas Cincinnati’s classrooms graduated and 89% of those students have been placed in jobs earning an average of $35,000 every year. The dramatic success is owed to the continued investment of local community members and employers who provide constant investment and partnership opportunities to the organization. The demand for tech jobs in the region continues to grow, and Per Scholas’ expertise training and placing graduates is experiencing increasing demand for employers around the country.

A huge thank you goes out to our sponsors for supporting Per Scholas throughout the years. Sponsor organizations have hired Per Scholas graduates, invested resources, volunteered staff hours and provided advisory support. These types of partnerships ensure Per Scholas is connected to local talent and local demand, providing improving services to the Greater Cincinnati Tech community.  

Thank you to our Gold Sponsors: Thrive Impact Sourcing, First Financial, TEKsystems, CDK Global and our Silver Sponsors: Qvidian, The E.W. Scripps Company, Pomeroy, Immedion, Lightower, Kroger, Promark, CompuCom, Ernst & Young, CityLink and Vernovis.

Check out past Monthly Impact Reports here.

Per Scholas has been elevated as a model case study in a new resource to help banks actively engage workforce development partners to assist in fulfilling obligations under the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). The document has been published by the Federal Reserve Banks of Dallas and Kansas City,  “Engaging Workforce Development: A Framework for Meeting CRA Obligations” and provides “information, resources and case studies to help banks begin or expand their involvement with workforce development in their region” according to the January 12 Press Release.

The Community Reinvestment Act, one section of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1977 encourages commercial banks and savings associations to assist the needs of borrowers “in all segments of their communities, including low- and moderate-income neighborhoods.” The law was written and passed to support borrowers in lower-income brackets and protect segments of society from discriminatory or illegal credit lending policies.

Within the report, Per Scholas is one of four Workforce Development organizations demonstrating successful partnerships with financial institutions that support community investment and meet CRA criteria. These partnerships include significant financial investments on the part of financial institutions that have allowed Per Scholas to expand and build out classrooms to support an increase to their student population. The report elevates other significant areas of impact, scalability and sustainability that banks and their employees can provide. These include advisory and mentorship relationships with Per Scholas graduates and students, advising and developing strategies for impact and growth, fostering corporate partnerships, staff and fund development. Per Scholas also highlights the important leadership opportunity banks play spreading the word about Per Scholas successes across the local community.

According to Keith Lawing the president and chief executive officer of the Workforce Alliance of South Central Kansas “Workforce boards and local financial institutions share a common goal of increasing the overall wealth and economic well-being of a community.” The new toolkit provides a roadmap for financial institutions to better understand if a nonprofit demonstrates the necessary credentials to qualify for CRA purposes. Listed in the Press Release this toolkit includes:

• A list of common questions about CRA and where to find detailed answers

• Resources and activities from prominent workforce development organizations

• An extensive listing of workforce development organizations, including a synopsis of activities and checklist of how they are involved in workforce development

• A template for banks to tell their workforce development and CRA stories

This report, demonstrates unique ways that nonprofits are partnering with financial institutions to achieve mutual outcomes. Per Scholas and others workforce development partners are unique examples because they offer banks services that go well beyond simply meeting a CRA obligation. Per Scholas graduates work for a number of financial institutions across the country and the organization is recognized as a trusted pipeline for promising local talent.

Download report: http://bit.ly/2jbcDcJ

Check out past Monthly Impact Reports here.

Per Scholas is joining General Assembly at it’s first ever Career Lab events in New York, Washington, D.C. and Atlanta on February 11. Career Lab is a one-day event in cities across the country with leaders in tech to help start or advance individual’s careers in top tech fields. Professionals at all experience levels can explore new paths to success in the competitive fields of web development, data, user experience design, digital marketing, and product management.

In all cities, participants will hear about opportunities in tech, take a career aptitude test and a career next step class, learn about data science, digital marketing, coding, visual design, JavaScript, UX Design, and more. The full day event will include networking opportunities and a chance to hear from experts about the region’s tech ecosystem. No matter an individual’s current role or field, this career event will arm participants with the motivation and tools needed to find or pursue their passion.

Reserve your spot today in Washington, D.C., New York, and Atlanta.

Check out past Monthly Impact Reports here.