We are thrilled to announce that Per Scholas received a $4.5 million grant from Comcast to advance economic opportunity through digital skills building and tech training. This investment will fuel our expansion to three new cities in need of skilled technologists for digital economies and empower more than 10,000 technologists to launch high-growth careers across 15 markets.

“Comcast continually helps Per Scholas unlock potential, building a future of unlimited possibilities,” reflected Plinio Ayala, President and CEO of Per Scholas. “Our partnership is powerful — Comcast is investing in communities, ensuring digital skills are ubiquitous across America, and hiring Per Scholas-trained technologists.”

Read the full press release here.

Tearing the Paper Ceiling: Let Skills Shine

Skills are powerful. In its purest form, a skill is the ability to do something well. Let’s take my son’s favorite sport into consideration: soccer. Some skills are natural, like body-balance and coordination. Others are learned, improved, and refined over time, like dribbling, trapping, and teamwork. His favorite player, Sadio Mane of Senegal, has an innate ability, but has also dedicated his focus to develop and perfect his skills over time. 

For too long, skills have been overlooked and undervalued in the American hiring process, relying on proxies for preparedness in place of proof of preparedness. That’s why I’m so proud of our friends at Opportunity@Work for their unwavering commitment to rewire the labor market so that everyone can contribute their skills, talent, and energy in pursuit of a better life, an equitable America, and a stronger economy for all. 

Tearing the Paper Ceiling and Unlocking Potential for STARs

O@W is galvanizing our nation to Tear the Paper Ceiling and recognize the untapped potential of the 70+ million American workers who are STARs – Skilled Through Alternative Routes. STARs make up half of the U.S. workforce and for decades, have been excluded from good, high-wage jobs. STARs grow skills and knowledge through community college, proven workforce training programs like Per Scholas, bootcamps, certificate programs, military service, on-the-job learning, and more.

According to a recent survey by Indeed, two thirds of job seekers across the nation believe they were overlooked for a job they were qualified for because they did not have the degree listed in the job description. We’re stifling potential instead of unlocking it, creating even greater opportunity gaps. 

Because Per Scholas is a tech and essential skills trainer, let’s examine the facts facing our nation’s technology workforce. The most recent jobs report reveals there were 234,000 tech job openings in April, far outnumbering the number of applicants. I’d surmise that many STARs didn’t even apply, seeing a college degree as a minimum requirement to put forth their credentials. It’s disheartening. 

As Chief Training Officer at Per Scholas, it’s our learners and alumni who fuel my passion. More than half of our learners are STARs, and the skills they’ve acquired during our 12 to 15 week tuition-free training stand on the shoulders of the skills they already possess: perseverance, time management, tenacity, passion, collaboration, problem-solving and beyond. Plus, they earn a variety of CompTIA certifications – industry recognized credentials that again, prove their mastery of the skills they’ve learned in their training.

Learners like Brittany, who knew a career in tech was for her, and what would provide the economic freedom for her family. Brittany brought resourcefulness, resilience and an inquisitive attitude to her IT Support training every day. She worked the overnight shift, cared for her young daughter, and always arrived to training early, ready to shine.

Hearing stories and experiences like Brittany’s – and thousands of Per Scholas STARs – motivates me in my work, advocating for skills-based hiring.

Solutions for Skills Based Hiring

A year ago, Maryland passed a bill that eliminated degree requirements from thousands of state job postings, far increasing the application pool and ultimately creating more equity. And valuing people for the skills they bring to the table, not the piece of paper. I’m hopeful many more leaders in the public sector will follow suit. I’m encouraged that many private sector companies, from Intel to Amazon and Dell to Google are removing 4-year degrees as a mandatory requirement for a variety of technical roles. This powerful action unlocks potential and creates pathways to a strong middle class.

Employers are the key change agents here, and they win by gaining a more productive and thriving workforce if they’re brave enough to activate skills based hiring. I think Henry Ford said it best: “If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.” If we continue to exclude talent from the onset, we’ll continue to have hundreds of thousands of open tech jobs each month. 

In 12 to 15 weeks, Per Scholas learners graduate from our rigorous, tuition-free tech skills training in a variety of the most in-demand disciplines our tech sector needs: Java Development, Cybersecurity, Software Engineering, IT Support, Salesforce Administration, and more.

It’s the essential skills they refine, like professionalism, perseverance, creative problem solving, and the hard skills they learn like pen testing and networking protocols that make Per Scholas STARs tip-top applicants. Our graduates are ready to make a difference day one on the job. 

Let their proven skills training with Per Scholas serve as the proof of preparedness. Let STARs shine.

On May 15, more than 25 leaders from TD Bank volunteered their time and participated in mock interviews with a Cybersecurity Cohort of Per Scholas learners from Atlanta, Newark, and Boston. Corporate volunteerism is critical in Per Scholas’ training and provides an opportunity to connect with business leaders and gain industry insight. 

TD Bank leaders had a chance to give back by helping aspiring technologists improve their communication skills, learn about key technical content, and better understand varied corporate cultures. Volunteers had the opportunity to provide insight on their technical skills, social and emotional intelligence at work, and career pathways through mock interviews. The advice and insight given greatly impacts Per Scholas learners. Through this interaction, learners are able to increase their knowledge about a corporate environment and gain valuable practice speaking with a working technical professional.

To learn how you can volunteer with Per Scholas, reach out to Robert Wilhelm at rwilhelm@perscholas.org.

Earlier this spring, Per Scholas received $50,000 from the Citizens Philanthropic Foundation for our Per Scholas Alumni Upskilling program, which provides continued support to our alumni after they leave Per Scholas. Focuses of the program include  access to career and financial counseling, upskilling courses, and more. 

This funding was part of a commitment by Citizen Bank’s Citizens Charitable Foundation and Citizens Philanthropic Foundation to grant $350,000 to support technical training and career counseling in the state of New Jersey. Other funding recipients included Greater Newark LISC, Urban League of Essex County, and Year Up New Jersey.

Jessica Zorola, Per Scholas Newark’s Managing Director, was interviewed by NJ Tech Weekly about Per Scholas’ participation in this grant program. “As a result of the investment from the Citizens Philanthropic Foundation, Per Scholas is going to be able to grow our alumni upskilling offerings for individuals here in Newark and the surrounding New York City metro area,” Jessica said. “People who have graduated from Per Scholas want the opportunity to move around in the tech industry, and to qualify to move up the ranks. If you think about careers in tech, they are constantly changing and evolving, so learners need to acquire more industry-recognized certifications, building a little bit more of that skill set to build careers over time.”

Jessica also emphasized the importance of grants like this in helping Per Scholas and other similarly-focused organizations promote equity in tech employment in New Jersey. In an industry that is predominantly white and male, it is important to increase opportunities for female and minority learners to thrive. “When I talk with our learners and alumni, I’m very open and honest about addressing the challenges of this lack of representation,” Jessica told NJ Tech Weekly. “You know, only 4 percent of technologists nationwide identify as women of color like myself.  So, when I have my learners in the classroom and hear their stories, it can feel very impactful and powerful because they are bringing in that representation that is missing in tech.”

Read the full news article here!

On May 25th, Red Nose Day returns for its 9th official year, and Per Scholas is excited and honored to have been selected as one of this year’s grantee partners! Red Nose Day is an annual fundraising event held by Comic Relief US that seeks to raise life-changing funds to help end the cycle of poverty and ensure children are safe, healthy, educated, and empowered across the U.S. and around the world.

Since 2015, the campaign has taken a multifaceted approach to tackling both the consequences and root causes of child poverty, focusing on the four pillars of health, safety, education and empowerment. In addition to trying to remove systemic barriers, Red Nose Day-funded programs also strive to provide long-term solutions that set children up for a lifetime of success.

As such, Red Nose Day funds transformative programs from 50 trailblazing organizations, large and small, in the U.S. and globally, that exhibit “expertise in implementing community-led solutions to ensure that all children thrive and have access to a healthy future.” 

Per Scholas was one of the 50 organizations selected this year, recognized for its work in using the power of education to transform lives, empower communities, and end cycles of poverty. Per Scholas helps prepare our learners, many of whom are youth or have children, to launch life-changing careers in technology by participating in our rigorous, cost-free tech skills training.

One such learner who launched a thriving career through Per Scholas training is Jadah Stone, a young New Yorker who was always interested in tech but, upon graduating high school, was not sure how to get started in the field. “I had a broad idea of what IT was, and I had a broad idea of what tech was,” Jadah said of herself at the time. “I knew that I wanted to do it, but I wasn’t really sure how to break into the field and how to really solidify myself academically. Per Scholas was instrumental in providing that structure and a clear path… it was also really motivational in helping me stay on track because they gave me a way to envision what my life could be like after all the hard work paid off.” 

After graduating, Jadah successfully launched her career in tech, working first in Application Support at Mitchell Martin, then as an IT Support Specialist at Casper alongside a few other Per Scholas alumni. She now works as a Systems Engineer at Sachs Cloud Services, a position she greatly enjoys.

Jadah loves her work and plans to continue learning and growing within the tech field for the rest of her life. “I want to say thank you to Per Scholas for helping me to solidify the foundations of becoming a person who is able to be successful in the tech world,” Jadah said. “And thank you to Per Scholas for providing really amazing resources for people that might not have otherwise been able to have an opportunity like this.”

Last year’s Red Nose Day had a record-breaking year, raising over $50 million. “This year, Comic Relief US is building on the momentum of our most successful fundraising year ever in 2022 by broadening our transformative community of grantee partners and increasing funding for programs addressing ongoing social inequities,” said Alison Moore, CEO of Comic Relief US. “It’s an honor to help these organizations become even bigger changemakers in the lives of the children and young people they serve in the communities most impacted, and we are so grateful for our partners and the millions of people who support Red Nose Day, allowing us to invest in organizations and social impact programs that help build healthy lives and futures that all children deserve.”

Supporters can buy the campaign’s signature Red Nose exclusively at nearly 9,000 Walgreens and Duane Reade locations for just $1 each and can also donate in stores via pin-pad at checkout. Donning the red nose is a great way to celebrate the campaign’s annual tradition, and 100% of proceeds directly benefit Red Nose Day, helping to make a real difference in the lives of underserved children in America and around the world. 

Per Scholas is proud to announce a new partnership with Indeed for their new product, Skill Connect, to help job seekers without college degrees better promote their skills and completed training programs to potential employers.

“Skill Connect is a powerful tool, blazing the path for individuals to be evaluated based on their ability to excel with their skills, instead of relying on proxies for preparedness,” Per Scholas President and CEO Plinio Ayala reflected. “Per Scholas is proud to partner with Indeed on this innovative experience and looks forward to seeing positive impact among job seekers and companies alike.”

Read the full press release for this innovative tool here.

The battle between credentials and skills can be navigated through Indeed’s latest blog, which highlights overcoming barriers in the job application process.

Tech Jobs Remain Hot, but Diversity Gaps Remain Prevalent

A Per Scholas Perspectives Piece from Damien Howard

Despite layoffs in the first quarter of 2023, the tech job market remains hot! According to the April jobs report, there are more than 316,000 open tech roles nationwide. Yet, companies continue to struggle to find the skilled talent to fill these roles. And in my view, many companies are unfortunately still overlooking valuable and performance driven diverse technologists to fill these roles.

Nationwide, Black people only make up 8 percent of the technology workforce, and that percentage is even lower – 3 percent – when you look at Black technologists in the C-Suite. The percentage of women in technology jobs nationwide continues to hover around 25 percent, and again, representation among women of color is at a devastatingly low 4 percent.

My friend Franklin Reed, Executive Director of Global Inclusion, Diversity and Equity at TEKsystems, and I are always innovating solutions on this topic, to achieve our shared goal of a more equitable, inclusive, and diverse technology workforce.

Here are our three major takeaways this April, Celebrate Diversity Month, from TEKsystems’ inaugural Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in IT Report that can help close diversity gaps.

First, IT decision makers believe in the power of diversity. 86 percent of IT decision makers believe DEI programs have made their culture more inclusive, which aids business’s overall ROI and morale. Plus, 74 percent of IT decision makers agreed that DEI has increased their team’s productivity.

“Cultivating a diverse culture starts with a genuine belief that diversity makes us better, followed by intentional recruiting efforts that reinforce this belief,” says Franklin. In this article, Franklin and his colleague discuss a programmable approach to inclusive and equitable recruiting.

Next, there’s tremendous opportunity to implement advanced or mature DEI programs. Less than half (46 percent) of organizations reported having advanced or mature DEI programs, which translates into a missed opportunity for innovation and increased profit for the vast majority. Per Scholas and TEKsystems are leaders in DEI, and can help support your company in developing and implementing powerful talent solutions.

“There is no quick fix to attracting, recruiting, and retaining diverse candidates. Change comes from deep within an organization, and it takes time. It also takes an honest evaluation of where your company currently is with its DEI practices and where the stakeholders want it to be,” Franklin says.

Like Franklin, I often counsel leaders that are looking for different ways to drive revenue that DEI can’t be an initiative or a scattershot effort, but instead, embedded into the DNA of your company, with business metrics and resources to support sustainable success.

Finally, much more needs to be done to support women technologists. There’s a 25 percentage plus point gap between male and female technologists when they indicate their sense of belonging at work, and an even larger gap between men and women related to their perceptions of growth opportunities.

Beyond racial and gender diversity, there are so many other diversity dimensions we must consider and take into account, from neurodiversity to educational attainment, family composition, and more.

So, what’s your take? What are ways your company is closing the diversity gap among your technology workforce? Franklin and I would love to hear from you. Drop a comment below!

We are thrilled to announce that Per Scholas was awarded funding from Comcast Corporation for creating a more inclusive workforce and economy! Per Scholas is one of nine recipients awarded from the over $25 million grant.

“We can only successfully change the face of tech – and strengthen the future of our economy – if we successfully find ways to help every worker unlock his or her potential,” said Per Scholas President & CEO. “Comcast recognizes how critical this mission is, and by working together, we can create the opportunities that empower job seekers to become what they envision, to realize their every possibility, and succeed in the workforce of today – and tomorrow.”

Comcast’s funding will empower more than 10,000 adult learners to launch tech careers over the next three years, unlocking their potential as technologists.

Read the full press release here.

In April, Apex Systems volunteered their time with Per Scholas Alumni nationwide for a virtual volunteer event. The hour-long event was led by Kaitlin Westbrook Tolson, National STEM advocate of Apex Systems, and included a presentation on how to work with technical recruiters. More than 40 alumni and volunteers attended in total to increase professional experience in the tech industry with technology professionals and was an exceptional opportunity for alumni to network and gain industry insight. 

Corporate engagement events such as this volunteer opportunity with Apex Systems are a great way to partner with Per Scholas and unlock potential in our learners. To learn more about how you can volunteer with us or host a corporate engagement event, please reach out to Per Scholas Director of Corporate Engagement Miguelina Manriquez at mmanriquez@perscholas.org.

Capgemini, a global leader in consulting, technology services, and digital transformation, has partnered with Per Scholas to unlock potential in our learners and alumni. In addition to hiring many of our alumni for their internship program, Capgemini works closely with Per Scholas learners through corporate engagement events including mock interviews and panel discussions. 

This March, Capgemini participated in two mock interview sessions and one panel for Women’s History Month, all hosted virtually for Per Scholas learners. As corporate volunteers, Capgemini participants play a critical role in Per Scholas’ training by helping aspiring technologists improve their communication skills, learn about key technical content, and better understand varied corporate cultures.

During the Women’s History Month panel, Capgemini leaders discussed women in tech and the importance of diversifying a typically male-dominated industry to include more women. Panelists included Shikha Thakare, Portfolio Manager, FS BCM; Lakisha Burke, Director, Invent BCM; Ann-Marie Birns, Executive Director, Morgan Stanley; Charisma Glassman, Senior Director, FS BCM; and Sonia Soni, Global Account Executive for Morgan Stanley. The virtual event welcomed more than 40 participants, including 30 Per Scholas learners, who listened to the panel and went into interactive breakout rooms for further discussion.

Per Scholas is grateful for the time volunteers and panelists have given to our learners and alumni. The advice and insight given greatly impact the learner perspective. Through this interaction, our learners are able to learn more about a corporate environment and gain valuable practice speaking with industry professionals.