This time of year is when we reflect on all who have supported and amplified the mission of Per Scholas. Beyond grants and donations, there are opportunities to support Per Scholas learners and alumni by donating your time and expertise. We are grateful for partners, including S&P Global, KKR, and Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R), making a difference in the personal and professional growth of our learners and alumni by volunteering their time in a variety of ways, including resume reviews, industry discussions and mock interviews. 

Recently, S&P Global’s EssentialTECH team hosted a panel discussion for Per Scholas learners in an engaging virtual event that brought together 37 learners and volunteers. S&P Global’s executives joined from New York, Virginia, Texas and even India to share details about their different pathways into tech, insights about what helped them to grow professionally and advice about what skills are most in-demand in today’s workforce.

During Cybersecurity Awareness Month, KKR, a leading global investment firm, hosted Per Scholas New York Cybersecurity alumni in their office to learn more about the Cybersecurity field. KKR’s Info Security team provided an overview of how a security team is typically organized in a company, the types of roles on their team, and what skills are important to drive success in this field. Followed by small group discussions for an “ask-me-anything session,” Per Scholars alumni walked away with valuable industry knowledge. We are extremely grateful that KKR organized and hosted such a meaningful and tangible session for our alumni. 

Additionally, our partners CD&R shared their industry insights with “ask me anything” sessions, mock interviews, and resume reviews. They also gave learners a tour of their company and the tech department to showcase the types of companies they work with and the technical work done. Such involvement with our partners empowers Per Scholas learners and alumni throughout training and beyond to enter the workforce prepared with industry knowledge and connections.

We welcome corporate partners of any size to engage with our learners, support their training and professional development, and help them succeed in launching careers in tech. If you’re interested in volunteering, contact [email protected].

On December 14th, Per Scholas partner Salesforce held the New York City stop of their World Tour event. This traveling event brings together Salesforce users, partners, customers, and surrounding communities for a day of learning and discussion, and this year’s event delved into the latests in AI solutions, and its ability to drive productivity and customer satisfaction. Experts from a variety of fields weighed in on the next “Big AIdeas for Good.”

Per Scholas President and CEO, Plinio Ayala was interviewed at the event, and described how Per Scholas has partnered with Salesforce to create Per Scholas Resume Boost, powered by @Salesforce AI. This tool generates a customized resume draft based on a learner’s information and course grade, which is refined with the help of Per Scholas career coaches, expediting the resume-creation process from around 6 hours to just 30 minutes. Beyond technical training a portion of all Per Scholas courses are dedicated to professional development, and this powerful AI tool will greatly support  Per Scholas staff, allowing them to devote time to other areas and provide training to a greater number learners. This advancement will help move our organization towards our goal of graduating 10,000 learners per year.

Click to learn more about the event and watch Plinio speak!

A recent CIO Dive article highlights Per Scholas and TEKsystems’ years-long partnership as the answer to businesses’ IT talent needs. By turning to nontraditional talent pipelines powered by public-private partnerships, businesses can find diverse talent on the cutting edge that will both shape long-term business growth and diversity in the tech industry. Already through this partnership, 1,000+ Per Scholas graduates have been placed in full-time positions with TEKsystems clients.

Read more about our partnership with TEKsystems and how we are building a diverse tech talent pipeline together here.

Per Scholas CEO Plinio Ayala was recently featured in the New York Times article profiling OneTen’s equity-for-all diversity initiatives. Plinio shared his agreement for eliminating degree-based job requirements and how skills-based hiring and promotion can benefit all workers.

More than 60 percent of all American workers do not have four-year college degrees, so converting to a skills-based hiring system can be valuable to all companies looking for talent.

Read the rest of the article here!

Amazon Business hosted a case study on Per Scholas’s procurement process and featured our story on their website. Per Scholas Director of Procurement Lawrence Chang reflects on how Amazon Business has helped our processes and provided solutions to some of our challenges.

“Amazon [Business] brought us a lot more structure and a lot more control over how we were purchasing,” said Chang.

Read the full feature with Amazon Business here.

Per Scholas was excited and honored to welcome Daniel West, Vice President of Social Impact at BlackRock as the keynote speaker at our last Per Scholas New York graduation of 2023. The ceremony celebrated 33 graduates of a Cybersecurity cohort co-hosted with our satellite partner, Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation. 

BlackRock has partnered with Per Scholas since 2018 to create paths to financial security by providing individuals often excluded from tech careers with skills training and access to high-growth opportunities in the tech sector. This partnership has been pivotal in many Per Scholas initiatives, including our scale to remote training during the Covid pandemic, building and expanding our training capacity and options, the launch of our newest campus in Houston, and more.

In his commencement address, Mr. West celebrated the incredible achievements, determination, hard work, and limitless future potential of each graduate, as well as the foundation that had been set within each of them for a lifetime of continuous learning. 

“This is a momentous occasion, not just for each of you individually, but for the communities you come from, and for the transformative power of education in the pursuit of a brighter future,” West said. “Your unique perspectives, informed by the tapestry of your individual stories, will contribute to innovative solutions, and foster more inclusive workplaces…You have the potential to shape the future, not only for yourselves but for those who will follow in your footsteps. Armed with your education and the foundation laid at Per Scholas, I have no doubt that each of you will indeed change the world.”

Per Scholas was featured in an article published with Fast Company, in which Lisa Gevelber, founder of Google’s certificates program, discussed the ways in which skills-based training can open up opportunities. 

For years, many tech industry leaders have complained about their inability to find workers with the skills they need. Google’s certificate program has been an excellent solution, offering prospective technologists a rapid, low-cost way to gain the specific skills needed to take on roles within the tech industry. 

Google’s career certificate program has now been integrated into the teaching at a number of colleges and school systems, as well as into community-based nonprofits, including Per Scholas, who do cohort based programs and provide coaching along the way for learners earning certificates. Per Scholas has partnered with Google since 2012, and we offer Google IT Support Professional Certificates earn-able through our IT Support training program, which are also available for Per Scholas alumni for up to three years post-graduation.

Read the full article here!

We are excited to announce that Per Scholas Greater Boston has been selected as the recipient of a $1 million grant from the Commonwealth Corporation of Massachusetts! Commonwealth Corporation is a community-based organization that works to promote workforce equity in Massachusetts by “delivering innovative and collaborative professional development solutions that help diverse communities and employers succeed.” Like Per Scholas, Commonwealth Corporation believes that opportunity for meaningful employment can lead to upward mobility for all.

In early November, the Healey-Driscoll Administration of Massachusetts announced nearly $6.4 million in Senator Kenneth J. Donnelly Workforce Success Grants to seven organizations statewide. The grants were funded through the Workforce Competitiveness Trust Fund (WCTF) and distributed by the Commonwealth Corporation, and the aim is to increase access to well-paying jobs for Massachusetts residents facing employment barriers, scale effective career pathway programs, and enhance worker skill and productivity. 

Per Scholas was one of 7 Massachusetts-based initiatives selected for their work in “developing and implementing employer-responsive programs to place participants into unsubsidized employment in targeted occupations and create opportunities for underemployed and unemployed individuals to access high-quality, in-demand training programs.”

The grants were presented at Open Sky Community Services, Inc., another grant recipient, in an event that was attended by Per Scholas’ Site Director Tyrone Ramnath and Director of Business Solutions Bernadette Deleon-Rees. The funding will be instrumental in helping Per Scholas expand its reach in the Greater Boston area, covering the resources needed to train even more learners in the coming year.

Read more about the grant awarded here!

Earlier in November, Per Scholas received a $1 million grant from JPMorgan Chase to help expand apprenticeship opportunities for learners and scale programs for in-demand occupations ahead of National Apprenticeship Week.

We are one of four organizations to receive the philanthropic commitment totaling $3.5 million, and as a recipient, Per Scholas participated in a virtual panel discussion, “The Opportunity to Expand Apprenticeships – A Field + Funder Conversation,” on Thursday, November 16.

Per Scholas Chief of Staff Tamara Johnson joined Workforce Matters, JPMorgan Chase, Apprenticeships for America, and partners from Apprenti and New America for the event. The panelists discussed the policies and systems important to supporting the learn and earn ecosystem; promising practices that advance equitable access to and outcomes from apprenticeship programs; and how funder investments might help further expand apprenticeship opportunities.

Per Scholas Receives Donation from Amazon as Part of TNF For Good, in Partnership with NFL Inspire Change

Per Scholas New York’s Brooklyn Campus Receives Support for Local Technologists from Amazon and NFL Inspire Change

BROOKLYN, New York (November 27, 2023) –  Per Scholas New York’s Brooklyn campus was visited last week by representatives from our partners at NFL Inspire Change and Amazon. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, former Jets player and NFL Hall of Famer Curtis Martin, Head of Global Sports on Prime Video, Jay Marine, Thursday Night Football Host Taylor Rooks, and Amazon volunteers were in attendance and participated in a panel discussion with Per Scholas President and CEO Plinio Ayala, Per Scholas Chief Revenue Officer Caitlyn Brazill, Per Scholas New York Managing Director Debbie Roman, and 11 Per Scholas New York learners.

During the panel, attendees discussed Per Scholas, Amazon, and the NFL’s unified recognition that talent is found in every community, but opportunity is not. Per Scholas’ mission is to provide access to that opportunity, opening on-ramps for individuals to break into the tech world, unlocking their potential, and ultimately building more sustainable and diverse tech talent pipelines.

Per Scholas is thrilled to announce we received a $100,000 grant from Amazon, which will allow us to continue offering our no-cost training to learners across the country, unlocking their potential and equipping them to launch high-growth careers in tech. This grant will also help support our Brooklyn campus, which sustained damage from a recent hurricane. “We’re grateful for Amazon and the NFL’s continued support in changing the face of tech,” Plinio said. “With their commitment, we’re able to continue providing no-cost tech training to future technologists, unlocking their potential, and advancing economic equity in communities across the country.”

Learners in attendance were thrilled to meet our esteemed guests and provided a brief demonstration of some of the IT skills they have mastered so far in the course. They all received NFL Inspire Change footballs, Microsoft Surface tablets, and tickets to the Black Friday New York Jets vs. Miami Dolphins game. This visit was part of the final feature of the TNF For Good program shown during the Black Friday football game. 

About Per Scholas
For more than 25 years, Per Scholas has been advancing equity and increasing opportunity across America. Per Scholas unlocks potential for individuals, communities, and employers through rigorous training for careers in tech. Partnering with dynamic employer partners, from Fortune 500 companies to innovative startups, we are building sustainable and diverse talent pipelines, together changing the face of tech. With national remote training and campuses in 20+ cities and growing, Per Scholas offers tuition-free training in the most in-demand tech skills, including Cloud, Cybersecurity, Data Engineering, IT Support, Software Engineering, and more.

To date, more than 20,000 individuals have gained the skills to launch high-growth tech careers, earning three times their pre-training wage. Diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging is in our DNA: 85 percent of Per Scholas learners are people of color, two in five are women, and more than half have a high school diploma as their highest education credential. Visit PerScholas.org and follow us on LinkedIn, X/Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

About Amazon

Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Amazon strives to be Earth’s Most Customer-Centric Company, Earth’s Best Employer, and Earth’s Safest Place to Work. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Career Choice, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, Alexa, Just Walk Out technology, Amazon Studios, and The Climate Pledge are some of the things pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit amazon.com/about and follow @AmazonNews.

About the NFL

Inspire Change is a year-round initiative that highlights the impactful social justice work done by NFL players, clubs, the league office, and grant partners to break down barriers to opportunity and end systemic racism. Since 2017, the NFL Family has provided $300 million to more than 40 national grant partners and more than 600 grassroots organizations to advance social justice causes in the areas of education, economic advancement, police-community relations, and criminal justice reform. To date, the NFL Foundation has provided more than 1,800 Inspire Change matching grants to current NFL players and Legends for nonprofits of their choice to help reduce barriers to opportunity. To learn more about the NFL’s Inspire Change initiative and to view the 2023 Social Justice Impact Report, visit www.nfl.com/inspirechange. Follow @InspireChange on Twitter and Instagram. On Facebook, follow www.facebook.com/inspirechange.

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