Building on a partnership that started in New York, Per Scholas and global technology education company, General Assembly, celebrated the inaugural graduation of students from the Atlanta expansion of the CodeBridge Program. Graduates were joined by Stephanie Hardy, Regional Director, External and Legislative Affairs, AT&T, Reggie Marable, VP Enterprise Corporate Sales, Salesforce, Cinda Herndon-King, Executive Director, Atlanta CareerRise as well as Atlanta Councilman Andre Dickens. 

CodeBridge is a 17-week web development training course that begins with five weeks of learning at Per Scholas, where students are prepared with the necessary skills to then move on to General Assembly’s twelve-week full stack web development course.

Both Per Scholas and General Assembly are committed to offering tech training to students from overlooked communities, and this program would not be possible without the generous support of Per Scholas Partners like Champion Partner AT&T,  Signature Partner Salesforce.org, and Atlanta CareerRise. 

The course allows Per Scholas and General Assembly to serve 60 additional Atlantans every year at no cost, and significantly adds to Atlanta’s pipeline of diverse coding talent.

Valedictorian Nestor Mendoza is a testament to the impact of this program. Nestor first came to America from Venezuela in 2016. Driven by his curiosity and desire to learn new skills, he decided to  learn how to code and joined General Assembly’s Front End Development course.

This part-time course allowed Nestor to keep working full-time as a server and manager in a local Venezuelan restaurant. After completing that course, he had the tools to start freelancing as a Front End Developer in his free time.

Nestor’s experience at General Assembly opened up the world of IT and coding for him. However, he understood that in order to succeed in this environment, he had to constantly keep learning and practicing.

Almost one year after completing the Front End Development course, he found Per Scholas and enrolled in CodeBridge.

“Codebridge is a very challenging and rewarding program,” says Nestor. “You have to dedicate yourself 100% in order to succeed. But very soon you start noticing the improvements, and it’s amazing how much I know now compare to when I started.”

After graduation Nestor wants to work as a software developer, ideally in an environment that allows him to keep learning and improving, while challenging him to become a better developer.

On July 27th, Per Scholas, in partnership with Year Up, celebrated the graduation of the first Cyber Ops training in the National Capital Region supported by Per Scholas’ Champion Partner, Capital One. The Cyber Ops training graduated 22 students who have all been placed in internships and will continue their hands on learning opportunities, eventually targeting full-time technology roles. A keynote address was offered by Michael Johnson, Chief Information Security Officer, Capital One, who spoke to the value of partnership, and investment in the future of tech talent for the region. Per Scholas Alumni, Renique King, currently working on the Cyber Audit & Exam Liaison Team at Capital One shared her experience with graduates, friends, and families. Renique’s message echoed many of the core values embraced by both Per Scholas and Year Up, and she emphasized that the work is not over, but perseverance and networking pays off.

Per Scholas and Year Up, two national workforce nonprofits, are both committed to building skills and careers for untapped talent in the U.S. Both organizations have demonstrated successful models for providing market-based skills training to overlooked talent pools while solving the workforce needs of corporate partners. Per Scholas and Year Up launched a new partnership this year in the National Capital Region that offers advanced technology courses to budding young professionals.

Through coordinated recruitment, students are brought to Per Scholas for a condensed ten-week Cyber Ops training at Per Scholas’ new state of the art eSOC (Education Security Operations Center) funded by Capital One. After completion of the course, Year Up leverages employer connections to place students in a full-time six-month internship with supplementary career coaching and professional development. After completing the internship, Per Scholas and Year Up work together through business solutions team members to find successful graduates in full-time roles in the cybersecurity industry.

The Cyber Ops track allows students the opportunity to have hands on experience with addressing and data delivery, cryptography, ethical hacking, and python programming. The course also includes professional development training that prepares them for a rigorous interview process. Students earn an industry standard Cisco CCNA Cyber Operations Certification, widely recognized by hiring partners in the industry.

Congratulations to the first 22 graduates in their new internships! Per Scholas and Year Up are currently recruiting for the next Cyber Ops cycle with support of Champion Partner, Capital One.

Once you’ve finished your training and earned your certifications, you’re qualified for a great career, but you’ve still got to put your best foot forward to impress employers. Fortunately, Per Scholas has a team of amazing Career Advancement professionals with years of experience and knowledge to share with Per Scholas students and graduates.

Prior to working at Per Scholas, Diahan Collins worked for JPMorgan as a Team Leader in the Operations Customer Service Department for eight years. She also worked for Young Adult Institute (YAI) as an Employment Training Specialist and Family Service Specialist for over three years, and for FedCap Rehabilitation Services as Job Preparation and Placement Coordinator for a year. Now she helps prepare Per Scholas students for the job market as a Career Advancement Manager in Brooklyn. We asked her to share the most important advice for Per Scholas graduates to remember as they set out to land their next position. Here’s what she said: 

1) Make sure your resume is tailored to the position that you are applying for. Review the job description and key requirements carefully.

2) Make sure you are networking more than you are applying for jobs online. That is, interface with potential individuals who can lead you to an opportunity. Don’t forget about the folks who are already employed in your field. They can be a great help in your job search!

3) Don’t forget about the company that you desire to work for. Go directly to their website and apply.

4) When utilizing LinkedIn, make sure your profile is free of typos and your presentation is professional.

5) Effective tracking tools will help you organize your job search. Keep notes of the companies you have applied for, agencies you have registered with, number of interviews, references, and professional networks.

6) Your Career Coach and the Business Solutions Team are here to assist in your job search.

7) Don’t give up! The more No’s you get will bring you closer to your Yes.

Per Scholas is known across the country for its reputable workforce development model. Technical training, career advancement, and supplying a diverse workforce for the tech sector have become synonymous with the national nonprofit. But nearly two decades ago, Per Scholas was better known for its IT asset reconditioning.

In 1995, Per Scholas got its start by collecting used computers and recycling them to give to families and schools. There was even a retail store operated out of the Bronx, NY office which sold and repaired discounted tech equipment. As Per Scholas’ mission shifted from refurbishing computers to opening doors to technology careers, its asset recovery efforts changed too.

“We’ve consistently adjusted and improved our process for the better, in response to numerous industry requirements and specific client needs,” says ZuQuan Rooks, Director of Social Ventures.

Today, Per Scholas partners with a handful of vetted and highly-qualified recyclers to outsource its IT asset recovery services. The e-Steward, R2 and ISO-certified recycler Liquid Technology, has become a Champion Partner of the organization. Six years ago, Liquid Technology began hiring Per Scholas graduates and donating computer hardware, which led to a positive and mutually-beneficial relationship.

“Liquid Technology is highly pivotal in delivering this important business solution to many of our client-partners,” Rooks says. “Any revenue generated from valuable retired hardware goes toward our important social mission. We proudly share with our partners the specific impact of their material support and use of our asset recovery services.”

Brenda Rodriguez, Manager of Social Ventures, handles communications with clients, coordinates logistics, and manages Per Scholas’ relationship with recycling partners, such as Liquid Technology. “We’ve had to become more selective about which donations we are able to accept,” Brenda says about all the donation offers she gets on a daily basis. She adds, “Although any donation offers are appreciated, not all are beneficial to our mission.” We are careful to ensure that the related costs inherent with their collection do not outweigh the value and volume of the donated equipment.”

On behalf of Per Scholas, Liquid Technology audits, tests and re-markets any hardware that has residual value, and recycles all obsolete hardware in an environmentally-responsible manner. When it comes to the recycling of retired tech equipment, Eric DeRosa, Director of Sales, Liquid Technology, rhetorically adds, “Since responsible e-waste management is a bonafide business solution which companies are legally required to do anyway, why not make sure it’s performed in a compliant manner and supports a good cause?”

Since industry standards and requirements for legal compliance have grown tremendously, Per Scholas urges companies to put their hardware in highly-qualified hands. Fox Sports, Mastercard International, Ford Foundation, IRS, Montefiore Medical Systems, Queens Library System and Amazon.com, among others, have trusted Per Scholas with the handling of their retired IT assets.

Last year Liquid Technology, among others, helped Per Scholas recycle 139,490 pounds of equipment. That’s 732,581 total pounds of carbon emissions that were prevented from entering Earth’s atmosphere. That’s equivalent to 1,061,712 plastic bottles!

Although Per Scholas administrates its asset recovery business out of its New York office, the Social Ventures team works with and constantly seeks national and global clientele. If your company would like Per Scholas to collect and process its retired tech equipment to directly benefit motivated, yet under-served technology students, please email ZuQuan Rooks at zrooks@perscholas.org for more information.

The International Association of Workforce Professionals held its 105th conference this past June to discuss the latest trends and information relative to workforce professionals. Currently, the United States is trying out for solutions to its growing jobs crisis. Many adults—particularly individuals with no more than a high school education—struggle to obtain and maintain jobs that pay enough to support their families and permit upward mobility. At the same time, some employers report difficulty finding employees with the right skills to meet their needs.

Per Scholas had the opportunity to screen“Solutions to America’s Workforce Crisis,” produced and directed by the What Works Media Project. Through the stories and experiences of students, program leadership, employees, and employers, the audience was  brought to a shared understanding of what makes training models like Per Scholas successful as well as the potential for positive impact made possible by investing in working models.

Following the film, Jason Skidmore, Per Scholas Advisory Board Member and CEO of Vernovis, led and moderated panel discussion on employer-facing job training, the value of cross-sector collaboration, and using evidence to drive innovation. Panelists included Lauren Moore, Software Quality Analyst, Thrive Impact Sourcing; Leslie Courtney, Senior Director, Kroger; Jordan Vogel, Vice President, Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce; and Paul Cashen, Managing Director, Per Scholas.

The panel discussed a myriad of topics, including the value that Per Scholas training provides to its students, the importance of providing a diverse workforce and the value hiring and community partners.

The panel also highlighted the commitment companies like Kroger and institutions like the Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce have pledged to developing the Cincinnati Community.

We’d like to thank all of the panelist and attendees of the panel, and look forward to being a staple in the workforce development community of Cincinnati.

Over one hundred community members, nonprofit and business leaders, and Per Scholas students and alumni celebrated Per Scholas Dallas’ grand opening on June 28th. The brand new facility in downtown Dallas will allow Per Scholas to train hundreds of students a year and grow a diverse, overlooked talent pipeline for area employers.

Community leaders, Ty Bledsoe, Vice President of External Affairs, AT&T and Scott Seeliger, Local and State Corporate and Government Affairs Lead from Cognizant spoke to the strengths and opportunities for partnership. In addition, Per Scholas graduate, Tara Fuller, let the crowd know that progress is a process; her story of self-determination and training at Per Scholas provided a launch-pad that will support her growing career, and ultimately her family.

“I was so inspired by Per Scholas, it has impacted my life so much. It even impacted me emotionally, because when you go through a storm, and all of our storms are different, the impact is the same. You start to feel less than. You start to feel like you’re not worth anything. You start to see life from the darker side.” 

“I think Per Scholas shed a light on my life emotionally, spiritually, and mentally, so much so that I re-enrolled in school for IT. I currently have an associates degree in IT, and I’m continuing to pursue my bachelors in computer science. Per Scholas has played a key role in where I currently am. I’m thankful that my salary has surpassed where I was before. I was able to buy a house and pay off some debt. We’re still a work in progress, but my family has definitely felt the impact of Per Scholas.”      

Thank you to our local and national partners in Dallas and our local advisory board members who have paved the way for informed curriculum, local hiring networks, and relationships that allow our graduates to thrive in the industry.

Per Scholas was honored to have two of our Platform by Per Scholas cohorts graduate in New York and Dallas during the month of May. In addition to 21 graduates in our New York Data Engineering class, we had 10 graduates obtain jobs upon graduation, three of which were hired by Platform as instructors and teaching assistants, and seven of which have been hired by firms like Learnvest and Infosys.

Dallas’ inaugural Platform cohort was a great success with 86% of enrolled students graduating, and 50% of those graduates being woman that are ready to start a career in technology. Not to be out done by New York, Dallas also had 4 students hired immediately after graduation. Thank you to our partners Cognizant, MAKE Corporation, Southwest Airlines, and Aspire Business Solutions for seeing the value that determined Per Scholas graduates can bring to their organizations.

A perfect example of a determined Per Scholas Graduate is Greg Finnell. Greg is the person in the family that can fix anything. “I am kind of like a jack of all trades,” he says. “If a computer was broken, or a router was not working — I was the guy my family would call on to fix it.”

Born and raised in Texas, Greg moved to Houston to pursue a degree in Business Management. Greg says he understood that a degree would provide him flexibility, but he had trouble sitting through classes, and with the increasing cost of education he decided to leave after earning his Associate’s Degree.

Greg spent a period of time working in a low wage customer service job. After hearing comments that “without a four year degree, it would be hard to find more advanced positions.” Greg realized that “I didn’t want to be working next to a fifteen year-old kid who would be making the same wages as me, and that’s when I started looking into certifications. I knew that technical jobs paid more than customer service.”

Like many students, Greg thought that Per Scholas was fake: “I thought it was a lie – but then I thought – if it is true then it can’t hurt.” Greg enrolled in Per Scholas’ entry level IT Support course and earned himself an A+ Certification. After 10 weeks of training he was immediately hired as a Help Desk Support for a technology consulting firm and doubled his yearly income. Greg says, “after I got my A+ certification, it opened up the door for me it, it was life changing and put a fire under me and made me start studying and working even harder.”

Greg continued to work nighttime Monday through Thursday from 8pm-7am, and took another job on the weekends at the baggage claim with American Airlines on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. On his own time he studied for additional certifications, earning three in January and February, and eventually earning his Net+ certification in March.

During that period, Per Scholas reached out to alumni about a new training opportunity with Platform by Per Scholas, a customized training track teaching an Application Support Management course in Dallas. This was a perfect upskilling opportunity for Greg, and offered customer solutions training, project management skills and advanced coding knowledge, all skills he needed in order to advance in the industry. He enrolled in the course, and continued to work nights and weekends. “It was a challenging time, and I did not have much sleep, but I was going to succeed. My dream is to make six figures in my lifetime to support myself, my partner and my family.”

Platform by Per Scholas upskills individuals with previous backgrounds in technology. Greg was able to leverage his IT Support course and working experience at Cognizant to begin learning new skills including several coding languages. “Platform was teaching new information that opened the door for my career. Companies in Dallas are trying to re-train their current employees on new languages and technologies that Platform is already teaching. All of these companies are moving towards ITIL languages, skills I had already learned at Platform.”

Before graduation, Greg was contacted by a hiring team from Southwest Airlines. Within a week he was hired as a Senior Service Desk Technician at $28/hr, nearly three times the salary he was earning before he found Per Scholas. “They found my resume online, noticed that I was going for multiple certifications, that I was a hard worker and that I wanted to continue to learn, and they hired me just like that.”

When asked about the future Greg says “I really like the technical side of these jobs. It gives me a lot of energy and I want to continue to grow. I have a love for travel and like seeing new places. I’ve got some great trips planned for myself and my partner– Paris, Rome and London are on the list!”

On May 17th, Per Scholas was welcomed to the main stage of the Propelify Innovation Festival with partners from Google, Barclays and Prudential Financial to discuss the ways companies can be driving forces behind alternative talent solutions in the tri-state technology community. This was the festival’s second year showcasing innovative products and solutions in the region. Aaron Price, Propelify founder and CEO commented, “If you’re in the innovation community in the northeast you belong here… What is an airplane without forward motion and lift? Just an idea.”

 The session’s host, Carley Graham Gracia, Head of External Affairs at Google, moderated a lively discussion titled “Propelling Innovation: Changing the Face of Tech.” Carley orchestrated an engaged conversation that focused on cross-sector partnerships that have proven impact to build a diverse and successful workforce. The panel included: Sameer Jain, Chief Technology Officer, Barclays; Mekaelia Davis, Director, Corporate Giving, Prudential; Kelly Richardson, Managing Director, Per Scholas; Anthony Pegues, Software Engineer, MM.LaFleur and Per Scholas alum.

 The panel elevated Per Scholas as a proven workforce training model that puts employers at the center of the equation to develop diverse tech talent. Partnering with leaders in finance, technology, telecommunications and beyond, Per Scholas builds industry recognized curricula, tailored to meet specific employer talent demands. The panel followed New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy who spoke to a crowd of over two hundred on the priorities his office has placed on supporting the state’s entrepreneurs and business community as a means to drive innovation and strengthen economic growth opportunities for residents.

 Sameer Jain, representing Per Scholas Champion Partner Barclays, commented that the bank puts heavy priority on teams that look different, think different and therefore develop strong and resilient solutions to the problems of the day. Barclays has enabled Per Scholas to extend training to multiple boroughs and develop a new cybersecurity training track, while bringing in hundreds of volunteers. In addition, the bank has hired over forty Per Scholas graduates, staffing their offices with talent prepared to enter the workforce. Sameer elaborated on Barclays’ continued commitment to Per Scholas that will include resources and thought leadership to help Per Scholas scale impact across the region and serve even more students in 2019.

 Mekaelia Davis, representing Prudential, spoke to the crowd about the strength of the Newark, NJ business and workforce community. “[Newark] is really prime and right for innovation,” Mekaelia said. “We are proud of partners who are building a tech ecosystem. This includes Girls Who Code who is going into their fourth year in the city of Newark, Newark Venture Partners who are incubating tech companies in the city and Apple who has engineers working with our public schools  to design better math curriculum, all so we can build a stronger pipeline of engineers in the city.”

 Kelly Richardson, Managing Director for Per Scholas discussed the value that Per Scholas presents to employers as an alternate talent resource. “What we are starting to see is major employers, Fortune 500s, tech startups, folks here in the audience today, coming to us to say ‘we really care about diversity in our tech workforce and you can help us design a solution to get there’” commented Kelly. “Our vision at Per Scholas is that we can walk into any tech employer in any city in the country and see a workforce that is as diverse and beautiful as the students of Per Scholas.”

 One of those graduates, Per Scholas alum Anthony Pegues closed out the panel with a strong message for employers in the audience. After taking a look at his watch Anthony commented “about a year ago at this time, I would be mopping the floor of a high school auditorium. Now I am sitting on stage talking about my skills and training and heading back to my office to put in work as a developer with MM.LaFleur in downtown Manhattan. What people need is an opportunity, and Per Scholas is able to provide that chance.”