Per Scholas is thrilled to announce that we are the recipients of an extended grant from the NFL’s Inspire Change initiative! The grant will cover the next two years in the amount of $500,000. We are one of 21 partners to receive renewed funding from the NFL.

With the grant, Per Scholas will enroll over 6,000 people of color into immersive, cohort-based, tuition-free tech training courses over the next two years. Graduates are equipped with technical and professional skills that prepare them to succeed in high-growth technology careers. Per Scholas connects its graduates to robust employer networks, providing all graduates with access to employment opportunities ranging from Fortune 500 companies to innovative start-ups. Per Scholas continues to be committed to advancing economic mobility and DEI&B across our communities.

View the full press release from the NFL here. 

Per Scholas was recently recognized in the NYCHA Journal for its work in helping NYCHA residents launch successful careers in the tech field. Tech51 has partnered with NYCHA’s Office of Resident Economic Empowerment and Sustainability (REES) since 2017 to support residents who are interested in tech careers but have been unable to access training and job placement support.

Tech51 places interested NYCHA residents with either Per Scholas or Pursuit, another workforce training organization. Nearly 270 NYCHA residents have now completed the Tech51 training, with the majority of graduates getting placed in IT-related jobs.

“Tech51 is an excellent entry point for NYCHA residents seeking info on various tech pathways,” said Josephine Melendez, Assistant Director for Adult Education and Training at REES. “This initiative gives both entry-level applicants, as well as those seeking to switch careers, the opportunity to hear firsthand from viable tech training partners. NYCHA REES has been at the forefront of this collaborative effort and looks forward to engaging more residents to consider this expanding industry.”

This article also features Per Scholas graduates Matthew Cespedes and Sam M’Backe, who have both been able to launch successful IT careers after completion of Per Scholas training.

Read the full article featuring Per Scholas here.

Per Scholas President and CEO Plinio Ayala has been named to the Aspen Institute Latinos and Society Program’s Task Force. This task force was formed to address Latino Digital Success across the country.  Plinio Ayala is sitting on the task force with key leaders from our Champion Partners, Google and JPMorgan Chase. One Co-chair includes Hector Mujica, Head of Economic Opportunity for the Americas at Google.org, and fellow task force member Parag Mehta, Managing Director & President at JPMorgan Chase.

In June, the task force will host a roundtable discussion on principles for Digital Success and strategies to inspire action by companies, workforce organizations, and elected officials to better support the Latino community.

The Aspen Institute is a global nonprofit organization committed to realizing a free, just, and equitable society. To learn more about the digital success initiative with the task force, read the full press release here.

Per Scholas St. Louis is offering cost-free tech training to the St. Louis community in response to the many open tech jobs in the city.  This campus launched at the beginning of April with the first Cybersecurity cohort to begin in June.  Flyover Future featured an interview with Per Scholas St. Louis Managing Director Dr. Charlie Mackey, Jr., and Vice President of Communications Sara Luciano to learn more about Per Scholas.

On our expansion to St. Louis, Dr. Mackey mentioned, “One of the things we looked at was CompTIA’s April jobs report. St. Louis ranked seventh in the nation for the most new tech job postings. And after talking with some local employers and partners, cybersecurity seemed to be on the forefront. So that helped the decision to make our first cohort there around cybersecurity. Also, the alignment made sense because the Global Center for Cybersecurity is also located at Cortex Innovation Community.”

To learn more about our expansion to St. Louis and read the full feature, click here.

Per Scholas St. Louis was featured in St. Louis Public Radio for our partnership with Cortex Innovation Community. With this partnership, we will offer a free, 15-week cybersecurity training for people of color and women interested in tech careers.

Dr. Charlie Mackey Jr. is the Managing Director of Per Scholas and hopes to bring more underrepresented individuals to the tech industry through this partnership and training. “Historically, underrepresented people aren’t working in the tech fields, because they’re like, ‘Well, I have to go to the West Coast, or it’s not available here,’” Mackey said. “By coming here, we can not only help bridge that gap, but also reframe it to where you can get that technology training right here, and then find a job here.”

With our expansion to St. Louis, we are able to offer our tuition-free, rigorous technical training as the latest addition to Cortex. Per Scholas has advanced economic equity for more than 25 years by offering evidence-based, tuition-free technology training and connecting Per Scholas graduates to high-growth careers in technology. Aligned with its commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, 85 percent of Per Scholas learners are people of color, and more than a third identify as women. Graduates are hired into tech roles by more than 650 employer partners nationwide, ranging from Fortune 500 to innovative startups.

Check out the full feature on the St. Louis NPR site here.

The Columbus Dispatch featured Per Scholas in an article featuring our Tech Women of Color workforce initiative.  This initiative is supported by a $4.5 million grant that was unanimously approved by the Franklin County Board of Commissioners on International Women’s Day. The free, 15-week course will kick off in July and aims to train 200 women of color in cohorts over the next two years.

“We are grateful to the Franklin County Board of Commissioners for providing us the opportunity to be of service to our community, and to our local partners who will come alongside us as we seek to make a transformative impact in this county,” stated Jenn Fowler Howard, Senior Director of the Tech Women of Color Alliance. “We recognize that this project will not only change the lives of the women who participate but will also build stronger families, communities, and businesses for years to come.”

This workforce initiative is part of Per Scholas’s ongoing goal to promote the presence of women in tech.

Read the full article from The Columbus Dispatch here!

Per Scholas St. Louis has officially launched, expanding our tech training offering to our 18th city as part of Cortex Innovation Community. Our partnership is part of a strategic plan to bring more tech companies and jobs to the St. Louis community. We will begin by offering Cybersecurity training, scheduled to start in June 2022.

Read more in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch here!

As it has been reported that there are more than 48,000 vacant tech jobs in North Carolina, Per Scholas North Carolina has partnered with NC Tech Paths and Wilkes Community College for one of the largest rural tech training initiatives in the country. This initiative is geared towards bringing tech training to the state’s rural communities in order to both increase the state’s tech talent pool and bring new tech jobs to rural areas.

With training first in Software Engineering and eventually IT Support, Per Scholas is set to train more than 2,500 learners over the next three years. The inaugural training in partnership with Wilkes Community College and NC Tech Paths will graduate in mid-May.

Read the full article on Per Scholas North Carolina’s partnership here. 

Per Scholas was identified as a workforce training program that delivers in New York by Arnold Ventures, a philanthropy dedicated to tackling some of the most pressing problems in the United States.  Following research done by MDRC over seven years, Arnold Ventures noted that Per Scholas continues to show that those who were participating substantially out-earned their peers who were not – by 14 to 20% over the course of the study.

Amanda Moderson-Kox, Director of Evidence-Based Policy at Arnold Ventures, said, “Americans in every state deserve access to a proven-effective program like Per Scholas, which delivers results and enables workers to access jobs with a path to the middle class.”

Per Scholas New York Managing Director Abe Mendez noted that such success can be scaled throughout the country as well, saying, “We have the model here in place. It works. We know it can scale.” It is with such results as shown in MDRC’s research that Per Scholas has been able to expand to 17 locations through 2021, with plans to add three more in 2022.

As a workforce training program that delivers results and connects our learners to thriving careers in the tech industry, Per Scholas is able to prepare our graduates for great opportunities.

Read the full article featuring Per Scholas here.