Regional Roundups – March 2024

It has been a busy season at NPower, view all the exciting engagements and activity happening across the country.

NPower California

As we closed out February, we filmed a very special video with the Sharks Foundation thanking them for their $100,000 contribution!

See it here

NPower New York

A Night at the Apollo 

It was showtime at the Apollo last month as we celebrated the Fall 2023 Tech Fundamentals graduates. Supported by long-standing NPower partner, ServiceNow, the celebration was the first in-person ceremony for New York graduates since 2019. And included uplifting speeches and performances from Fall 2023 graduates and an NPower graduate class of 2015 along with a captivating conversation with Bill McDermott, Chairman and CEO of ServiceNow, and Karen Pavlin, Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer of ServiceNow.

Empowering Professional Development

NPower New York hosted their first in-person professional development series of the cohort with Ramon Ray, highly acclaimed motivational speaker. The dynamic session on personal branding set the right tone to kick off the new class with students and staff engaged and energized.

“Today was very motivational and exciting! It made me very grateful for this opportunity to be a part of NPower!”
– NPower New York Spring 2024 Student

NPower Maryland

This month, NPower Maryland has forged a partnership with Enoch Pratt Library for yet another Chromebook distribution event. The event was marked by the exceptional technical support provided by our alumni and trainee volunteers to community members.

NPower Michigan

Rooted in Community

The NPower Michigan team in action at Wayne Metropolitan Community Action Agency’s recent Bridge to Tech graduation to celebrate, support and share NPower as a resource for tech upskilling.

Spring into Tech

The Spring 2024 cohort of future tech professionals were fully engaged and diving deep into recent in-person labs filled with hands-on and interactive experiences.

NPower Texas

NPower Texas is honored to be recognized by Texas Workforce Solutions, Texas Workforce Commission, and Texas Veterans Commission for our dedication to hiring veterans, with a significant portion of our staff being veterans.

Here at NPower, inclusivity is not merely a concept—it’s ingrained in our culture. We actively seek out veterans, their spouses, and individuals from diverse backgrounds because we understand the importance of representation. Congratulations to the other organizations receiving awards. Let’s keep striving to make a positive impact!

Krystel Smith
NPower Texas – Dallas Tech Fundamentals Fall 2022
U.S. Air Force Veteran

A mother, Air Force veteran, and now a successful tech professional, Krystel’s journey through NPower’s Dallas program is inspiring the apprenticeship community. Overcoming challenges, she found hope and secured a position with Citi’s Enterprise, Infrastructure, Operations, and Technology team. Featured on the U.S. Department of Labor’s “Apprenticeship USA” site, her story highlights the transformative power of apprenticeships. Let Krystel’s success inspire you to seize opportunities and transform lives with the registered apprenticeship model. Join us in making a difference and engage with the next generation of tech professionals before they’re in high demand.

Read her journey

NPower North Carolina

Congratulations to the graduates of NPower North Carolina! This month, we celebrated their remarkable achievements, showcasing their talent, ambition, and unwavering determination throughout the program.

Highlights included inspiring keynote addresses from Calvin J. Crosslin, Lenovo’s Chief Diversity Officer, and Chris Bell, Truist’s Triangle Region President, emphasizing perseverance and community engagement. Shinica Thomas and Isaiah Samuel provided heartfelt words of encouragement, further uplifting spirits.

A huge thank you to Brandon Mooney, Somer Hamrick, and our partners at MetLife for their unwavering support. Additionally, a heartfelt salute goes out to Executive Director, Ray Trapp, Program Director, Sarah Chick, and the entire NPower North Carolina team for their dedication.

Let’s continue to celebrate these successes and the bright futures ahead!

Sharks Foundation and SAP partner to upskill veterans and youth through NPower’s Tech Fundamentals Program

As featured on NHL.com

The Sharks Foundation (@SJSCommunity), the charitable arm of the San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) organization, and SAP (@SAP) are pleased to provide NPower (@npowerorg) with a $100,000 Community Assist Grant to support its Tech Fundamentals Program, which provides social support and job placement services to young adults and military veterans from underserved communities.

Additionally, to showcase the diversity of businesses in the Bay Area, SAP will share its Sharks partnership marketing rights with NPower throughout the remainder of February. As part of this unique benefit, NPower will be featured in posts on both the San Jose Sharks and SAP social media accounts, will have a video feature of the organization shown on the video display at SAP Center at San Jose, receive in-arena digital signage at SAP Center, and be featured in a Sharks Weekly email.

NPower is a national non-profit organization with a San Francisco Bay Area location in San Jose. NPower creates pathways to economic prosperity by launching digital careers for military veterans and young adults from underserved communities. The $100,000 Community Assist Grant from the Sharks Foundation and SAP will be used to support NPower’s Tech Fundamentals Program, a program that helps veterans and students earn industry-recognized certifications that enable them to secure middle-skills tech employment with the strong potential for income growth and career advancement.

The Tech Fundamentals Program is a proven training model that provides students with free, half-day tech skills training, professional development, social support, and lifetime access to an active and supportive alumni network. The 23-week program consists of:

  • 16 weeks of hands-on training (offered virtually) in hardware and software. Students receive exam prep for the CompTIA IT Fundamentals and A+ certification, industry-recognized and nationally portable credentials for entry-level tech jobs.
  • 7 weeks of paid, tech-based internship or full-time placement most often with Fortune 500 companies or high-growth mid-size companies.
  • Professional development opportunities including guest lectures by corporate volunteers on technical topics relevant to the syllabus or coaching in professional or power skills.

NPower’s comprehensive model also recognizes barriers often faced by veterans and young adults. A full-time Social Support Manager meets weekly with each student/vet to strengthen their social-emotional and professional development competencies and connect them to resources through NPower’s network of social service agencies for wraparound support.

The San Jose and San Francisco Bay Area program operates two cohorts (spring and fall) each year – training, equipping, and graduating 150+ trainees annually to enter and diversify the tech workforce. As part of their social support services, students/vets receive wraparound support to ensure they have the basic needs (housing, food, childcare, internet, computer access, etc.) necessary to complete the program and earn industry-recognized certifications, allowing them to enter the tech workforce and transition from poverty to the middle class. NPower’s job placement services provide its students with no-cost professional development training, internships, apprenticeships, and access to their network of employer partners in the Bay Area.

“I’m excited about our relationship with NPower and proud to help empower them to grow by supporting their work in partnership with the San Jose Sharks. As NPower focuses on ‘Creating a new pipeline to the digital workforce’, and SAP focuses on welcoming skills-based intergenerational talent, I’m thrilled that SAP is able to support organizations building up future leaders who are as diverse as the population of the Bay Area,” said Margot Goodman, Head of SAP North America Diversity & Inclusion.

See more about the partnership in the video we made with the Sharks foundation

Kapor Center is now an NPower Partner

Equitable access to tech career pathways is urgently needed following affirmative action’s dismantlement, the decline of four-year college enrollment, and the growing demand for rapid reskilling as automation and artificial intelligence shift the future of work. 

Based on extensive labor market demand analysis, the Kapor Foundation seeks to increase Black, Latine, and Native job placements in durable, emerging tech career paths such as cyber security and software engineering with an eye towards intersections with artificial intelligence. 

In response to this, today, the Kapor Foundation’s Tech Pathways Initiative is announcing funding commitments across an innovative set of partner organizations advancing Black, Latino, Native, and other underrepresented talent across our focal ecosystems of Oakland, California, Atlanta, Georgia, and Detroit, Michigan.

A significant talent gap exists in the US cybersecurity job market with an estimated 750K roles unfilled and demand growing exponentially as systems become automated. The field’s median salary of $117,058 is largely earned among white males, with only 24% of cyber workers identifying as women, 9% as Black, and 4% as Latino  Since entry-level cybersecurity roles are accessible to talent without a bachelor’s degree, alternative education programs are uniquely positioned to help quickly bridge this gap.

NPower creates free, accelerated pathways to digital careers for underserved young adults (ages 18–26) and military veterans. NPower and the Kapor Foundation will partner on a Cyber Career Accelerator that will upskill and elevate women of color in Oakland and Detroit through hands-on lab work, wraparound support, career coaching, mentoring, and job placement services. NPower programs have a proven 80% job placement rate into roles such as cybersecurity analyst, info security risk analyst, and network administrator.

Read more about the announcement from Kapor Center here