New Vision Foundation is excited to announce that we have been awarded with American Rescue Plan Act funding from the City of Saint Paul and Ramsey County Workforce Solutions to support the new Learn & Earn initiative. NVF has partnered with Software for Good (SfG) to teach and train youth of color for the tech workforce. In our year-long program, students will split their time between NVF and SfG. During the first six months of the program, students will partake in a full stack coding development bootcamp at NVF. Instructors of color will be teaching the bootcamp using a curriculum designed with the help of SfG’s Director of Engineering. The curriculum will include front and back-end web development. Free laptops will be provided to students by Repowered; a NVF partner non-profit. The selection process for students will include an application process and interviews to identify students who can best benefit from the program. The students are not required to have any prior tech knowledge or experience to participate in this program.

The second half of the program will consist of the bootcamp graduates joining an apprenticeship program at Software for Good. They will work on an array of projects alongside SfG’s software engineers, designers, and digital strategists. Upon completion of the apprenticeship, they will have gained the skills, knowledge, and real-world experience to readily join the tech workforce. The apprentices will then be connected with various companies to secure tech roles.

New Vision Foundation’s delivery model will be in effect throughout the length of the program. Our partnership with Software for Good will motivate and engage disadvantaged youth in our communities to venture into the tech workforce in hopes of inspiring progress towards local and global sustainable development goals. ​Software for Good’s aim to bring positive social change in industries is a common goal for us with the support of Ramsey County. The initiatives of our partnership include creating a positive community impact for those underserved and contributing to the tech industry by diversifying the tech talent pool so it can reflect the world we live in.

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