St. Louis, MO (PRWEB) October 11, 2016
NPower, a national nonprofit which launches successful digital careers for young adults from underserved communities, announces today the opening of a St. Louis, MO regional office and training center. NPower St. Louis technology training will begin early 2017 and is actively recruiting for its inaugural class of students. As of today, recruitment is open to the public for those between the ages of 18-25 who have earned a high school diploma or equivalent. World Wide Technology (WWT), one of NPower’s lead funding partners, will host a reception this evening at 5:00pm at their corporate headquarters to mark the occasion.
The NPower training program is provided without cost to qualified students. NPower St. Louis will offer its signature Tech Fundamentals program, which includes 15 weeks of half-day in-class instruction followed by seven weeks of paid internships. NPower also provides an array of services in addition to training, including corporate mentors, career counselling, lifelong alumni support, guest lectures and site visits. NPower St. Louis will enroll 25 individuals for the first cycle. The Tech Fundamentals program is offered in five other regions, has a graduation rate over 80% and a long-term placement rate of 85%.
“NPower St. Louis is an incredible win for the city,” said David Steward, WWT Co-Founder and Chairman, “to be able to cultivate local talent, particularly in the underserved community, is something every major company and organization in the region should be excited about and I encourage every one of them to join us in this opportunity to lessen the cost and burden of recruitment as well as to invest in the local community and workforce.” David Steward is known for his philanthropy and for supporting the retention and growth of technology jobs locally.
NPower’s entry into St. Louis has long been advocated for by Matt Horner, WWT Vice President and General Manager, U.S. East | Europe | Asia Pacific, and Vice Chairman of NPower’s Board of Directors. “What a rewarding experience to be involved in an organization that is changing the career trajectory of so many deserving lives.” WWT has been the lead sponsor of NPower’s Jazz events and additionally provides funding for NPower’s national programs.
NPower St. Louis marks the sixth regional office for the organization and the third program that NPower has opened in less than a year thanks to major funding from Fund II Foundation (F2F). “Learning that every year hundreds of technology jobs go unfilled in St. Louis, many of which are entry and middle-level jobs,” said Linda Wilson, Executive Director of F2F, “we are confident in NPower’s ability to train young people from under-resourced communities so they can compete for and land these jobs.”
NPower CEO Bertina Ceccarelli appointed Trina Clark James as Regional Director for St. Louis. Ms. James is a native of North St. Louis and was the founder and CEO of Jamaa Learning Center, which focused on educating and empowering children from kindergarten through 8th grade in her home community of St. Louis. Before that she worked with the KIPP Foundation as the Executive Director of a local initiative to attract and open their model of charter public schools across the city. Prior to shifting her career to Education, Ms. James had a successful technology career in Silicon Valley, and led a test engineering team for Apple. She has a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, an MS degree in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University and an MBA from the University of California, Davis.
“Ms. James is an accomplished technologist and has devoted the past several years of her career to ensuring young people from north St. Louis have access to the type of educational opportunities that launched her career,” said Bertina Ceccarelli, “her commitment to the communities we serve and understanding of what it takes makes Ms. James the ideal leader for NPower in St. Louis.”
“I consider myself to be an education activist,” said Trina Clark James, "I know the value of education, especially for those who may not have considered education to be a possibility, and my primary focus will be ensuring those from our most at-risk communities will be able to establish a place for themselves in this growing landscape in information technology. When we, as a city, invest in these individuals the benefits will be realized exponentially and we can witness, firsthand, the rebuilding of once-great communities.”
WWT will host an opening reception this evening to officially introduce NPower St. Louis to local partners and business leaders. This event is open to the press. To attend, please contact events@npower.org.
For direct access to St. Louis recruitment personnel, potential students should email AdmissionsStLouis(at)NPower(dot)org or visit npower.org for more information.
About NPower
NPower is a national nonprofit that provides underserved young adults and veterans with no-cost IT career training, industry-recognized credentials and paid internships and job opportunities with Fortune 500 companies. NPower also offers career awareness and readiness programs for high school students, facilitated by a network of over 10,000 industry volunteers who offer mentoring, career advice, and alumni coaching. Over 80% of our graduates are employed full time or enrolled in higher education within one year of completing our program, which is free to qualified students.
For more information, visit npower.org and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
About World Wide Technology
World Wide Technology (WWT) is a leading technology integrator with over $7 billion in annual revenue that provides innovative technology and supply chain solutions to large public and private organizations. Through its culture of innovation, WWT inspires, builds and delivers business results, from idea to outcome. Based in St. Louis, WWT works closely with industry leaders including Boeing; Cisco; Dell Technologies; AT&T Inc.; VMware; NetApp, Inc.; Microsoft and the U.S. Air Force. WWT employs more than 3,000 people and operates over 2 million square feet of warehousing, distribution and integration space in more than 20 facilities throughout the world. For more information about World Wide Technology, visit http://www.wwt.com.
About Fund II Foundation
Fund II Foundation is a charitable foundation, at the heart of which is a deep commitment to advance social change, create opportunity, respect and protect the environment, and preserve our culture. Fund II Foundation is focused on improving lives and opportunities for African-American and other vulnerable populations. For more information on Fund II Foundation, visit http://www.fund2foundation.org.
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