Seattle Office of Economic Development (OED) is awarding 10 organizations the 2020 Career Connected Learning grant. Career Connected Learning grants focus on ensuring local youth ages 14-24 have the skills, knowledge, and networks to connect to the region’s economy. Our Career Connected Learning programs are operating within the context of two economic forces that are exacerbating existing racial and economic disparities and further exposing the vulnerabilities of many of Seattle’s workers and businesses: COVID-19 and the rise of automation.
This highly competitive grant was awarded to proposals that strongly linked career awareness, experiences and activities for youth with future careers. Awardees demonstrated their ability to support Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) youth who otherwise would not have the opportunities or networks to build connections to the labor markets, demonstrated their ability to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 in their communities, demonstrated their ability to build the capacity and infrastructure within their organizations to provide career connected learning experiences for youth ages 14-24 that create deeper connections to the workforce, and support youth to build social capital.
“At OED, we want Seattle youth to be able to see themselves working and thriving in our local economy. This includes young people learning about our key sectors, understanding and building the skills that are needed, and making connections to supportive networks and businesses.” said Nancy Yamamoto, OED Director of Workforce Development. “It is critically important to support these career connected learning opportunities because the pandemic severely impacted young people, including lost internships and job opportunities where they gain their first work experiences.”
By investing in learning opportunities for youth of color, the Career Connected Learning Grants aim to mitigate against the harms caused by historic and ongoing systematic racism that disproportionately affects communities of color. Awarded projects are aligned to build talent pipelines to OED’s key industries; Information Technology (IT), Creative, Maritime and Clean Technology. These industries provide pathways to middle wage jobs and career advancement.
Juma and Computing For All will provide the remaining portion of Computing for All’s virtual IT Pre-apprenticeship program for 12 youth. As part of the program, youth will receive a stipend, career coaching and employment skills training from Juma and earn an internship stipend. Included in the curriculum: Basic Career and Job Readiness, Employer Interaction, Communication and Teamwork, and Technical Skills that includes: Introduction to computational thinking and algorithms using creative block coding through Scratch/MakeCode game building, basic JavaScript and how it ties in with HTML and CSS to create interactive websites and computer applications, and Visual Design and UX/UI (User experience) to design web pages and applications.