Who we are: The Digital Skills for All Initiative is a not-for-profit off-shoot of our umbrella organization, Computing for All.  The Digital Skills for All Initiative consists of three component programs.   Each program serves as an entry point for students according to their education, experience, age and ability.  Our goal is to create a pipeline to entry level computer science jobs through a combination of classroom education and pre-apprenticeship/apprenticeship programs in partnership with tech industry companies that will result in jobs for traditionally underserved populations.

The Digital Skills Youth Academy (DSYA) is phase two of the Digital Skills for All Initiative that began with our phase one Bring Youth Into Tech (BYIT), our introductory sampler class that introduces underserved students to beginning tech skills and educational pathways to tech careers.

Our earn-while-you-learn pre-apprenticeship program prepares students for apprenticeships, internships, or college while still in high school.  Our approach is modeled on basic instruction that integrates coding, computational literacy, and digital media skills with 21st century job skills, team-based project work, and career connected learning.  We work to provide young people with the tech skills that will make them effective, competitive employees.

What we do:  The Digital Skills Youth Academy (DSYA) prepares underserved youth to successfully enter and complete any one of multiple pathways to information technology employment. We engage students with employer driven curriculum and real-world, hands-on project work experiences that will prepare them to smoothly transition from high school to apprenticeship/intern programs such as Apprenti, Year Up of Puget Sound, our own Digital Skills For All apprenticeship, or college coursework.

We engage students with projects that not only allow them to practice the tech skills they are learning, but also teach them the kind of problem-solving, critical thinking skills valued by today’s tech companies. We build career pathways to economic mobility by closing skills gaps to fill the growing demand for skilled tech workers. In partnership with educators and employers, we work to align education and training programs with tech industry needs to provide students with in-demand skills that will ready them for entry-level IT jobs, and help companies access the skilled talent they need.

We are partnering with Seattle Colleges to provide students with college credit while they earn industry standard skills and credentials that will equip them for in-demand jobs in our information economy. Our goal is to provide high school students with exposure to career paths in tech through visits and talks with local tech companies, and the education and experiences that will enable then to make informed decisions regarding the tech jobs that best suit their interests, talents, and skills.

Career Preparation: Along with career connected tech skills, we regard soft skills, such as collaborating with coworkers, professional communication skills, teamwork, and workplace etiquette to be a core competency vital to the ability of young people to secure and keep a job.  We lay the groundwork for professional and personal development by coaching behaviors and activities that help youth navigate the workplace.  These 21st century work skills also involve developing character traits, attitudes, and behaviors that, when combined with our technical training, provide attributes that help workers adapt to new jobs, overcome obstacles, develop productive relationships with their co-workers and supervisors, and thrive in the workplace.   This complement of technical, vocational, academic, and soft skills, not only prepares students for a successful career path, it also helps them succeed in all areas of life.

Job Shadows:   Our work-based learning program enjoys the participation of forward-thinking external employer partnerships. Employers benefit as they are introduced to a segment of the workforce that they might not otherwise not encounter. Not only do they learn that high school students can contribute something valuable, they also discover that women, minorities, and students who speak English as a second language bring a unique and important voice to the table when creating the future through tech. We appreciate our corporate and educational partner’s willingness to engage our students in workforce opportunities. Both small and large tech companies benefit from working with our training program through decreasing their cost of training, onboarding, hiring, and retaining new employees. Focused training certification programs are sometimes made available to our students through our partnerships with employers and other community-based organizations.

Our youth come back from their job shadow experience excited and inspired. They are delighted when they discover that the companies they job shadow with use Agile Scrum methodology for team-based project work.  We use this approach in the classroom with our project works so students understand how this methodology works when they are on the job.

Student’s horizons expand when they are exposed to jobs that they might otherwise never have considered.  One student came back from her job shadow amazed to discover that she now thinks that data analytics is a fun, viable job option for her.  Another student who was set on training for a job as an IT Help Desk professional came away from his job shadow realizing that he is good at technical writing and would enjoy a job in that field.   We continue to reach out to local tech companies to help us enrich student experience with job shadow opportunities that provide valuable core experience and career awareness.