A nonprofit that offers tech training to often-overlooked talent appears to be coming to Buffalo.
South Bronx-based Per Scholas, a national organization focused on advancing economic mobility through tuition-free training, professional development and employer connections, is hiring for a managing director in Buffalo.
The position will lead fundraising, community engagement, strategy, administrative work and programs at the nonprofit’s Buffalo campus, according to the job posting on its website.
Why it matters: Based on its website, Per Scholas appears to have a generally similar goal to Bitwise Industries, a California-based company that aimed to train tech workers in underserved communities, develop software and invest in tech-friendly real estate. But after Bitwise’s operations across the country suddenly crumbled earlier this year (and its co-founders Nov. 9 were criminally charged in a $100 million fraud scheme), regional leaders pledged to continue fostering new tech talent. Per Scholas might help fill the void left by Bitwise.
Per Scholas currently operates in about 25 markets, according to its website. It doesn’t list a site for a Buffalo campus.
The organization recently got building permit approval from the City of Buffalo to do an interior build-out at 726 Exchange St., Suite 610.
The nonprofit did not return Business First’s requests for more information on its Buffalo campus.
Per Scholas is funded by a combination of philanthropy and individual donations. Recent funding sources include a $20 million gift announced in late September from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott and a $822,000 grant earlier this year from the New York State Office of Strategic Workforce Development.
The nonprofit has one national budget, meaning there is no set dollar amount a specific market will get from a donation, Roger Burns, Cincinnati managing director at Per Scholas told the Cincinnati Business Courier.
Overall, the nonprofit has had more than 20,000 graduates who successfully forged careers in tech, according to its website. About 80% of its graduates find full-time jobs within one year of graduating.
Currently, the closest Per Scholas campus to Buffalo is in Pittsburgh. The nonprofit also has sites in metro areas similar to the Queen City such as Columbus and Cincinnati, Ohio and Detroit.
