On Wednesday, D.C. Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development Brian Kenner unveiled Mayor Muriel Bowser’s tech-centric innoMAYtion campaign in partnership with 1776 and General Assembly (GA). The initiative is aimed at integrating individuals from local underserved communities into the local tech scene by providing them with the adequate training and employment opportunities to succeed in the technology sector. The corporate sponsors for this initiative are Microsoft, Capital One Bank Labs and MedStar.
“This exciting initiative is enabled with the support of partners such as the TDF Foundation, THEARC, Capital One, MedStar Health, and Microsoft. Starting this summer, the program will provide workshops at THEARC to introduce up to 30 high-potential students from Washington’s Wards 7 and 8 to in-demand career opportunities in DC’s burgeoning digital and tech economies … At the end of those workshops, every student who has successfully completed the program will receive twelve months of free access to General Assembly Front Row,” GA wrote in a blog post.
Thirty to forty applicants will be selected from a pool of individuals who apply for the program, it was announced at the press conference on Wednesday. These individuals will be placed in a three-part GA designed workshop to receive programming/developer training and HTML design courses, among other things. Of those workshop trainees, five individuals with “promising potential” will be selected for a six-month scholarship program.
GA Regional Director Paul Gleger said that living stipends would be provided to the chosen five by one of the corporate sponsors and that Microsoft, Capital One Bank and MedStar would also participate in the decision making process between training rounds.
The training workshops and eventual scholarship/apprenticeship training program will take place at Anacostia-based the ARC community center.
At today’s press event, Donna Harris and Evan Burfield reiterated the commitment by 1776 and the District to provide technology training opportunities to the underserved. After initial comments were made by the two 1776 co-founders, each sponsor addressed the crowd to discuss their involvement in the initiative.
General Assembly will provide the educational platform, the TDF foundation are the underwriters of the scholarships and will donate materials to students and Microsoft will be donating Surface Pro 3s to the scholarship group.
Unfortunately, Mayor Muriel Bowser, who was scheduled to deliver the keynote speech, was not able to attend. She was visiting with a fireman injured in a local rescue mission at an incinerated apartment building.
Applications for the program begin today and will run until June 12. The appropriate form can be found via 1776 or GA’s websites.
