Regional Joint Ventures

The explosive growth of the tech industry in the Bay Area had created high-paying job opportunities. But for many local young adults, this career path could seem inaccessible if they didn’t know how to navigate higher education or couldn’t take 4 years out from the workforce to pursue a degree. The goal was to create a more affordable and equitable pathway for Bay Area residents to enter fulfilling and high-paying tech-related jobs, and to close the divide between students eager for the opportunity to enter technology careers and employers seeking to hire skilled workers. The Diversity in Tech proposal created an ICT pathway for diverse students from high schools and community partners, through community colleges, and into jobs, university and careers, offering a combination of skills, classroom education, and on-the-job experience in high-demand tech industries. Students worked toward milestones in coursework, capped by industry-recognized certifications, associate degrees, and bachelor’s degrees.