NPower Working to Expand Access to High-Quality Pathways into Tech Jobs

At Ascendium, we invest in programs and strategies that create more options for learners from low-income backgrounds to engage in postsecondary education and workforce training. The options we support provide a direct path to living-wage employment in high-growth, high-demand fields.

Sectoral training programs are an option of particular interest to Ascendium. These programs prepare low-income individuals for specific industries that have labor demand and career opportunities, including healthcare and technology. They can also offer flexible, affordable, and accessible pathways to upward mobility that do not require a commitment to a four-year degree.

However, for many learners and workers, accessing sectoral training programs can be difficult. Although there are lucrative opportunities with career growth for jobs in the technology sector, there are limited affordable onramps that would enable people without prerequisite training to get a foothold in these career paths. This makes them inaccessible for many learners and workers, especially those historically underrepresented in technology fields such as women and people of color.

A recent grant to NPower, a growing sectoral training provider focused on upward mobility for low-income adults, allows the organization to expand its technology sector workforce training programs so they are accessible to more learners and workers. NPower offers a menu of no-cost, tech training programs and holistic supports to help learners complete their programs and enter sustainable tech careers. Initial evidence suggests that their programs have been successful in moving individuals into good jobs in tech.

Ascendium’s grant supports NPower in innovating and piloting new pathways to well-compensated technology roles. They aim to enroll 300 new learners in this new software development training program over the next two years, with a specific goal of helping increase the number of women of color who enter, persist, and thrive in tech careers.

Additionally, NPower will partner with postsecondary institutions, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities and minority serving institutions, to support learners at-risk of dropping out of tech training programs at those institutions. Through professional development, mentorship, and upskilling opportunities, NPower will also work to ensure long-term career success for graduates of the postsecondary programs.

Sector-based approaches to workforce training have grown in prominence over the years to address the needs of employers seeking qualified workers and individuals seeking career advancement. Our investment in NPower not only allows us to explore new pathways to upward mobility, but to build evidence about what sectoral training program components are effective in boosting earnings and what strategies can be used to expand the accessibility and reach of effective, high-quality programs. As more evidence is built, Ascendium will also prioritize the scaling of effective sectoral training programs so that more learners can enroll in and complete workforce-aligned programs that provide a path to a good job.