At a time when high school students need access to high-quality job training opportunities more than ever, and businesses are eagerly looking to hire qualified talent in a range of middle skill jobs that require more than a high school diploma, but less than a four-year college degree — Bloomberg Philanthropies has committed an additional $25 million to support career and technical education programs in nine U.S. cities and across two states.
This commitment highlights our founder Mike Bloomberg’s belief that it's critical for states, cities, local businesses, and schools to grow career programs and pathways for students not heading to four-year college in order to gain greater economic mobility. More than 15,000 high school students have benefited from Bloomberg Philanthropies' support of career and technical education programs since 2016. This new investment brings our support of these programs to $90 million.
On this episode, Jenny Sharfstein Kane of our education team sits down with Julia Baez, CEO of Baltimore’s Promise, a city-wide collaborative which supports the health and education of Baltimore City youth from cradle to career. Julia tells us more about the organization's Grads2Careers initiative, which focuses on helping Baltimore City Public Schools graduates who aren't immediately bound for college or careers enter the workforce by offering occupational skills training in fields like tech, health care, logistics, and transportation.
Jenny also sits down with the Mayor of Birmingham, Alabama, Randall Woodfin, to discuss how internships and apprenticeships will help shape the employment landscape in his city and the challenges entry-level workers are facing as a result of the pandemic.