Bank of America Announces $4.2 Million Commitment to Expand Tech Career Opportunities for Students of Color Through Innovative Partnership - Seite 2

In parallel, Urban Alliance will continue to build a more equitable, diverse next-generation workforce by providing deep-touch professional soft skills training, mentoring, and 9-month paid internships to young people, 99% of whom are from communities of color, during their senior year of high school. Through this collaboration, the organization will expand its two-track offering for high school students – an experiential internship track for students going on to college and a high-school-to-career track for students preparing to enter full-time work, this time in the tech industry. Bank of America’s funding is critical to this new tech pathway, allowing the organization to serve more students, increase their exposure to career possibilities, and expand its employer base. Urban Alliance has been a long-time partner with Bank of America on its Financial Center Internship Program which introduces high school and college students to careers in the financial industry.

“This kind of collaboration between nonprofits in the workforce development space is rare and much-needed if we are going to make real progress toward removing systemic barriers to economic opportunity for youth of color,” said Elizabeth Lindsey, CEO of Urban Alliance. “We’re grateful for Bank of America’s investment enabling Urban Alliance and NPower to advance digital equity and connect more diverse young talent to high-growth careers in tech.”

Bank of America has a longstanding focus on addressing critical societal challenges, including connecting youth to early employment and helping individuals from low- and moderate income (LMI) communities access jobs. Since 2018, the company has invested $160 million to connect youth and young adults to jobs, including funding jobs with nonprofit partners and supporting skills-building and alternative pathways. Annually, Bank of America connects more than 4,000 high school students to work experiences each summer though partnerships with nonprofits and mayors’ offices, a Financial Center Internship Program and its Student Leaders program. Through its Pathways program, the bank works with nonprofit partners to provide professional skills training and career pathways for members of the communities it serves. These efforts align to the bank’s focus on advancing racial equality and economic opportunity and are demonstrations of how the company is working to be a catalyst for jobs in local communities.