18BB
AN INDEPENDENT SUPPLEMENT BY MIA MEDIA & COMMUNICATIONS GROUP TO THE MIAMI HERALD
MONDAY, MAY 14, 2018
IT Summer Boot Camp Offers Career Pathways for Local Youth
By Kallan Louis
Rick Beasley, executive director,
CareerSource South Florida
As the world continues to digitally
evolve, the demand for Information
Technology professionals has rapidly
increased job growth with attractive
salaries in that sector. Many of these
professionals flock to major hubs like
Silicon Valley, Seattle, Austin, New York
and Boston to find work. Now cities
across the country are in an arms race to
develop talent pools to fill IT positions
and entice tech companies to build a
presence in their communities.
One organization helping to steer
Miami toward future IT jobs is
CareerSource South Florida, the
public-private partnership that establishes
state and federally-funded workforce
development and training policies for
Miami-Dade and Monroe counties.
For the second consecutive year,
CareerSource South Florida is offering the
TechHire Summer Boot Camp to help
expand Miami’s IT career talent pipeline
by recruiting underserved local youth.
“Last year we had 113 youth receive
certifications,” said Rick Beasley,
executive director of CareerSource South
Florida. “We’re expecting to serve 560
students this year so we’re probably going
to get at least half of those kids
certifications. That changes the trajectory
of our community. That will change lives
forever.”
The boot camp is a free six-week
accelerated IT program targeting
low-income Miami-Dade County
residents, ages 15-22. The camp will offer
courses on topics including cyber security,
Web development and coding at 14
Miami locations.
Participating students can earn up to
$500 by completing the program ($300)
and passing the certification test ($200).
This year, students who earn certification
will be eligible for internships, and 18-22
year olds with high school diplomas can
transition into long-term programs to
receive additional certifications and job
placement assistance.
Also new this year, students looking
to register will need to complete a career
assessment to help determine if they are a
good fit for the camp.
“IT is going to be your next
construction field,” Beasley said. “It’s not
going to require a degree. It’s going to be
a high growth, high wage-paying, blue
collar occupation.”
Even though African Americans and
Latinos earn nearly 18 percent of
computer science degrees, they hold five
percent of tech jobs, according to a report
by the Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission and National Center for
Science and Engineering Statistics. IT
jobs could improve economic mobility for
low-income residents and change the
current landscape of the tech sector.
In 2015, the Obama administration
announced the creation of the TechHire
initiative, a campaign to expand local tech
sectors by building tech talent pipelines in
communities nationwide. When the
administration named Miami-Dade
County a “TechHire” community,
Beasley said he knew they could create
something special with assistance from
partners including Miami-Dade County
Public Schools, Miami-Dade College
other local educational institutes.
“No workforce board in the country is
doing what we’re doing,” Beasley proudly
explained when referencing the summer
boot camp. “All my colleagues across the
country are trying to figure out what
we’re doing and how we’re doing it.”
This year’s camp will start June 18.
Visit http://careersourcesfl.comor for
more information or to register.
Bringing Hospice to the Underserved
Special to Legacy Miami
When elderly African Americans are
suffering from pain, they typically don’t
tell anyone, says Donna Borland, General
Manager of VITAS Healthcare of
Broward County. And even when they do
talk about it, they often don’t verbalize
the full extent of their discomfort.
“Elderly African Americans tend to be
stoic and endure their pain privately,”
Donna says. “They often internalize their
pain and just don’t talk about it.”
Healthcare professionals treating elderly
African American patients must therefore
learn how to read, evaluate and
understand their patients’ non-verbal
cues, Donna notes.
Thinking Nation