CLEVELAND — Nearly 2,000 entry-level IT jobs go unfilled every year in Cuyahoga County. The field, which is made up of primarily white men, leaves many people unrepresented. Now, a new program is tackling both problems head-on.
Randy Banks walked into the room to the sound of applause. Taking his place on stage in front of a backdrop with “Signing Day 2023”. It is signing day, but these letters of intent don’t lead to playing sports at the college level.
Instead, the letters are the start of an IT career, a registered apprenticeship with local companies. For the five people putting pen to paper, it is an emotional day.
“These jobs are the jobs that make changes in the world, not just here, everywhere,” remarked Banks addressing the crowd.
“You witnessed employers saying, we want to do this,” said Craig Platt, the Greater Cleveland Partnership Director of the IT Sector Partnership. “We want to bring in diverse talent. We want to change the rules.”
The Talent Accelerator Initiative is rewriting those rules, bridging the IT talent and equity gap by developing new career pathways for underrepresented populations.
“There's a shortage of talent. So, you need to do something new to take advantage of it,” stated Platt.
Randy Banks became interested in IT just last march. Now he is working with the Greater Cleveland Partnership gaining the experience needed to excel.
“It's no longer how many opportunities I have. It's more about what type of change I really can make,” said Banks.
The change would not happen if local companies like MassTechism, a web development company, hadn’t stepped up.
“It was a great opportunity for us.” butt “We had a person of color, African-American, that is interested in tech. Very enthusiastic,” said MassTechism’s CEO Terrance Allen.
Safwaan Abdul-Karim thought the Talent Accelerator was too good to be true. Spending two years trying to start his IT career after leaving high school.
“It's hard getting your foot in the door when it comes to cybersecurity because you need to have experience on top of the credentials, you know,” said Abdul-Karim.
Participants received a signing bonus to overcome the hurdles of stepping into the business world.
“That starting bonus allows them to have food security, get the business attire they need so they're comfortable and confident,” said Platt.
The Talent Accelerator is a partnership with GCP and Interapt, an incubator for diverse talent, which builds up candidates and employers.
“Employers are going to be stronger. You're building a whole new pipeline of talent inside of Cleveland,” said Merabeth Marti, the Chief People Officer & President of Interapt. “And it's just going to be really amazing to watch.”
The next class of businesses is already waiting for their employees from the Talent Accelerator, and they are excited to see the opportunities it brings.
“We continue to build and scale it because we need abundant talent to fuel dynamic businesses,” stated Platt.
“The opportunities are pretty much endless. At least that's what I believe after going through all of this,” said Abdul-Karim.
“So as far as what is possible has started to change,” remarked Banks.