Following investments by The Right Place, the introduction of the city’s new Tech Week and a shoutout from Yahoo News on the quality of tech careers in the city, Grand Rapids seems poised to become a major Midwestern tech hub. West Michigan Center for Arts and Technology (WMCAT) is making sure the West Michigan technology boom includes diverse talent and provides careers that are accessible to all.
“If you think about tech at its core, it’s problem solving, right?” said Jamon Alexander, WMCAT president and CEO. “Who better can solve problems than the folks that experience them?”
Alexander and his team at WMCAT are putting themselves at the forefront of Grand Rapids’ adult tech education, capitalizing on the technological boom in the area and training adults experiencing under- or unemployment for careers in the tech industry.
WMCAT, a nonprofit that describes its mission as “providing a culture of opportunity for people to make social and economic progress in their lives and community,” offers workforce development for adults and visual arts and digital media engagement opportunities for youth.
The organization recently announced its newest addition to its adult workforce development offerings — a tuition-free career training pathway in cybersecurity and governance, risk and compliance(GRC) careers.
At a time when employer demand for tech talent is rising, WMCAT is focusing on making sure the high-paying jobs the industry brings with it are accessible to some of Grand Rapids’ most economically fragile families.
“When you’re talking about disparities in Grand Rapids,” said Leanne Rhoads, WMCAT vice president of programs, “median household income is $42,000, but for Black residents it is $24,000. So, there is a very big difference. And so when we’re talking about economic security for families, that is why we’re focusing on the BIPOC population. That is a huge gap.
“So, in what is the fastest growing field with big goals for our community, if we’re talking about inclusive growth, how does that show up? Who’s doing that work? It’s great that we want to be a tech hub, but is it at the expense of leaving out whole groups of people in our city?”
WMCAT’s new adult tech program is aiming to fight that disparity, making sure minorities are represented at the forefront of what may be a new chapter for Grand Rapids’ economy.
“We believe in contributing to inclusive growth,” Alexander said. “We believe that everyone having equitable access to opportunity makes us a stronger region. We believe it supports the goals that we have as a community at large. If we want to be an innovative tech hub, then we need to ensure that everyone has access and that people have a voice at the table in designing what our future looks like.”
To this end, WMCAT currently is enrolling for its inaugural Cybersecurity and GRC Adult Career Training class. The class will see 12 Kent County adults participating in a seven-month program that will prepare them for one of four certificates upon graduation — Certificate of Cloud Security Knowledge (CCSK), ISO 27001 GRC Analyst Certification, Auditing AI Foundations Certification and Fundamentals of Children’s Privacy.
These certifications will enable graduates to pursue careers in information security analysis, security analysis or as a GRC specialist, careers with an average salary of $60,000 to $75,000 yearly.
The program launches Dec. 5 and will host learning sessions four days a week. One of those sessions will be hands-on at WMCAT, while the other three will take place in an entirely virtual environment. Students will be outfitted with Oculus headsets, enabling them to learn in a virtual reality space that mimics a traditional classroom but with more flexibility for those with difficulty traveling and the ability to feature teachers from out of state.
For its curriculum, WMCAT is teaming up with national provider GRC for Intelligent Ecosystems, or GRCIE (pronounced gracie). Professional GRCIE instructors will provide instruction through virtual reality and WMCAT instructors will provide additional teaching and support in person.
“When designing and implementing a workforce transformation initiative at the community level, it is critical that the students have access to an on-the-ground network of experts to provide a strong network of social services,” said Jenai Marinkovic, executive director of GRCIE. “We are excited to partner with WMCAT to build out this first-of-its-kind program where students are educated in the metaverse and learn cybersecurity fundamentals, as well as how to protect and defend artificially intelligent ecosystems in this ever-changing world.”
WMCAT will offer free tuition for students, whose only prerequisite is a high school diploma or GED, giving them one less financial burden during their time learning.
“Most of our students are head of household,” Alexander said. “Most of them are parents, most of them work part-time and/or full time. We have folks that are learning with us full time, they’re parenting full time, they’re working full time, they’re a partner to someone full time. It’s quite a bit of work. They’re tuition free, (but) it’s not free because folks are paying a cost to be here. Even if that cost isn’t out of pocket financially.”
The program is tuition-free thanks to multi-year funding provided by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
WMCAT also provides a small stipend for spending, in-person support for its adult students, and resources to help them build a professional and personal community during their educational journey.
Rhoads and Alexander said they hope to see the new program’s first class headed for successful careers in tech, bringing financial stability and an above-livable income to their families.
“In order for our community to thrive, that doesn’t mean one sector of it,” Rhoads said. “It doesn’t mean one population. If we’re going to have a thriving community in West Michigan, that needs to include all populations who exist here and who live here and call this home.”
This story can be found in the Oct. 3 issue of the Grand Rapids Business Journal. To get more stories like this delivered to your mailbox, subscribe here.
Source: https://grbj.com/news/economic-development/wmcat-opens-enrollment-for-adult-tech-careers/