BOSTON (WBZ-AM) -- Each month, “WBZ Cares” highlights a worthy non-profit organization and tells the story of what that organization does for the community. This month WBZ is profiling the GreenLight Fund, a non-profit organization that helps transform the lives of children, youth and families in high-poverty urban areas by creating local infrastructure and a consistent annual process to identify critical needs, import innovative, entrepreneurial programs that can have a significant, measurable impact, and galvanize local support to help programs reach and sustain impact in the new city.
The Boston based non-profit the GreenLight Fund helps improve the lives of the area's low income by importing other non-profits with unique programs. It then helps fund their local launch. So far it’s invested $9 million dollars to bring 12 organizations into the Greater Boston area.
“So we’re all giving our insight into what are the issues we’re seeing now and what are two, to three, to four major issues we want to explore in the next round of funding,” said GreenLight Fund Select Advisory Council Member Karley Ausiello.
Karley Ausiello is on the Select Advisory Council.
“GreenLight is specifically focused on looking for solutions from outside our local community. So what’s an area where we really see a gap and there aren't any non-profits currently doing that work?” Ausiello asked.
The last round of funding focused on the issue of workforce development relating to the tech sector.
“Looking at low-income adults. Thinking about how are we going to be preparing them to be able to make great wages, have jobs that are going to have great career ladders, and the IT sector is really a wonderful place for us to find those,” Ausiello stated.
GreenLight funded the local launch of Per Scholas, which provides adults of all ages free tech training and certification. Robin Nadeau is the Managing Director of Per Scholas in Boston.
“Boston is the 9th likeliest city globally to become a leading technology innovation hub outside of Silicon Valley over the next four years, and that was by a study done by KPMG,” said Nadeau.
Their training aims to fill that anticipated pipeline with qualified workers.
“It is very personalized training all leading to two industry recognized certifications right before graduation. All of our graduates receive two years of follow-up support after they finish our program, so we help them find work,” Nadeau said.
Unlike some other free training programs, there’s no age cap and you don’t need any prior training…just a passion for technology.
“On average in students first job post-graduation our alumni are earning four times their pre-training wage,” stated Nadeau.
Classes start in October and December.
For more information visit: www.perscholas.org/iheart
WBZ NewsRadio1030's Shari Small Reports