The purpose of this grant opportunity is to create economic mobility, address historic inequities for marginalized communities of color and other underserved and underrepresented communities, and…

The purpose of this grant opportunity is to create economic mobility, address historic inequities for marginalized communities of color and other underserved and underrepresented communities, and produce high-quality employment for workers who reside in the appalachian and delta regions, enabling them to remain and thrive in these communities. Activities performed this proposal expands an existing U.S. Department of labor-approved information technology support specialist apprenticeship created by dataseam for kentucky learners in grades 11-12, providing paid IT jobs to students in their respective public-school districts as part of required employment and training. During a 2-year, 3-phase program, apprentice candidates' complete coursework as part of on-job training and mentorship as required by the DOL. Incumbent workers in the participating school districts' IT workforce will serve as DOL-required mentors and will upskill with industry-standard IT certifications. Students completing the program may earn as many as two industry-standard IT certifications along with the U.S. DOL apprenticeship certificate, along with two years of practical work experience. Participating schools earn computers addressing aging technology concerns at various accountability milestones, providing otherwise unavailable technology to support coding and pre-engineering programs directed at workforce development and college preparedness for total student populations. Earned labs will support complimentary workforce training by partner organizations. As many as 25 kentucky k-12 school systems serving as employer-partners in 20 eastern kentucky counties will participate. Deliverables primary outcome: at least 40 new workforce entrants and at minimum 20 incumbent workers. Secondary outcome: as many as 46,225 residents in 25 districts receiving improved services and access to new technology. Intended beneficiary 11AND 12TH graders enrolled in registered apprenticeship program as new workforce entrants and incumbent workers of k-12 employer partners serving as apprentice mentors receiving upskilling in technology and registered apprenticeship-related disciplines. Subrecipient activities the recipient does not intend to subaward funds.