When Tondi Allen’s foster parents told her that she needed to find a way to support herself, she was torn between pursuing a career as an actress and going into computer science. She opted to study computer science in college, but then switched to acting when she got a scholarship in the field. She ended up going back to school to finish her information technology degree.
But a certification in tech — not her college degree — was the game-changer for her career and economic stability, she said.
“When I had the degree, nobody understood my degree,” Allen said. “And then when I got my certification, it was like, ‘Oh, OK, you could do the job, here’s the opportunity.’ And then I was able to have enough money to take care of myself.”
Allen said she tells this story to her students at Urban City Codes, a nonprofit she founded with her husband, Terrance, that provides tech training and certifications to underrepresented communities.
Last year, Urban City Codes, which is located in Cleveland Heights, trained and certified the first cohort of 25 apprentices who participated in a tech talent accelerator that Greater Cleveland Partnership launched with Interapt, a tech talent workforce organization based in Louisville, Kentucky.
GCP and Interapt teamed up to launch the accelerator program here in the Cleveland area, which pairs participants with workplaces where they take on apprenticeship roles. Before the apprentices start their IT jobs, Urban City Codes and other similar tech bootcamps provide them with training and industry credentials. The accelerator is in the process of formalizing its application and onboarding process, and it’s creating an online onboarding platform, slated to be complete within the month, said Craig Platt, managing director of GCP’s IT sector partnership.
The platform will track participants’ progress obtaining their industry credential and completing soft skills training, which are prerequisites for being matched with a workplace. For now, the accelerator is recruiting apprenticeship candidates from Urban City Codes and the other training providers.
The goal of the talent accelerator is to create pathways to IT jobs for groups who are underrepresented in the tech workforce. Cleveland’s tech workforce is 10% Black and 3% Hispanic, according to a 2022 report from CBRE, a real estate and investment firm. The city of Cleveland is 47.4% Black and 12.2% Hispanic, according to 2021 U.S. Census estimates.
Called the Workforce Connect IT Sector Partnership Talent Accelerator, GCP and Interapt’s apprenticeship program aims to “change the narrative” around entry-level IT positions typically requiring a two-year or four-year degree, Platt said. In an effort to close the IT talent gap and create more equitable paths to tech jobs, the accelerator emphasizes skills and certifications over degree requirements.
How the accelerator works
Platt encourages employers in the IT field to focus on skills rather than education requirements.
“Tell us what the skills are,” he says to employers, noting that traditional requirements like a four-year degree and two years of experience are “really a proxy for a certain skill level.”
As an apprenticeship program that’s registered with the U.S. Department of Labor and the state of Ohio, the tech talent accelerator helps make this shift of focus on skills smoother, Platt said. The registered apprenticeship status means the participants receive “holistic support,” including both mentorship and technical training, said Interapt’s chief people officer and president Merabeth Martin. The apprentices also have goals to achieve over the course of their 12-month apprenticeship roles, Platt said.
Interapt, which Martin describes as a “tech talent incubator,” serves as the employer of record for the participants in the talent accelerator. The apprentices technically serve as “consultants” to their Cleveland workplaces. This setup reduces risk to the workplaces as the apprentices transition into entry-level roles, Platt said.
Before the accelerator participants start working at a company, the Urban League of Greater Cleveland’s Solid Opportunity for Advancement & Retention (SOAR) program provides training in soft skills, including networking, problem-solving, and time management. Then, Interapt holds an interview process and matches the candidates with workplaces that align with their skills and interests.
The average starting salary is $47,500. Apprentices also receive health care benefits, paid time off, and an average starting bonus of $3,750 to help relieve immediate financial pressure and cover some of the costs that come with starting a new job, such as professional clothes. The program also covers up to 80% of child care costs and helps participants with transportation.
The workplaces benefit from the talent accelerator because it helps meet their need for talent, connecting them with industry credentialed apprentices who they can hire at any time. Workplaces that are hosting apprentices from the first cohort include the insurance company Westfield, KeyBank, and Masstechism, an IT consulting company that Tondi and Terrance Allen started. The accelerator held a “Signing Day” event on Jan. 31 at the MidTown Tech Hive to kick off the inaugural cohort’s apprenticeships.
Inaugural cohort member Yasmin Abdul-Khaliq said she wouldn’t be working as a security analyst at KeyBank if she didn’t participate in the talent accelerator. Abdul-Khaliq, who heard about the program from a family member, was interested in cybersecurity but didn’t have a degree or prior experience in the field. She completed Urban City Codes’ cybersecurity program, where she got her Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) Security+ certification. Now, she’s working as a security analyst at KeyBank.
After completing her apprenticeship, Abdul-Khaliq wants to continue working in tech. Her long-term goal is to become a chief information security officer, a role that typically requires upwards of a decade of experience.
“There’s so many different levels or different areas that you can move in. You don’t have to be constricted to just one role,” she said. “With experience comes the opportunity for growth and pursuing different roles.”
Focusing on skills over degree requirements
But before participants start apprenticeships as part of the tech talent accelerator, they need to obtain an industry credential. That certification can come from Urban City Codes, or other similar technology bootcamps such as We Can Code IT, Cleveland Codes, and Tech Elevator. With its focus on reaching underrepresented communities, Urban City Codes directly aligns with the talent accelerator’s goal of increasing representation of Black and Latino workers in the tech workforce, GCP’s Platt said.
Urban City Codes offers training programs that last between 30 days and 16 weeks in areas including coding, cybersecurity, drone technology, and IT support. Classes take place in the evenings during the week and during the day on Saturdays and are free to attend. The space at 3096 Mayfield Rd. is also generally open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. as a quiet place for students to complete their independent work. Up to 30 students participate in each class. Students leave Urban City Codes with at least one certification in the field, Allen said.
The training helps participants lay a foundation of skills that they’ll build on during their apprenticeships, said Interapt’s Martin, who has spent time with every member of the first cohort. Plus, they earn their industry credentials there, too, which is the key requirement for beginning an apprenticeship role through the talent accelerator, Platt said.
“The reason why we focus on certifications is because it validates your skill level. It says, ‘I know how to do this.’ It isn’t about guessing or trying to talk our way into a job or trying to get people to like us, which is all helpful social skills. But it’s more about validating what we know instead of having barriers put in front of us that are non-tangible barriers,” Allen said.
Correction: A previous post incorrectly stated Yasmin Abdul-Khaliq’s role with KeyBank. She is a security analyst, not a stock analyst.
Learn more about the tech talent accelerator on the Workforce Connect website. For more information or to apply, you can email Craig Platt, managing director of GCP’s IT sector partnership, at cplatt@greatercle.com. Learn more about Urban City Codes programs on its website, and visit this page to learn about the application process and apply.
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