Baltimore City Public Schools to receive funding as part of JPMorgan Chase’s $6M for tech career pathways

Baltimore City Public Schools is among five districts that will benefit from a $6 million from JPMorgan Chase that aims to launch new career pathways for students seeking tech careers.
According to our sister site Technical.ly DC, the donation is designed to provide education that will increase the pool of qualified tech workers to meet demand for tech jobs in the D.C.-Maryland-Virginia region. It comes after Amazon drove home the need for talent with the decision to locate half of HQ2 next door to D.C. in Arlington, Va.
“Amazon’s HQ2 announcement reinforced that companies around the globe are competing for talent, and through this investment, we are working with our partners in the public and private sectors to expand access to opportunity for young people in Greater Washington — and boost the workforce by directly aligning education and training programs with the skills needed for open technology roles here,” Peter Scher, Head of Corporate Responsibility and Chair of the Mid-Atlantic Region for JPMorgan Chase, said in a statement.
The other districts that were funded include DC Public Schools, Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia and Maryland’s Montgomery County Public Schools and Prince George’s County Public Schools.
It’s part of JPMorgan Chase’s “New Skills for Youth” program, which is a $350 million investment in job and skills development. The initiative aims to create 16 new career pathways programs focusing on computer science and cybersecurity, and linking public schools with colleges and universities. Across the five districts, the program aims to get 3,200 students participating in one of the programs. They’re also looking to help employers provide more than 2,000 internships.
As part of the effort, the Greater Washington Partnership is creating a system that will collect labor market data, and provide it to schools to help make decisions on curriculum. The districts will also be part of a regional collaboration network, led by Education Strategy Group.
“This partnership with JPMorgan Chase will pave new pathways for our students to move from rigorous high school courses to postsecondary opportunities and into well-paid jobs,”Dr. Sonja Brookins Santelises, CEO of Baltimore City Public Schools, said in a statement. “Students thrive when they can access programs that relate to the real world and capture their interests–and opportunities in technology fields clearly do both. This initiative linking public education, postsecondary education, and industry is a great step in the right direction for Baltimore’s young people.”
JPMorgan Chase is also partnering with Bloomberg Philanthropies on a career and technical education program in Baltimore.
The announcement comes during Computer Science Education Week, and as 10,000 Baltimore City students are getting an Hour of Code.