Byte Back plans to expand its tech inclusion work to Baltimore

D.C.–based tech inclusion organization Byte Back is planning to expand to Baltimore.
As one of 10 recipients of the initial round of grants from the TD Ready Challenge, the nonprofit received $775,000 (or $1 million in Canadian currency from Toronto-based TD Bank) to scale, according to our sister site Technical.ly DC, which has covered recent expansion by the 21-year-old organization that seeks to prepare people in underserved communities for jobs in the digital economy. Now the organization is looking toward new cities, and Baltimore is the first place where it will expand its classes offering computer training, IT certification and career preparation.

BIG NEWS: We just won $1 MILLION CAD💸 from @TD_Canada to expand!!! Baltimore, here we come!! https://t.co/wdHRXujh4V #techwithinreach #TheReadyCommitment @TDNews_Canada @TDBank_US pic.twitter.com/fGLk7pQH0n

— Byte Back (@We_ByteBack) October 24, 2018

“Thousands of adults are still struggling to succeed in the digital economy, and we cannot leave them behind. They deserve education opportunities, they deserve to fully participate in a digital world, and they deserve living-wage careers,” Elizabeth Lindsey, executive director of Byte Back, said in a statement. “We’re really dreaming now about what it looks like for our impact to expand to hundreds and thousands more people across the country.”
The organization is expected to be in Baltimore in 2019, with the goal of providing training to 72 adults next year.  Next week, Byte Back will begin recruiting a site director for Baltimore who will look to map strategy to identify accessible locations for the classes and partnerships with employers who can hire graduates, according to communications director Yvette Scorse.
“We will make sure we launch a sustainable program and plan to have continued success there for a long time to come,” Scorse said via email.