First look: Boston nonprofit EdVestors gets $1.5M grant
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A clock at the EdVestors offices in 2019. Photo: Jonathan Wiggs/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
Boston-based nonprofit EdVestors is getting $1.5 million award to scale up its career pathways program that helps students prepare for the workforce.
The big picture: EdVestors is one of five regions getting $7.5 million from the Washington, D.C.,-based Pathways Impact Fund to help Gen Z students prepare for in-demand careers.
Driving the news: EdVestors, which has worked with Boston Public Schools for over two decades, plans to use the funding to expand its programming to serve thousands more students.
- The nonprofit plans to beef up its New Skills Boston program, launched in 2020 to offer career-based learning, accelerated coursework and advising for students interested in engineering, health care and other careers.
What they're saying: "Boston's young people bring tremendous assets, and it is our responsibility to help them see and pursue the full range of opportunities available," EdVestors CEO Marinell Rousmaniere said in a statement.
Zoom in: New Skills Boston has grown to enroll more than 3,300 BPS students — about 25% of students in grades 9 through 12 — in pathways dedicated to engineering, health care, biotech and, recently, computer science.
- EdVestors helped ensure that more than 1,600 BPS students, or 47% of the Class of 2025, completed an internship by graduation.
- With the new funding, Rousmaniere said she hopes to reach 50% of students in the next three years.
- She also plans to bolster networking opportunities, teaching students how to maintain connections with professionals they meet through the program.
Context: The award comes at a time when employers struggle with vacancies in high-demand fields, from nursing to advanced manufacturing.
- Meanwhile, students at BPS and districts across Massachusetts are falling behind in reading, math and other subjects.
- Rousmaniere says the program has helped students become more engaged in math, reading and other subjects, as they learn more about their real-life applications in the workforce.
Reality check: Some students enroll to get closer to their dream jobs, but the program isn't meant to be prescriptive, Rousmaniere says.
- New Skills Boston is designed to offer students a glimpse into what's possible after they graduate.
Case in point: A student who was interested in nursing got a firsthand look at what the job entails and passed out from the sight of blood.
- EdVestors helped her get an internship in a hospital's human resources department, teaching her that there are other ways to contribute to the health care sector.