People with Disabilities Earn IT Certifications & Are Ready for Jobs!
Adelante celebrated their first DiverseIT graduates on July 8, 2021. Six people with disabilities earned IT certifications through the DiverseIT training program. Each was recognized at a graduation event and luncheon hosted by Adelante.
Congresswoman Melanie Stansbury was the keynote speaker at the graduation. She also presented the certificates and offered her congratulations to the trainees. The families of DiverseIT graduates were there to cheer everyone on. DiverseIT supporters and funders from Comcast, the City of Albuquerque, and Wells Fargo were also on hand.
The DiverseIT Graduates
Victoria Bustamante, Joshua Chacon, Eric Givens, Kobe “Bear” Romero, and Rand Porter-Park successfully completed Google IT Certification. Nathan Hardman completed the COMPTIA A+ Certification.
All of the DiverseIT graduates completed professional development training to help them find and maintain employment in the IT field. Each faced unique challenges due to their disabilities. But, every graduate had positive attributes that helped them to be successful, too.
Watch the entire graduation celebration! (jump ahead to the 35 minute mark to see the actual ceremony)
Adelante is Proud of DiverseIT Graduates
Adelante President/CEO, Rebecca Sanford, congratulated the DiverseIT graduates and honored their hard work. She said this kind of training can be a doorway to great paying jobs. Sanford talked about Adelante’s desire to improve employment outcomes for people with disabilities. Adelante has been working on job training for over 40 years. The priority is to help people with disabilities find jobs in the community. It is important work. Only 19% of people with developmental disabilities are participating currently in the U.S. work force.
Sanford asked the audience to imagine what the community could look like if the economy was truly inclusive. “What if the unemployment rate for people with disabilities mirrored that of the overall population? This is our definition of success for Adelante’s work in moving our community forward. The graduates we are recognizing today represent that vision becoming a reality. We believe participating in and being trained in the field of technology, starts to bridge the gap for people with disabilities being able to fully participate in the workforce.”
To continue, Sanford asked for the public to support DiverseIT by using their training and computer repair services. She asked local businesses to hire people with disabilities, including the DiverseIT graduates.
Adelante is among the largest social service nonprofits in New Mexico. The organization has won multiple national awards for their work. Employment services for people with disabilities is a key part of Adelante.
DiverseIT is the newest employment program in the organization. It was started, in part, because tech wages are higher than most fields. IT is also growing more quickly than other job sectors.
Hire Our DiverseIT Tech Grads!
Adelante is working with local businesses to find job placements. That is true for these DiverseIT graduates, as well as those who finish the training in the future. (Not to mention people coming to Adelante for Supported Employment services who have other skills.) If you are looking to hire someone for your tech needs, reach out to us at info@DiverseIT.org.
Adelante believes that better IT solutions will be developed when people from all walks of life are in the IT field. That includes people with disabilities, seniors, and people of color.
DiverseIT is Looking for it’s Next Cohort of IT Trainees
Now, DiverseIT is looking for its next group of people with disabilities to provide valuable IT training. If you or someone you work with has a disabling condition, preferably with DVR funding, and is interested in learning more about the IT field, please reach out to the DiverseIT team at diverseit@goadelante.org.
Ours is a full-service program that includes far more than just tech training. Adelante offers professional development skills that will help people be more successful in their work life, job development, job placement, and job support. You can also learn more about this training and this work at diverseIT.org. Thank you!
