Today’s featured member, Brian McRae, Managing Director of the Seattle Campus of Per Scholas, said the organization’s mission is to advance economic equity through rigorous training for technology careers and to connect skilled talent to leading businesses.
Tell us about your business
Per Scholas is a national nonprofit that provides free tech training to those who are underrepresented in the tech field: women, people of color, immigrants, veterans, long-term unemployed, the underemployed as well as those formerly involved in the justice system. We prepare them for careers in tech by providing full-time, immersive, tech training in areas such as IT support, cybersecurity and cloud computing – all of which lead to industry-recognized certifications including COMPTIA A+, COMPTIA CySA, and AWS Cloud Computing. An important component of our training programs also include professional development comprised of resume building, creating LinkedIn profiles, mock interview training, career coaching and more.
Why did you join the Chamber?
As managing director, I joined the Chamber out of a need to build awareness of our program. Because our program also includes job placement support, connecting with business leaders in the greater Seattle area who continue to believe in and champion DEI is a vital component of our work. The partnerships that we build in the business community are the cornerstone of what we do. Many of our partners provide support in a variety of ways; from providing financial support, to employee engagement initiatives via volunteering, to hiring a graduate of our program.
What are you/is your business interested in or what do you need currently?
Our top priority is job placement followed by further broadening the awareness of our program. Connecting with small to mid-sized businesses that are willing to give our motivated and eager learners a chance to get their foot in the tech door and begin their roads to success in building lucrative, sustainable careers in technology. Our learners are open to contract, contract-to-hire or permanent roles at any type of company. All companies are not tech companies, yet all companies use technology and could use the tech support skills that graduates of our program have.
To learn more about membership with the Seattle Metro Chamber, please visit our membership page.
Thank you to Per Scholas for being part of the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce network. Here at the Chamber, we have 2,500 companies across the region and 13 different business sectors, from your favorite neighborhood restaurant to brands known around the world. Our member feature program is based on referrals. If you would like to learn more about how to be featured in our member features series, please contact Cori Lumens.