A Q&A with Per Scholas’ Damien Howard

Per Scholas is a national tech training nonprofit active in 14 cities with 10,000+ successful IT job placements to date, according to the company. I recently caught up with Damien Howard, EVP of Social Ventures, to chat about:

• Building a diverse talent pipeline with high retention rates (retention of underrepresented groups is a perennial challenge for Big Tech).
• Making non-adversarial, business-focused pitches to corporate America on the merits of hiring from Per Scholas.
• Teaching soft skills to reduce culture shock when an employee enters a new industry.

My favorite quote from the interview: “Our students are problem-solvers due to their history of dealing with adversity. They come with this grit that can’t be taught.”

Read the full interview here. And if you’re a tech employer, check out the Per Scholas site.