NPower moves people like Cassandra Wong from poverty to prosperity by launching tech careers for veterans, their spouses, and young adults (aged 18-26) from underserved communities.
Cassandra joined the Army in 2005 as a way to break free from the poverty she’d known her whole life. After serving her country for more than 11 years, including two deployments to Afghanistan, she found herself struggling to transition back to civilian life. Despite having picked up tech experience and skills during her military career, she couldn’t seem to secure a job that paid enough to support her family and faced a return to the abject poverty she’d enlisted in military service to escape.
While many veterans, like Cassandra, received extensive tech training in the military and possess the hard-won leadership abilities that are in such high demand by employers, too many fail to secure employment or otherwise fall through the cracks. NPower helps providing the specialized training, comprehensive wraparound supports, and job placement that will prepare them for, and make them indispensable to, today’s leading tech employers.
Cassie learned about NPower through her local Department of Veterans Affairs and couldn’t believe the program was free. Following her training, she was offered a paid apprenticeship at one of NPower's employment partners, and, later, a full-time permanent job. With the training and certifications from NPower, her salary has more than doubled, laying the foundation for financial independence and mobility, and an end to her family’s generational cycle of poverty.
Through intensive skills training in IT, real-world experience in paid technology internships, social support, technical certification, professional development, and access to network building and mentorship, NPower graduates are prepared to launch tech careers and pave their own way to financial freedom.
North Texas is a Tech Hub
Tech jobs are in high demand in North Texas and their salaries provide a thrivable wage. 100% of NPower trainees are unemployed or underemployed at time of enrollment. In 2022, trainees started our program earning an average wage of $19,020. Graduates secured permanent IT roles at a range of corporate employers in North Texas, achieving an average salary of $66,659 at their first job post-program, a 351% increase.
North Texas is one of the fastest growing economies in the United States. DFW ranks 5th among metros for its IT jobs concentration, at 274,000, and 2nd for growth in IT jobs since 2016. In the August 2023 CompTIA Tech Jobs Report, Dallas was the #3 Metro area in the country for tech job postings
While tech jobs are in high demand, many workers without post-secondary credentials face diminished job prospects.
Veterans, Their Spouses, and Young Adults Need Our Support
Unfortunately, Cassandra's story is an all too familiar one. Eight of ten veterans leave military service without a job. Mental illness (14-16% struggle with PTSD or depression), housing insecurity (veterans are 50% more likely to become homeless than the rest of the population), and an overall sense of disconnection and loneliness only serve to compound these challenges. Moreover, 24% of military spouses are unemployed, sacrificing their career for their spouse’s military service.
North Texas is home to 1.3 million veterans -- a full 8% of the state’s population. More soldiers transition from active duty to the civilian workforce here than any other state in the U.S.. At the same time, Dallas-Ft. Worth boasts one of the top tech ecosystems (the area ranks fifth nationally for tech-sector employment) with one of the highest job growth rates (3.8% annual job growth vs. 2.6% nationally) of anywhere in the country. All too often, veterans’ expectations that they will quickly find meaningful post-service employment with family-sustaining wages are unmet by reality.
As for the young adult population, only 4 in 10 in Dallas possess a credential, associates degree or higher. Only a quarter of young adults in Dallas County earn a living wage, but that rate is even lower for Black and Latino residents. Recent research (advancing Workforce Equity in Dallas and Collin Counties: A Blueprint for Action) found that while Dallas and Collin counties have seen strong job growth, people without a bachelor's degree (a group that includes about three-quarters of Black and Latinx adults), there are still too few good jobs to go around. Among white workers, 86% are paid at least $15/hour, compared to just 61% for people of color.
With your support, NPower will provide tech training and job placement for low-income veterans, their spouses, and young adults (ages 18-26) from underserved communities. You help provide instructor-led technical training, social support, industry certifications, job placement, and ongoing career support to launch a career to improve life outcomes for themselves and their families.