Eric Larson Posts

Two charitable organizations dedicated to changing lives through technology careers are partnering in the heart of the country.Per Scholas — a successful Bronx-based IT training organization in operation since 1998 — and the Creating IT Futures Foundation are combining for a full-court press approach to IT training in Columbus, Ohio. Both organizations are 501(c)(3) charities dedicated to changing lives through technology training and preparing graduates for paid apprenticeships and full-time jo ...

For the second year running, we are leveraging our IT communities to promote technology-related philanthropic organizations around the world. With grants around $5,000, the news is definitely worth sharing.The CompTIA IT Services and Support Community kicked off the 2012 philanthropy effort with donations of $5,000 each to the National Cristina Foundation and Per Scholas. If you haven’t heard about these amazing organizations, here you go: The National Cristina Foundation provides solutions to h ...

In America, we often like to quote that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Unfortunately, the effectiveness of prevention is hard for a government agency or a nonprofit organization to measure and prove. (It’s near impossible to count bad things that fail to happen due to a smart intervention.)So, instead, our society tends to fund expense mechanisms that react to problems once they do happen.Year Up is one of several workforce development organizations pointing to the new report ...

We were recently bowled over by the generosity of employees at Trend Micro, who reached down deep before the holidays to help veterans who are trying to make it in the IT field.Their generosity will help Creating IT Futures recruit more veterans to the IT-Ready Apprentice Program, which is launching in 2012.Including the Foundation in the mix of worthy causes just made sense, said Mike Menegay, who oversaw the giving program while he was employed as the company’s VP of Global Alliances."Trend Mi ...

A program that trains and places new IT workers in six-month apprenticeships is two steps closer to reality. Just before the holidays, the Foundation's staff traveled to Minneapolis-St. Paul and Cincinnati to meet with potential employers and non-profit partners in those cities about the Foundation’s new IT-Ready Apprentice Program.Charles Eaton (Executive Director), Pamela Green (Board Member), Colleen Robbins (Dir. of Development), and Amy Spear (Program Manager)The response was overwhelmingly ...

The New Life Organization (NEWLO) in St. John, Grenada, may not look like much of a computer training hub from the outside.But inside one of the school’s two computer labs, instructor Seldon Walker, 26, is walking a group of 11 young Grenadians through the CompTIA Strata curriculum. Here the students (most of them in their late teens) are learning about principles of customer service — central to any IT career a student could hope to attain.Seldon Walker got involved, in part, to reduce the stig ...

Diana Nyad is one of those people put on Planet Earth to make the rest of us look lazy.At age 62, Nyad recently attempted for the third time to swim the 103 nautical miles from Cuba to Florida.Her first two attempts ended short of the goal. She met with mishaps such as bad storms, an asthma attack and a shoulder injury.This time, things started out a lot more encouraging. A shark that threatened to put a stop to her swim got rebuffed by her helpful team. Her shoulder was strong; she was averagin ...

This will only take a moment: Vote online right now and bring significant attention to an innovative program that readies inner-city high schoolers for tech careers.Chicago Tech Academy is one of 75 finalists (out of 400 nominees!) for the Chicago Innovation Awards. Today it needs your help to get to the top 10.CompTIA and the Creating IT Futures Foundation have been supporting the school for several years. Placing in the Top 10 would give the school even more valuable publicity so it can attrac ...

There is a touching duet recently released by JayZ and Kanye West which expresses not only their admiration for themselves as rap artists, but their admiration for cars as well. (Though I'm being tongue-in-cheek, I have to admit I enjoy the song and video a lot.)Something we all have to admit: The music industry has done a very good job communicating what lies at the end of the rainbow for those who are successful in their business.Of course, the number of people who actually receive big money a ...

U.S. Route 101 that leads to Silicon Valley isn’t the only path to technology.One man aims to highlight just that —by pedaling his bike nearly 350 miles from Pittsburgh to Washington, D.C., while blogging about businesses that are embracing Web 2.0 and other cutting-edge technology.Of course, he’ll be using high-tech biking gadgetry like GPS, mobile apps and solar power, too.Tim Herbert didn’t initially think about having a theme for his ride; originally, he was just looking for a physical chall ...