A San Francisco Bay area program that combines free technology training and life skills lessons for disadvantaged young adults has graduated its first class of trainees. The nonprofit group is sharing its lessons of what worked -- and what had to be changed -- with other nonprofits and community organizations.
The founders of Street Tech, social entrepreneurs Paul Lamb and Doug Stein, told the San Francisco Chronicle that they hope their program can be a model for similar efforts in other communities nationwide.
The nonprofit effort offers free computer training, certification, and job placement to 18- to 25-year-olds in the area. The nine-month program requires students to attend four-hour classes four nights a week, plus a Saturday class. Successful students not only learn enough to pass a Microsoft Certified Professional examination, they also learn skills such as how to interview for a job, how to work with others in an office environment, and other points.
"Success depends much more on getting through the life stuff," Lamb told the Chronicle, which followed the progress of Street Tech's first class. "Computer skills are only about half of what Street Tech is turning out to be."
The first class started with 32 people. An estimated 40 percent were unemployed, and nearly a third were on welfare. Most of them didn't have computers at home.
Lamb -- who comes from a high-tech corporate background but also has experience helping at-risk youth -- hired career counselors, offered help outside the classes and listened as students talked about their problems, the newspaper reports.
Ultimately, however, half of the class dropped out. The nonprofit's staff reported a variety of reasons, including domestic turmoil, neighborhood violence, pregnancy, and other social problems.
The curriculum also changed during the nine months of the program, as students asked for fewer hours devoted to life skills, and more time devoted to programming lessons and other technical help.
But the story for these program graduates is positive. Most have jobs with local high-tech firms such as Exite@home, the East Bay Municipal Utility District and Providian Financial. Many have also received Microsoft certification.
Nai Fou Saechao, one of Street Tech’s first graduates, got a networking job that doubled his previous salary. "I never thought I would be in this industry," he told the Chronicle. "This has elevated me and given me hope."
Lamb is a business consultant and the former youth services director at the International Institute of East Bay. Stein was chief operating and chief financial officer of Pyramid Consulting Group and is now on the International Institute's board of directors.
The two men launched Street Tech with a $75,000 federal digital divide grant and an agreement with the city of San Pablo that let the service operate from a municipal center. They've since attracted donations from such companies as AT&T; Cable Services, Lucent Technologies, Nextera Interactive, TechSkills.com, and the U.S. Department of Education's Community Technology Centers program.
Street Tech has spearheaded another program, the East Bay Neighborhood Links (EBNL) collaborative, a group of local nonprofits and businesses working to develop a coordinated technology access network.
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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=
/chronicle/archive/2000/12/05/MNW42933.DTL
