The Bronx Digital Pipeline Product

The Knowledge House (TKH) is committed to increasing access to technology careers for low-income and underserved populations in the Bronx.

TKH’s proposed solution is the Bronx Digital Pipeline (BxDP). The BxDP is an innovative technology platform that builds strategic partnerships among workforce development nonprofits and higher education institutions offering tech skills training to Bronx-based youth and residents to build a diverse and inclusive tech ecosystem for the borough. BxDP will create more technologists and enable students to navigate high-paying tech careers and further job training opportunities.

The BxDP will positively impact the socioeconomic mobility of job seekers in the South Bronx. By launching BxDP, TKH is creating tech opportunities for low-income people who are often excluded. Additionally, the BxDP model has the potential to be replicated across cities and tech hubs across the country to ensure that low-income people have pathways into the tech economy.

The BxDP product provides a solution to increasing access to high-quality, affordable learning, skill-building, and training opportunities for those entering the workforce, transitioning between jobs, or facing unemployment. 

There is a critical need in the Bronx for innovative and effective technology training and career support for young adults ages 14-35. Currently, Bronx County has an unemployment rate of 25%. This year, in NYC alone, there are over 291,000 tech jobs, of which 44% do not require a bachelor’s degree, making these jobs more attainable for low-income young adults. However, the high costs of coding boot camps make them inaccessible.

The need for digital skills training has become even more significant due to COVID-19. The pandemic has disproportionately affected the employment outcomes of low-income people, people of color, and young adults. As more companies transition to teleworking, youth and young adults need the digital skills and training to advance their careers and secure employment. This shift to the virtual space has created a unique and urgent opportunity to offer proven virtual education and job placement services to new students, employer partners, and school partners.

The BxDP is an innovative tech product that builds strategic partnerships among workforce development nonprofits and higher education institutions offering tech skills training to Bronx-based youth and residents to build a diverse and inclusive tech ecosystem for the borough. The BxDP consists of four key components: 

1. A learning management system, called the Leaderboard, to help students codify their prior learning assessments and credits/credentials from other programs and schools into a common academic and career portfolio. 

2. A student resource website for all youth, young adults, and job seekers pursuing technical training, including an online Course Catalogue that compiles technical training program schedules offered by BxDP partners, and eligibility requirements in one portal.

3. An online jobs board with career management tools that support low-income job seekers, including a universal intake application; a smart resume tool; real time updates for employers; and tools for employers to access vetted talent. 

4. A virtual internship platform to digitize TKH summer programming and offer it online to youth and young adults in need of summer opportunities. 

The BxDP goal is to place 1,500 graduates in tech jobs earning more than $55,000/yr in the next decade. 

TKH serves low-income, underserved New York City youth and young adults, ages 14-35, who are often out-of-school or work and face cultural barriers to employment. TKH students have household incomes under $50,000 or receive government benefits such as SNAP, live in public housing or require housing assistance, are homeless, or are in the foster care system. TKH prioritizes services for students that identify as foreign-born or first-generation immigrants. Approximately 60% of participants identify as Hispanic/Latino, 30% as Black/African American, 5% as Asian, and the rest as Other.

TKH partners with local community agencies to serve marginalized populations. Through these partnerships, TKH customizes its offerings to meet their needs. TKH also hires alumni to teach technology skills to younger peers with the advantage that youth are taught by someone who looks like them. TKH alumni also advise leadership on how to improve programming and job services annually.

The BxDP will directly impact the socioeconomic mobility of job seekers in the South Bronx - one of the poorest Congressional districts in the country. TKH is enhancing opportunities for low-income young adults of color by providing training, support, and skills to secure employment and increase their earnings.

BxDP strongly aligns with the Challenge dimension to increase access to high-quality, affordable learning, skill-building, and training opportunities for those entering the workforce, transitioning between jobs, or facing unemployment. By delivering effective training, coding, and career placement, TKH moves the needle on creating systems change and closing the gaps in the education to employment pipeline. BxDP partners' training targets high school students at the beginning of career and college exploration, at-risk job seekers, and young adults who may not fit the traditional educational model yet still have the potential to become valuable tech talent.

TKH has a staff of 11 full-time employees, five part-time employees, and three contractors. 

TKH focuses on building a diverse, equitable, and inclusive organization for its staff and takes pride in building authentic, innovative, and effective solutions for our communities. TKH prioritizes services for students of color who identify as foreign-born or first-generation immigrants. Also, the student demographics fully reflect the population of the Bronx, where TKH is headquartered.  

Furthermore, TKH is an anti-racist and anti-poverty organization. TKH is led by 11 staff and three consultants who identify as 100% people of color and live in or grew up in the Bronx.  1/3 of the staff are alumni of TKH programs and have lived similar experiences as the students. TKH is governed by nine Board of Directors, with more than half identifying as people of color. As an anti-poverty organization, TKH starts with financial empowerment as a strategy to uplift black and brown people and increase their access to education and employment opportunities.

The BxDP is an innovative solution because it utilizes technology to build a diverse, inclusive, and thriving local tech ecosystem. TKH executes its mission by ecosystem building: mobilizing educators and employers in the local tech ecosystem. TKH is strengthening the infrastructure that keeps young people employed during the pandemic and beyond, providing students and job seekers easier navigation of the school to work pipeline.

BxDP partnership represents every stage of our students’ talent development life cycle. BxDP connects TKH with Hostos Community College, Fordham University, Bronx Community College, Lehman College, Metropolitan College of NY, DreamYard, and Here to Here. Each partner contributes to the Bronx tech ecosystem by offering various academic and non-degree technology courses and granting community college credits or stackable credentials as a gateway to postsecondary education and career success. The model that we have developed can be replicated across cities and tech hubs to ensure that low-income people have pathways into the tech economy. 

Several organizations can be considered competitors of TKH and its programming, including Per Scholas, Pursuit, NPower, and Here to Here. Over the last five years, TKH has worked with these organizations to share best practices, refer students, and submit joint proposals or participate in learning communities. The difference between TKH and its competitors is that TKH primarily focuses on software development, design, and computer programming training, whereas other organizations focus on Information Technology Support. TKH also trains youth and adults, whereas other organizations serve only one age group (K-12 or adult job seekers). 

BxDP’s technology product includes four key components: 

1. A learning management system, called the Leaderboard, that helps students codify their prior learning assessments and credits/credentials from multiple programs and schools into a common academic and career portfolio.

2. A student resource website for those pursuing technical training, including an online Course Catalogue compiling technical training program schedules and eligibility requirements, as well as connections to human service organizations that can provide services like housing, food assistance, legal services, etc.

3. An online jobs board with career management tools that support low-income job seekers, including a universal intake application; a resume tool that uses machine learning to assist job seekers; real-time updates for employers, and tools for employers to access vetted talent based on skills by integration with our learning management systems skills badges.

1. A virtual internship platform (launched in 2020) to digitize summer programming and offer it online to youth who need summer opportunities using the above tools to serve summer interns. 

BxDP can become sustainable by leveraging technology to share best practices across program providers, student performance data, and an employer network. While students and jobseekers can access the product at no cost, TKH will charge employers a fee to list jobs on the board and also access talent for interviews. While TKH in the immediate is using philanthropy to host BxDP partners on the platform, TKH can charge license fees to other partners (training providers and colleges) outside of the Bronx. 

TKH would like to share a case example of the product. In the article you will read how students and educators at The Knowledge House collaboratively designed a technology platform, called the “Leaderboard”, aimed at addressing program retention challenges. It highlights how youth were involved at various stages of the design process.

Case Example

TKH has developed a scalable model for grassroots, technology-driven economic empowerment, and workforce development, driving economic growth in low-income communities. We believe the best way to create lives full of choices for low-income Bronx residents is through careers in the tech industry. To accomplish this, TKH cannot just teach coding skills; there needs to be improvement in multiple areas. TKH must ensure that meaningful change occurs in each of these areas to catalyze a real transformation.

• Skills development:  from elementary school (for exposure and practice) through adulthood (for jobs)

• Connections:  Internship placement, apprenticeship placement, gig placement, and ultimately full-time job placement

• Job creation:  More tech companies founded by and for people in the South Bronx, hiring from a local pool of talented applicants 

• Ecosystem change:  Closer ties between K-12, higher education and the private sector; create common standards for skills

BxDP sits under the area of ecosystem change. As TKH focuses on scaling and driving economic growth, funding will support plans to use BxDP at for-profits, nonprofits, and educational institutions. Scaling will allow TKH to link students to employers and supportive services, and support 1,500 emerging technologists secure a job earning over $50,000. 

The future growth plans for BxDP include placing 1,500 graduates in tech jobs earning more than $55,000/yr in the next decade. TKH will continue to scale annually until we serve 500 NYC students per year. 

Additionally, TKH will leverage its technology tools to provide critical support to job seekers and students during this pandemic and develop technology to support a long-term, systemic fix to the tech talent pipeline. We will launch key updates to our platform and use it to link at least 1,500 students and job seekers to 500+ nonprofits, postsecondary institutions, and employers. Starting in 2021, TKH will also launch our national expansion, replicating our programs in three cities. 

To measure participant progress, TKH evaluates student performance and will track the number of graduates placed in postsecondary tech training, college, and/or employment, the number of job applications submitted by students, and other metrics. TKH will also track the number of employer partners, and corporate volunteers engaged to guarantee that our curriculum matches employer needs.

TKH will measure product development progress by tracking: development sprints completed on time, number of testing engagements for each user type, number of beta users, the amount of data generated per user, average response time for technical and user issues, number of staff trainings, and number of student user help requests.

There are a few barriers that may limit the impact of TKH over the next five years. 

1. The uncertainty of COVID-19 and its impact on funding and programming. 

2. A market saturated with online learning platforms, such as Blackboard and Coursera, and TKH competitors utilizing online learning platforms. 

3. Refinement of a new business model for technology or launch of a joint venture which will require more due diligence and legal expertise. 

4. Daily cultural and socioeconomic barriers impacting the success of students completing the program. 

The plan to overcome the barriers described above is as follows: 

1. At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, TKH’s financial stability was uncertain. However, in May 2020, TKH was approved for a $250k Payroll Protection Program (PPP) loan, and since then, TKH brought in new funding that will allow us to close our books at a $1.8M budget. In 2021, TKH aims to operate at approximately $2.5M. Our 2020-21 coding programs are delivered entirely online in anticipation of a resurgence of COVID-19 cases. COVID-19 also presented us with new opportunities to learn and partner with local organizations, such as helping other community organizations transition their programs and services online for TKH to reach more applicants. 

2. Although the BxDP platform may not be profitable in the short-term due to market saturation, TKH is building the platform for community-based organizations. The need for local community programs to be held virtually, could lead to profitability in the long-term. 

3. TKH will consider launching a joint venture project with BxDP as its own entity and will do due diligence to learn how the product can be scaled and profitable overtime. . 

4. TKH programs address cultural barriers to employment by providing the following services: barrier removal support (e.g., technology, food, etc.), case management, financial literacy, job placement, job readiness assessment, mentorship, post-job retention services, resume building and/or interview preparation, and other support.

TKH would like to strengthen its data collection of alumni. TKH helps alumni find jobs; however, we want to capture data throughout their careers, including wages, where they are now on the career ladder, setbacks, and unemployment. Gathering this data will help TKH continue improving programming and outcomes for students and resources for alumni.

TKH is well-positioned to deliver BxDP because of its track record of high-quality, project-based and digitally delivered classes in software development, design, and project management. After six years of providing career placement support to our alumni as they enter the tech field, we know how urgent and vital it is that employers, tech training programs, and higher education institutions begin to collaborate on streamline training pathways, credentials, and hiring selection processes if we want to achieve a diverse tech sector. 

In addition, TKH currently uses digital LMS and online supplementary content to power in-class learning for students who need alternative pathways into the tech economy. Our LMS leverages technology to share student data across the other training partners in our ecosystem and align on taught competencies, stackable credentials, and transferable college credits. 

Furthermore, TKH’s work has been publicly recognized. Our CEO, Jerelyn Rodriguez, was recognized as a Trailblazer by the Community Resource Exchange, as a TED2020 Emerging Innovator, and was named to Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2016. In 2018, TKH won an Innovation Challenge Award from the Lumina Foundation and in 2019 won the Kapor Center’s Tech Done Right Challenge, recognizing BxDP as an innovative solution that strengthens postsecondary and career pathways. TKH programs have been profiled in publications by NYU, the Susan Crown Exchange, Research Alliance for NYC Schools, and in Center for an Urban Future's report Plugging In: Building NYC's Tech Education & Training Ecosystem. 

TKH collaborates with higher education institutions and employers through the BxDP, strengthening postsecondary and career pathways for local Bronx youth. Representing every stage of our students’ talent development life cycle, BxDP connects TKH to Hostos Community College, Fordham University, Bronx Community College, Lehman College, Metropolitan College of NY, DreamYard, and Here to Here. 

TKH has also partnered with government agencies like the Department of Education and Small Business Service’s Tech Talent Pipeline, university systems like CUNY, and stakeholders like JobsFirstNYC and the Workforce Professionals Training Institute. Recently, TKH’s CEO joined the NYCETC’s Board of Directors, and our Business Partnerships Manager graduated from the NYATEP Academy. TKH also served as an advisor to the Center for an Urban Future’s report on the need for NYC to build a Tech Education and Training Infrastructure.

In addition to TKH’s Chief Technology Officer and alumni, the BxDP product is co-developed by CinderBloc Software, a black-led tech startup that develops career management tools for students and jobseekers. CinderBloc Software  provides TKH and partners with powerful software to more easily, digitize career curriculum, centralize our data systems and create income from funders & employer partners. TKH’s CTO and alumni have built the LMS, while CinderBloc Software specifically has co-developed the jobs board and internship feature of the BxDP product.

Lastly, TKH is a member of various coalitions including Partnership for Afterschool Education, NYC Employment and Training Coalition, the New York Association of Training and Employment Professionals and the National Association of Workforce Development Professionals.

TKH and BxDP partners receive donations, grants, and contract funds to execute the job training programs. City agencies also hireTKH to offer customized training to participants. Additionally, with the BxDP tech product, TKH will have an opportunity to launch a new business line for employers. We can test an earned revenue model charging employers a fee to access our jobs board to list their open roles and interview talent on the platform. 

TKH is actively seeking funding to support the BxDP product. Since COVID-19, TKH has secured $450,000 in new funding. New foundation partners include the Robin Hood Foundation, Harman Foundation, Summerfield Foundation, the American Heart Association. TKH has increased its major gifts and received funding  from Reed Hastings, the Myerson-Wager Fund, and the Hoffman Family Foundation. The TKH board of directors has raised $60,000 of new funding through targeted outreach to individuals in their network. 

This fall, The Knowledge House launched a public campaign to raise $500,000 to support the 100 fellows served in 2020. To date, TKH has raised $220,000 towards this campaign goal, primarily by securing new corporate sponsorships with companies including JP Morgan Chase, Cloudinary, Alger, and Data, Inc.  TKH will raise $2.5M in FY21. Meeting our fundraising goal will require leveraging our existing employer and donor partnerships and pursuing new sources of revenue.

To date, TKH has raised $730,000 from the following organizations over the last 12 months for BxDP: 

JobsFirst NYC $25,000

Capital One Services, LLC $20,000

The Carroll and Milton Petrie Foundation $125,000

The New York Community Trust $150,000

JPMorgan Chase Foundation $300,000

Kapr Center - Tech Done Right  $110,000

TKH has a goal to secure $2.5M in FY21. Meeting our fundraising goal will require leveraging our existing employer and donor partnerships and pursuing new revenue sources. Of the $2.5M, TKH seeks to raise $500K in funding for the BxDP project.

Launching this tech platform will create the opportunity to serve more job seekers and successfully support them through the hurdles that currently exclude too many low-income people from securing work in technology. It will also enable us to test licensing as an earned revenue stream. If revenue from licensing and/or advertisements on the platform is not enough to sustain it, we will need to find other sustaining revenue sources like philanthropy or government grants. Those risks are tolerable, and the potential upside is huge for all parties: job seekers, schools, and employer partners.

The estimated expenses for this BxDP product is $100,000. The breakdown of funding specifically for Challenge is as follows: 

Personnel: 

Junior Developer (60% time on project) $40,000

Usability Testing Intern ($18/hr for 6 months) $10,000

CTO (20% of time on project) $20,000

CEO (15% of time on project) $20,000

CinderBloc Software (tech consultant)  $10,000

Subtotal: $100,000

TKH is applying for the Challenge grant to 1) grow the reach of the BxDP so that more technologists from the Bronx can navigate into high-paying tech careers and further job training opportunities, and 2) expand our offerings across NYC, beyond the Bronx, and to national partners who are all facing the same urgent need for tech solutions to move all training, internships & job seeking online. This work aligns with the mission of TKH and with increasing access to high-quality, affordable learning, skill-building, and training opportunities for those entering the workforce, transitioning jobs, or facing unemployment. 

The barrier Challenge partners can support TKH in overcoming is developing a business model. As described above, TKH must develop a business model as it considers scaling BxDP to national partners or launching a joint venture. It is essential to do our due diligence for how the product can scale to other communities. Support from Challenge partners will also help as TKH considers licensing BxDP and using the fees as another stream of income. 

To make BxDP profitable, we are looking to build an employer network of companies that will pay to access diverse talent from the Bronx. Our goals are to learn from employers what hiring needs they have in the future, how much do they spend on hiring and training entry level talent, what initiatives do they have to diversify their tech talent, etc. Ultimately, we want to learn how much employers will invest in accessing non-traditional talent and what business model fits this customer. 

Partnerships are critical to the success of the BxDP product. TKH would like to partner with company networks and employer groups like Tech:NYC, Partnership for New York City, the NYC CEO Jobs Council and the business commerce agencies. These groups can help us access employers looking for diverse tech talent. 

TKH will also look to partner with other digital skills training organizations like COOP, the Urban Wild, and Silicon Harlem to add their digital curricula to our platform. Beyond the pilot, TKH can form partnerships to offer digital skills training, like organizations that train in customer service or IT help desk. These partnerships would allow us to offer interns cross-sector.