American Student Assistance Announces New Collaboration with IBM SkillsBuild for Its EvolveMe Digital Career Readiness Platform to Help Young People Build Valuable AI Skills

BOSTON , April 7, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- American Student Assistance® (ASA), a national nonprofit changing the way kids learn about careers and prepare for their futures, today announced the expansion of its EvolveMe® partner network with the inclusion of select IBM SkillsBuild® courses and content. Launched in 2023, EvolveMe is an award-winning, free, skill-building, and career experimentation platform that incentivizes young people to take actions that advance their career interests. IBM SkillsBuild is a free education program aimed at increasing access to technology education, including AI, helping cultivate talent and drive economic growth.

This initiative directly reaches teens ages 13-18 through a unique educational collaboration with ASA and Skillsline on EvolveMe. As part of this collaboration, EvolveMe users will have access to 20 learning activities from IBM SkillsBuild on topics like AI, UX design, and cybersecurity.

"Recognizing the growing demand for both technical and durable skills that make young people more employable, ASA is enhancing its EvolveMe platform through this partnership with IBM SkillsBuild to pilot bringing tech-based skill-building content to the Skillsline platform which teaches durable human skills," said Clay Colarusso, CMO and SVP of Digital Strategy, American Student Assistance.

"As AI continues to transform industries, there is a critical need to equip individuals with the skills necessary to thrive in this new AI era. Through this collaboration with ASA and EvolveMe, IBM SkillsBuild is providing personalized, accessible learning empowering young people with AI skills, setting them up for success in an increasingly digital world," said Lydia Logan, IBM's Global Vice President for Education and Workforce Development.

"We appreciate the opportunity to bring IBM SkillsBuild content into the EvolveMe platform alongside our own content, and know that the combination of technical and durable skills that students can access is key to their future readiness," said Courtney Reilly, Co-Founder of Skillsline.

IBM SkillsBuild learning activities on EvolveMe include:

• Applying Artificial Intelligence
• Introduction to AI
• Run AI Models with IBM Watson Studio
• What is Artificial Intelligence?
• Digital Literacy: What, why, and how of digital data
• A Taste of Agile: Fundamentals
• Making use of Agile
• Introduction to UX Design
• Applying UX Design
• Beyond Conservation to Sustainability

Coming soon to EvolveMe:

• Your Future in AI: The Job Landscape
• AI Ethics
• AI and Natural Language Processing
• AI and Computer Vision – Chatbots and Images
• Introduction to Cybersecurity
• Managing Projects in a Digital Environment
• Develop your Professional Brand
• Project Management - Project Essentials
• Project Management – Project Delivery
• Develop your Professional Network

IBM SkillsBuild offers a comprehensive selection of more than 1,000 free courses on topics such as AI, cloud, and cybersecurity. Most importantly, participants can earn IBM-branded digital credentials that are recognized by the market.

More on ASA's Award-Winning, Free Suite of Digital Career Readiness Experiences for Teens
When taken together, these digital experiences create a powerful ecosystem that can help students find what they're good at, what they can be paid for, what the world needs, and what they love. Starting in middle school, teens can explore careers through experiences like the Future Network, a series of original videos that spans five categories and follows Gen Z as they explore and learn about different careers from industry professionals; and Futurescape®, a mobile-first experience that enables career exploration aligned with teens' interests and strengths. As teens continue their journey through high school, they can build career-ready skills and experiment with fields of interest using Next Voice™, a digital youth advocacy platform that empowers kids with the durable skills they need to effectively make change for the issues and causes that impact their futures; and EvolveMe, co-created with input from thousands of young people.

About American Student Assistance® (ASA)
American Student Assistance® (ASA) is a national nonprofit at the forefront of changing the way kids learn about careers and prepare for their futures through access to career readiness information and experiences for all. ASA helps middle and high school students to know themselves—their strengths and their interests— and understand their education and career options so that they can make informed decisions. ASA fulfills its mission–in schools and beyond the classroom–by providing free digital experiences, including Futurescape®, Next Voice™, and EvolveMe®, directly to millions of students, and through advocacy, impact investing, research, thought leadership, and philanthropic support for educators, intermediaries, and others. ASA fosters a generation of confident, crisis-proof young people who are ready for whatever path comes next after high school. To learn more about ASA, visit www.asa.org/about-asa.

SOURCE American Student Assistance (ASA)