SkillUp Coalition Launches Career Exploration and Short-term Training Platform to Support Dallas Job Seekers Ages 16-24

No-cost career navigation platform will connect youth to over 150 short-term credential programs and 16-featured careers in sustainable, high-growth industries

DALLAS, Dec. 6, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- SkillUp Coalition, a national collaboration of nonprofits, training providers, and employers, today announced its newest regional expansion to support Dallas youth ages 16-24 years old. SkillUp Dallas focuses on young adults transitioning to postsecondary learning and careers in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metro Area. The platform aims to help young job seekers explore and prepare for career paths that do not require a degree and find good-paying jobs that align with local industries expected to grow significantly in the coming years such as business, healthcare, supply chain, logistics, and tech. This project is supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Walton Family Foundation, Hersh Foundation, and Catalyze Challenge.

The newly designed SkillUp Dallas platform offers a free, labor market-aligned career navigation tool specifically for students interested in short-term, stackable credentials as a launching pad to stable, sustainable careers. The experience outlines 16 featured careers with in-depth career exploration, pay insight, and "day in the life of" work-style expectations.

Additionally, SkillUp Dallas curates more than 150 local and national short-term training programs from providers including Dallas College, Collin College, United Training Academy, Callas Career Institute, Northwest Phlebotomy School, University of Texas-Dallas, UA Local 100, and more. Additional platform features, heavily influenced by user feedback, allow individuals to filter and save training and careers based on time to train, location, program costs, industry, and average wages, providing transparency to a once cumbersome process. The SkillUp Dallas ecosystem also provides career coaching and both local and national resources to support any stage of the career journey.   

"For too long young people have been given limited postsecondary options as they transition to adulthood. SkillUp aims to expand that opportunity set by serving up navigation tools that help Dallas young people explore high-paying career pathways that don't necessarily require a bachelor's degree. In doing so, we hope to create savvy consumers of educational products and training programs, empowering young people to make more informed choices," said Elissa Salas, Vice President of Partnerships and Operations, SkillUp.

Career readiness remains a critical challenge for the Dallas-Fort Worth Metro Area with its rapidly growing youth population and five-year job growth outpacing the national average by 7%. Top employers in the area include AT&T, Bank of America, Lockheed Martin, Walmart, Baylor Scott & White Health, and Texas Health Resources.

Job seekers can access SkillUp Dallas career and training resources here. If you are a training provider, employer, technology & service provider, or nonprofit interested in joining SkillUp, please visit www.skillup.org/partners/.

Founded in July 2020, SkillUp Coalition is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that connects workers with the right tools, resources, and support so they can make confident career shifts, find quality living-wage jobs, and position themselves for promising career growth. Since its founding, SkillUp has connected 1.1 Million workers to career and training support throughout the country.

The coalition brings together over 90 leading organizations including training and education providers, technology developers, policymakers, employers, and philanthropies. In addition to its national reach, SkillUp operates local partnerships in the Bay Area, Los Angeles, Florida, Louisiana, Northern Nevada, Philadelphia, New York City, Ohio, Eastern Kentucky, and now Dallas.

SkillUp proudly advocates for an affordable, equitable, upskilling ecosystem that ensures every worker has high-opportunity employment. For more information, please visit www.skillup.org or follow on Instagram, Facebook, or LinkedIn.

Bloomberg Philanthropies invests in 941 cities and 173 countries around the world to ensure better, longer lives for the greatest number of people. The organization focuses on five key areas for creating lasting change: the Arts, Education, Environment, Government Innovation, and Public Health. Bloomberg Philanthropies encompasses all of Michael R. Bloomberg's giving, including his foundation, corporate, and personal philanthropy as well as Bloomberg Associates, a pro bono consultancy that works in cities around the world. In 2021, Bloomberg Philanthropies distributed $1.66 billion.

Since 2016, Bloomberg Philanthropies has invested $96 million in career and technical education programs for students. The program is built on the conviction that expanding career programs and pathways for students not heading directly to four-year college after high school is critical to gaining greater economic mobility and strong middle class career opportunities – and that states, cities, local businesses, and employers, training providers, and schools should work in close partnership to grow these training programs. Their current portfolio of career and technical education grantees includes both local and national models and to date more than 73,000 high school students have benefited from these programs. For more information, please visit bloomberg.org or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter.

The Walton Family Foundation is, at its core, a family-led foundation. Three generations of the descendants of our founders, Sam and Helen Walton, and their spouses, work together to lead the foundation and create access to opportunity for people and communities. We work in three areas: improving K-12 education, protecting rivers and oceans and the communities they support, and investing in our home region of Northwest Arkansas and the Arkansas-Mississippi Delta. To learn more, visit waltonfamilyfoundation.org and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

SOURCE SkillUp Coalition