Trilogy's Voila Foundation Partners With NetHope to Support Haitian IT Students and NGO Community

Innovative program paves the way to sustainable job creation

BELLEVUE, Wash., Oct. 25 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Trilogy International Partners' Voila Foundation announced today a $50,000 contribution to support NetHope Academy's ICT Internship program in Haiti to create full time job opportunities for unemployed Haitian computer science students and provide the NGO community with much needed IT specialists to assist in their post earthquake re-building efforts.  The six-month paid internship program is housed at La Ecole Superieure d'Infotronique d'Haiti (ESIH), the leading engineering university in Haiti, and aims to place over 60 students in full-time employment at its conclusion.  In addition to the Voila Foundation, NetHope has received funding and support from Microsoft, Cisco and Accenture.  

Developed by NetHope Academy, the program is already underway, initially employing 36 interns who spent the first two-weeks participating in intensive boot camp-style classroom trainings at ESIH before being deployed to receive on the job training with the IT departments of 14 international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).  The program targets to provide educational opportunities for some of the most disadvantaged populations in Haiti including girls and natives of rural cities and addresses the country's dire need for skilled IT professionals.  

"The NetHope Academy and our member humanitarian organizations are giving these young people an incredible opportunity to get hands-on work experience, which will almost certainly guarantee them employment at the end of their internships," says Frank Schott, Director of NetHope Academy.

The humanitarian sector is facing a critical shortage of IT professionals in Haiti. NGO staffing has risen from 3,500 to 10,000 in-country employees, however the number of IT support staff has not been able to increase quickly enough to respond to their needs.  The already shallow resource pool of skilled IT staff was further depleted following the earthquake and severely limits relief and development efforts.  

Tanya Baskin, Executive Director of the Voila Foundation, said this imbalance creates good job opportunities for Haiti's youth and applauds NetHope's efforts to bring the right partners together to help fill a critical need.  "Sustainable employment is a critical part of the rebuilding process of Haiti.  The Voila Foundation is proud to partner with NetHope and the world's leading technology companies to provide long term sustainable job opportunities for Haiti's youth that also benefit the NGO community who are helping rebuild the country," said Baskin.  "NetHope's ICT internship program is a wonderful example of how the public and private sector can come together in a meaningful way to help Haiti move forward.  It represents the type of innovative, sustainable programs the Voila Foundation is seeking to support," Baskin added.  

The internship training will be geared towards desktop support functions, hardware maintenance and simple network administration. Those that accelerate through the core curriculum will be given ample opportunity to extend their knowledge through additional advanced courses, thanks to the contributions of Microsoft and Cisco who have contributed financial resources and training expertise to the program.  The NetHope Academy is housed at La Ecole Superieure d'Infotronique d'Haiti (ESIH) in Port-au-Prince, the leading engineering university in Haiti. The launch of the NetHope Academy coincides with the reopening of ESIH which was destroyed during the earthquake and features a newly installed Windows Multipoint Server lab.  

"Microsoft is inspired by these young people who have seen a lot in the last year, yet continue to pursue their dreams for jobs in the technology sector," says Lutz Ziob, General Manager, Microsoft Learning. "Cultivating skilled IT professionals is critical to the ongoing rebuilding of Haiti, which is why we're excited to work with these individuals to help them earn Microsoft Certified Professional certifications."

Amy Christian, Cisco Vice President of Corporate Affairs agrees. "Cisco and NetHope have been partners from the very beginning when NetHope was founded in 2001. We are proud of our work together and the Cisco Networking Academy stands ready to support NetHope and these young people that just need a chance."

You can learn more about the program at www.nethope.org/academy.  

About NetHope

NetHope, Inc., which started in 2001, is a new-generation collaboration of the international community's leading nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) representing over $33 billion (USD) of emergency relief, human development and conservation programs in more than 150 countries. Through member collaboration and by facilitating public-private partnerships with major technology companies, NetHope enables members to leverage their technology investments to better serve their end beneficiaries. For more information, visit www.nethope.org.

About the Voila Foundation

For over a decade, Voila, one of Haiti's leading wireless communications service providers, has been committed to improving the lives of the Haitian people through youth and education initiatives supported by the Voila Foundation, now an independent 501(c)(3) tax-exempt charity in the United States. In December 2009, Voila and parent company, Trilogy International Partners, based in Bellevue, Wash., received the prestigious "Award for Corporate Excellence" from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in recognition of Voila's record of corporate social responsibility in Haiti.  Following the tragic earthquake on Jan. 12, Voila and Trilogy, through The Voila Foundation, will fund initiatives that provide immediate relief to the homeless and injured and to underwrite programs that will deliver lasting social benefits.

Trilogy International Partners, LLC

Trilogy International Partners, LLC (Trilogy) is a privately-held company based in Bellevue, WA. Trilogy invests in wireless telecommunication operations in international markets that exhibit strong opportunities for significant growth. Trilogy and its businesses owns wireless communications systems in Haiti, Dominican Republic, Bolivia, and New Zealand, holding licenses to provide wireless services to over 31 million people.  For more information on Trilogy, please see its website: www.trilogy-international.com.

SOURCE Trilogy International Partners