Bank of America Gives Northern Virginia Community College $1 Million for Jobs Initiative

November 19, 2020 / General NOVA News

$25 Million National Program Supports Programming, Re-skilling, and Upskilling for Students of Color; Includes Partnerships with Major Employers and Virginia Ready Initiative

Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA) and Bank of America have announced a new $1 million jobs initiative to help students of color successfully complete the education and training necessary to enter the workforce and embark on a path to success in Northern Virginia and throughout the Commonwealth. This initiative builds on Bank of America’s ongoing work in Virginia to address the underlying issues facing individuals and communities of color who have been disproportionately impacted by the current health crisis.

“Bank of America looks forward to working with NOVA and other employers in the DMV to identify needed skills and help create economic opportunity and a path to employment for qualified, well-trained talent,” said Larry Di Rita, Bank of America’s market president for Greater Washington D.C.

With the support from Bank of America, Northern Virginia Community College will develop new programs and enhance existing ones to meet specific skills gaps, creating higher paying, family-sustaining jobs that are in demand. Bank of America will work alongside employers in Northern Virginia and around the Commonwealth to ensure these programs target specific hiring needs and create a clearly defined career pathway to future employment.

So far in 2020, Bank of America has provided more than $3 million in job-initiative grants to nonprofits that are connecting individuals to skills and employment in Northern Virginia and Greater Washington, D.C. Of that total, 90% has been donated to organizations led by people of color or which predominantly serve people of color.

In September 2020, Bank of America began a strategic jobs initiative with the Virginia Ready Initiative, which seeks to re-skill Virginians for in-demand employment through training assistance and credential achievement awards. Currently, more than 100 scholars across the Northern Virginia region and more than 500 across the Commonwealth are being re-trained for the workforce through VA Ready. The top three credentials include Medical Assistant, CompTIA A+, and certified Billing and Coding.

These initiatives are part of the bank’s recent $1 billion, four-year commitment to advance racial equality and economic opportunity, and its $25 million commitment to enhance up-skilling and reskilling for Black/African American and Hispanic-Latino individuals.

The $25-million nationwide initiative includes partnerships with nearly two dozen community colleges that serve predominately Black/African American and Hispanic-Latino students, public historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and public Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs). Bank of America is also partnering with and providing funding to the Aspen Institute to convene the participating higher education institutions for technical and programmatic assistance and to share best practices.

Today, less than 40 percent of community college students earn a certificate or degree within six years of enrollment. Nationwide, 70% of community college students face housing or food insecurity, which can lead to deceleration in enrollment. Coupled with how communities of color face many barriers to resources, this often leads families to turn to community colleges for the first and best chance at an affordable education. NOVA, an institution with one of the most diverse student populations in the nation, continues to innovate to alleviate these barriers to student success with the combined partnerships to workforce programming and wraparound services for students.

Nationally, for students of color, graduation and completion rates are particularly low – 28.8 percent for Black students and 37.1 percent for Hispanic students. Although HBCUs and HSIs are a mix of public and private institutions, the ongoing challenges brought on by COVID-19, have exacerbated minority-serving institutions’ financial struggles as they seek to serve students from the most vulnerable communities.

“NOVA is honored to have received this important and impactful grant from Bank of America,” said Anne M. Kress, president of NOVA. “NOVA is committed to ensuring that every student achieves and every community prospers, and with this investment, we will connect even more students to in-demand workforce pathways that lead to meaningful, sustaining careers, ensuring that the full diversity of our community is supported with the resources they need to achieve. We thank Bank of America for this grant and for their dedication to closing income and opportunity gaps.”

With the support from Bank of America, Northern Virginia Community College will develop new programs and enhance existing ones to meet specific skills gaps, creating higher paying, family-sustaining jobs that are in demand. Bank of America will work alongside employers in Northern Virginia and around the Commonwealth to ensure these programs target specific hiring needs and create a clearly defined career pathway to future employment.

“While it was easier for jobseekers to secure employment in our pre-COVID economy, it still wasn’t ‘easy’; many people, especially those in communities of colors, struggled to find sustainable jobs due to the disconnect between education and industry,” said Caren Merrick, CEO of VA Ready. “We are so grateful to Bank of America for not only helping make the future workforce more accessible, but helping Virginians whose employment has been disrupted by COVID-19 gain new skills and brighter future through better, more resilient jobs and career paths.”

Focused on advancing economic mobility, Bank of America also recently announced:

About Bank of America
At Bank of America, we’re guided by a common purpose to help make financial lives better, through the power of every connection. We’re delivering on this through responsible growth with a focus on our environmental, social and governance (ESG) leadership. ESG is embedded across our eight lines of business and reflects how we help fuel the global economy, build trust and credibility, and represent a company that people want to work for, invest in and do business with. It’s demonstrated in the inclusive and supportive workplace we create for our employees, the responsible products and services we offer our clients, and the impact we make around the world in helping local economies thrive. An important part of this work is forming strong partnerships with nonprofits and advocacy groups, such as community, consumer and environmental organizations, to bring together our collective networks and expertise to achieve greater impact. Learn more at about.bankofamerica.com, and connect with us on Twitter (@BofA_News).