DE’s Pathways Program Receives Grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies

Delaware has received a $3.25 million grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies to expand access to economic opportunity for Delaware students.  Governor John Carney says the funding would help bolster the Delaware Pathways program.  That is for high school and post-secondary students looking to gain work-based learning experiences for in-demand careers – and to earn industry credentials and early college credits.

“Thanks to Pathways, education and workforce programs are designed to help young people take active steps to pursue continuing education and competitive employment,” said Governor Carney. “This generous grant will help Delaware continue its focus on in-demand occupations and where there is the greatest potential for our students to enter the workforce in middle- and high-skill occupations.”

The grant, which was announced Friday at the Fourth Annual Delaware Pathways Conference at the Chase Center in Wilmington, will support Delaware as it expands the Pathways initiative to accomplish the following by 2021:

• Expand career pathways, including the creation of a new regional pathway in health care and continued expansion of existing pathways to connect 20,000 students with in-demand careers ranging from manufacturing, finance, information technology.
• Launch a series of industry councils in partnership with the local business community to strengthen connections between employers and education and training programs.
• Expand the Office of Work-Based Learning at Delaware Technical Community College, with a goal to support 2,500 high school students and another 5,000 post-secondary students in work-based learning experiences in their field of study.
• Create instructional supports and teacher professional learning routines for the statewide computer science pathway in partnership with Zip Code Wilmington.
• Launch summer learning opportunities for youth interested in coding and computer science in partnership with Zip Code Wilmington.

  The Bloomberg Philanthropies grant, which will span the course of three years, comes on the heels of similar investments in Colorado and New Orleans in 2016.