Greater Nashville Technology Council Recognized for Tech Education Programs, Presented by Tech Councils of North America (TECNA)
On August 8, 2022, the Greater Nashville Technology Council (NTC) won the 2022 TECNA Innovation Award for “Talent Pipeline and Workforce.” Technology Councils of North America (TECNA), which represents more than 60 technology associations across the U.S. and Canada, announced the winners of its third-annual Innovation Awards. The awards program honors tech council staff and team members who are integral to develop and implement innovative and impactful work on behalf of a tech association.
The NTC won the award for “Talent Pipeline and Workforce” which recognizes one or more team members who have developed innovative workforce or talent pipeline initiatives. Types of programs or initiatives may include: K-12 STEM, Higher-Ed STEM, CTE, Training/Re-Training, Apprenticeships, Internships, Job Portals, Mentoring, Coding and DEI.
The award highlights the work and leadership of NTC’s Sandi Hoff, Brenda Bonn, and Emily Bristow for “GO TECH” (Growing Opportunities with Technology), a program developed to upskill those who have the aptitude to learn tech through the IT Infrastructure Support Professional (ITIP) course. Thanks to the GIVE grant from the state of Tennessee, the NTC could provide the ITIP course FREE to a selected number of applicants from 2020 to 2022.
“GO TECH is a great example of how a community can work together to grow talent locally to add to the tech workforce,” said NTC CEO Elise Cambournac. “The NTC coordinates with community partners in underserved and underemployed areas to source applicants, education partners to create relevant courses to skill up the students, and hiring partners who are seeking to employ entry level talent and add diversity to their teams. We are proud of the hard work of our team to help skill up local talent and find them a great tech job.”
The IT Infrastructure Support Professional course starts with computer fundamentals with a deep dive into infrastructure (hardware components, operating system, software installation, network, and security). Upon successful completion of the class, students will graduate with an IT Infrastructure Support Professional certificate from the Nashville Software School, opportunities to earn CompTIA certifications (A+, Network+ and Linux+) and course credits (9 total credit hours) at Nashville State Community College or Vol State Community College to pursue an Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degree in the area of Computer Information Technology.
“This year’s nominees for the TECNA Innovation Awards showcase great examples of extraordinarily talented people working inside the organizations supporting North America’s technology industry,” said Jennifer Young, TECNA CEO. “It is a privilege to recognize the innovative and creative work TECNA members do throughout the year serving their member companies.”
___
For more information, please contact:
Alex Curtis, NTC, (615) 398-1884, alex.curtis@technologycouncil.com
About the Greater Nashville Technology Council
The Greater Nashville Technology Council is the leading voice and advocate for Middle Tennessee’s $8 billion information technology ecosystem; and the 60,000+ technology professionals who design, implement, manage, and safeguard the technology that powers our region’s economy. Our mission is to strengthen and advance the technology sector by bringing together companies, philanthropies, government, universities, and talent to create opportunity and growth. For more information, please go to www.technologycouncil.com.
About TECNA
The Technology Councils of North America (TECNA) represents approximately 60 IT and Technology trade organizations that, in turn, represent more than 22,000 technology-related companies in North America. TECNA serves its members and the industry through its strong peer-to-peer network and its regional initiatives to raise the visibility and viability of the technology industry. This is accomplished by empowering regional technology organizations and serving as their collective voice in growing the North American technology economy. More information on TECNA can be found at: www.tecna.org or @techcouncils on Twitter.