Meet Patrice Madu | Managing Director

We had the good fortune of connecting with Patrice Madu and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Patrice, can you talk to us a bit about the social impact of your business?
Per Scholas fuels economic and social progress in communities across the country through technology education, access, training, and employer connections for individuals in these communities. Our training connects people with jobs that can help them launch careers with personal meaning, opportunities for advancement, and the wages needed to invest in their futures. Our graduates contribute to the community in the following ways:

Per Scholas has been a national leader in advancing economic mobility for 28 years. Our mission revolves around providing rigorous training, professional development, and robust employer connections to prepare individuals traditionally underrepresented in technology for high-growth careers. Racial and economic equity are fundamental to our approach, targeting low-to-moderate income adult job seekers, people of color, women, young adults, and those with at most a high school diploma or equivalent. We operate in over 20 locations across the country, training more than 25,000 diverse individuals since our founding, with nearly 40% being young adults (18-29), in tech skills at no cost to learners.

Our emphasis on IT as a route to economic stability is vital in Los Angeles. With over 264,000 residents currently unemployed, the abundance of tech job openings provides promising opportunities with competitive salaries and minimal educational requirements. Everything we do — training, talent solutions, corporate engagement — is designed to help more people from the LA communities we serve gain access to tech careers and all their economic benefits. Since our launch in 2023, Per Scholas Los Angeles has witnessed remarkable demand for our training, receiving over 2,000 applications from residents and over 850 applicants attending our admissions overviews. We officially launched our first training cohorts in February 2023. To date, 159 learners have enrolled across five training tracks: AWS re/Start, Cybersecurity, End User Desktop Support, IT Support, and Software Engineering, with 81% of learners in completed courses graduating. Our inaugural Los Angeles cohorts reflect Per Scholas’ historical demographics of learners from various backgrounds: 43% of our learners are young adults, 89% of our learners are people of color, 42% are women, and 50% have at most a high school diploma or equivalent.

Beyond our training, the impact on our graduates is job attainment and significant income growth. The average initial wage for employed graduates is $47,403 per year, an increase of $27,249 from the average pre-training wage of $20,154, showcasing the transformative power of our programs. Per Scholas Los Angeles will enroll 140 learners in 2024 and support the launch of tech careers for 80% of graduates, representing $3.9 million in new annual wages.

What should our readers know about your business?
Per Scholas is a full-time investment of time for our learners which set them up to reach job attainment and be an assest to any compnay, day one of their career. Our accelerated model allows learners to master the equivalent content of a two-year degree within 12-15 weeks and obtain a career in technology. Our curriculum is designed to be full-time and set with demanding expectations because we want learners to focus as much as possible on this process and because it allows for much higher completion and certification levels than a lower-investment, more extended model.

Our tuition-free training takes a holistic approach that fully prepares graduates for employment in the tech sector, with access to support services for two years post-graduation. In addition to technical instruction, about 20% of the learner’s experience focuses on soft skills like communication, collaboration, continuous learning, giving and receiving feedback, and career navigation skills. We match talented graduates to employers, providing career coaching throughout the process. We also offer alum programming focused on career pathway-specific upskilling, mentoring, and coaching to help alums identify and pursue advancement opportunities. Employers and key industry partners like AWS and Google help us design and deliver these longer-term interventions.

Our Learner Support Team (including licensed social workers and certified financial coaches) identifies and mitigates barriers that might impact learner success in training and employment. In addition to coaching and support, our Learner Support Team also connects learners to resources to meet both short- and long-term needs and referrals to partner organizations that can provide more in-depth services related to child care, housing, legal services, and other supports.

In addition, learners also benefit from comprehensive in-house financial capabilities and counseling from a full-time, expert Financial Coach. Financial coaches work with learners on debt management, financial goal setting, financial security strategies, understanding employee benefits, benefits to banking, free tax preparation, and more. The integration of comprehensive financial capability services allows us to work individually with each learner (and alums in need) to identify/resolve economic challenges that could impact the success and teach crucial skills such as debt reduction and asset building so that graduates can build a solid financial foundation before they enter the workforce.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Always Fly into Burbank Airport (less traffic) Eat: Elephante (Santa Monica Dinner)
Eat: Venice Beach Wines (Wine Bar)
Eat: Wabi on Rose (Sushi)
Hang Out: Getty Museum or Getty Villa
Hang Out: Warner Brother Studios Tour
Drink: Coffee & Tea: Romancing the Bean
Hang Out: Griffith Observatory for the views
Hang Out: Venice Beach
Eat: HiroNori Craft Ramen
Hang Out: Huntington Library and Gardens

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would like to give a shout out to all the Per Scholas learners, graduates, and alumni who take a chance on themselves and attend our intense training with a goal of creating a future in tech despite the odds against them in the tech field.

Website: https://perscholas.org/locations/los-angeles/

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/patrice-madu-0125a124a