Illinois Reboot: Application Now Open for Free Tech Skills Training Course
Program Hosted by University of Illinois Research Park and Powered by American Family Insurance
Applications are now being accepted for the fourth cohort of a unique tech training program that aims to build a more inclusive tech workforce in Central Illinois.
Illinois Reboot is a free, live virtual course created and presented by the University of Illinois Research Park and powered with sponsorship support from American Family Insurance.
The fourth cohort will begin in March 2022, and training will be delivered via Zoom during weekday evenings throughout March, April, and May.
The program provides participants with a foundation in data science literacy, along with coaching and mentoring from local tech professionals.
Women, people of color, and other people who are underrepresented in the tech industry are particularly encouraged to apply.
“This program aims help those seeking to pivot in their career path and enter the Central Illinois tech economy, which may lead to high-paying, stable careers in data science,” said Laura Appenzeller, executive director, University of Illinois Research Park. “We were thrilled with the results of our past three cohorts and can’t wait to welcome more students as together we work toward a more equitable and innovative tech workforce.”
The 9-week program teaches participants about coding languages and programs, specifically UNIX, GitHub, SQL and Python. It also connects them with career counseling and will network them with Central Illinois employers looking for qualified applicants for tech roles.
The Spring 2021 cohort was 53 percent female and 63 percent underrepresented populations in tech, with a 93 percent graduation rate.
Illinois Reboot “opened my eyes to the many different programming languages that I didn’t even know existed,” said Anita Hines, who successfully graduated as part of the spring cohort.
Corporate partners, including Carle, Caterpillar, Wolfram Research and Yahoo, have been an integral part of the program by teaching topics and giving career advice.
“The directionality of where we are headed to be a more inclusive technical society is fantastic,” said Phil Rowell, Vice President of Clinical & Business Intelligence, Carle Health System, who actively participated in the program.
The program is free thanks to grant funding from the U.S. Economic Development Administration. Additional resources from American Family Insurance will allow Illinois Reboot to fund scholarships for students to pursue more training after successful completion of the course.
The deadline to apply is February 28.
More information is available at ILLINOIS REBOOT: A Coding Pre-Academy – Research Park.