A program that aims to build a new and more diverse tech workforce for Tulsa officially kicks off Monday with its first group of students.
The Cyber Skills Center — an initiative of Tulsa Community College, Tulsa Innovation Labs and other partners — begins with two 24-week, all-online “boot camps,” one focused on cybersecurity and one on data analytics.
Ahead of Monday’s start, the students — 40 in all, with 20 in each camp — gathered in person at TCC’s Northeast Campus last week to meet each other and receive some last-minute encouragement.
The program is free to all participants and is aimed especially at underserved groups.
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“What we need in Tulsa is a diversity of talent and for the tech sector to grow. And that’s you, all of you here tonight,” Jeremy Wade, center director, told the students last week.
“Tulsa has been a beacon of economic opportunity, but that opportunity was not fairly accessible, and the results and the rewards of those opportunities were not fairly equitable. What’s exciting is that’s changing.”
The boot camps, provided by online learning platform edX, accelerate the training process and will be followed upon completion by paid apprenticeships. Participants gain the skills needed to go directly into jobs in cybersecurity or data analytics and also, if they choose, to pursue a related college degree.
Over the next three years, the program could potentially serve more than 200 Tulsans, officials said, and become a model nationally for how tech growth can serve a diverse group of residents.
Among the first students, Levi McLeod said he started at TCC with the intention of going into nursing but then realized the field wasn’t for him. The cyber center was announced at just the right time, he said, as he was considering his options.
“I’ve always been interested in technology,” McLeod said. “I don’t have any relevant experience, so the opportunity to be immersed in this new world with all these new people that I can collaborate with and learn from — I couldn’t pass it up. I’m excited to see what will come out of it.”
Fellow student Leah Nash already has a degree in sociology and a job as a contract administrator. She thinks some data analytics knowledge and experience could open more doors.
“I think it’ll be a good way to add value in my current position and just kind of explore a little bit more,” she said.
One aim of the program is to make education and career transitions more accessible, officials said. To do that, various wraparound services are provided, including child care, transportation stipends, coaching, job readiness support and other services.
Program officials worked with nearly 30 area nonprofits and other community partners to gain feedback and recruit students for the program.
New student Billy Miller has a background in software development “but left that world for more stable money doing contract work,” he said. “Now I’m at the point in my life where I’m ready to get back into technology.”
One of the appeals of the cyber center program for him was the people, he said.
“All this stuff can be learned on the internet by yourself if you have the interest, but having other people to learn with is super-beneficial,” Miller said. “That’s exciting to me — having others around me, having somebody else to talk to if you run into a wall.”
Pete Selden, TCC vice president of workforce development, told the students: “We’re excited to see what you do with this opportunity — the great jobs that you’ll get, the great friendships and relationships that you’ll make. You’ll help us make Tulsa a better place to call home.”
Wade added: “It’s an exciting moment for Tulsa. I think there’s a momentum of positive change that’s building.”
The inaugural Cyber Skills Center boot camps run through April. The program will begin taking applications in March for the next group of students, officials said.
More information is available at tulsacc.edu/cybercenter. Interested potential participants can sign up there for email alerts.
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