Founded 1999 | Parent organization RWE Npower Holdings plc | |
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Subsidiaries Npower Cogen Trading Limited Similar The Heckscher Foundati, Per Scholas, TechSoup Global, NTEN: The Nonprofit Technolo, Year Up Profiles | ||
NPower is a national nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that provides training for careers in Information Technology to military veterans and young adults from under-served communities. They seek to empower members of under-represented groups to pursue technology careers by teaching the techical and professional skills demanded in the workplace, and engaging with businesses, volunteers and other nonprofits. The organization currently operates in New York City, North Dallas, the San Francisco Bay Area, Baltimore, Toronto, Jersey City, and St. Louis.
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NPower is supported by grants from a range of companies and foundations as well as through its own revenue-producing programs. Grant making organizations that support NPower include Citibank, Morgan Stanley and Symantec. NPower has a board composed of members drawn from its largest corporate sponsors.
Programs and Services
The NPower signature training model includes:
Tech Fundamentals – A 22-week program consisting of 15 weeks of in-class instruction and professional skill-building followed by a seven-week paid internship. Coursework focuses on basic IT competencies needed for entry level IT employment.
Advanced Certifications – They offer multiple paths for advanced IT coursework including Cybersecurity, Coding and IT Service Management.
NPower provides a range of social service support (housing referrals, clothing donations, travel assistance, etc.) to students during their tenure in the program.
History
NPower was founded in 1999 as NPowerNY to help nonprofits in New York with their technology needs including training and infrastructure support. NPowerNY set up Technology Service Corps (TSC), a training organisation, with its first class of 4 students completed courses in 2002 after an internship at NPowerNY or on of its nonprofit clients. NPowerNY was one of a number of NPower affiliates founded by Microsoft. The affiliate network was run by NPower Seattle.
By 2006 NPowerNY had trained 90 students and had developed IT Basic, a managed service offering for nonprofits. NPowerNY had also begun to help nonprofits with their CRM and case management application development through an earned income consulting and solutions practice. In 2007 NPower Seattle transferred the NPower headquarters to NPowerNY, by then the largest of the 12 affiliates in the network.
NPowerNY’s primary funders were a few foundations funding TSC and 3 corporates funding overhead and the losses in the earned revenue businesses (ITBasic and Consulting & Solutions) – Microsoft, the original founder and largest sponsor (at a total level of almost $2M in 2007), JPMC and Accenture. All agreed the current business model was not sustainable and Microsoft indicated their intent to significantly reduce their role and funding.
A new CEO, Stephanie Cuskley, was hired in 2009 to develop and launch a new NPower strategy focused on attracting new, sustainable funding and scaling NPower’s impact. The remaining NPower network affiliates separated to pursue differing strategies. Of the original 12 affiliates 4 remained - 501cTech in DC, TechImpact in Philadelphia, TechBridge in Atlanta, and Apparo in Charlotte.
FoundationConnect was built and launched as a product in late 2009 to address the needs by foundations to manage their grant-making process. Simultaneously NPower began reducing its consulting business. FoundationConnect was sold to roundCorner, Inc, in 2014.
IT Basic continued to expand its customer base and focused on reducing costs by among other things outsourcing its help desk in order to try to achieve a breakeven financial position. NPower exited the business in late 2012 / early 2013.
TSC, relocated to Brooklyn and trained a further 150 students per year. In 2011 TSC opened a new location in Harlem and launched the TSC Advisory Council in 2013 to accelerate program improvement. In 2013 TSC expanded its efforts to Dallas-based veterans and launched plans for expansion to serve San Francisco veterans.
The Community Corps (TCC), a volunteer matching portal, was developed. TCC, launched in late 2010, was initially focused on matching nonprofits to skilled volunteers. In early 2013 TCC’s focus was formally expanded to include sourcing volunteers to help with NPO mission delivery. TCC currently focuses on helping nonprofits source volunteers for 3 primary causes – NPO Capacity Building (TCCs initial focus), Women in Technology (to increase the number of women and girls in Information Technology), and Youth and Education (to increase the number of STEM students and improve teach through improved technology fluency and capacity.
Between 2015 and 2016, NPower opened new locations at Alameda and San Mateo in the San Francisco Bay Area, as well as a new location in Baltimore, Maryland. Partnerships were set up with colleges and universities in the areas, including the University of Maryland Biopark and the College of San Mateo.
In 2015, NPower began a new service called TechCareer Accelerator that connects Software as a Service (SaaS) professionals to students who wish to obtain certifications in the field. TCA currently operates in New York, New Jersey, Alameda and North Texas.
In 2014, NPower announced a partnership with Symantec, offering the new service Symantec Cyber Career Connection (SC3). SC3 currently operates in New York, and in 2015 it was expanded to North Texas to reach veterans.
NPower expanded in New Jersey in 2015, opened a "Corps class" for under-served young adults and introducing a TechCareer Accelerator class during the summer. It trained its first class in December 2015.
Events and Fundraisers
NPower hosts an annual fundraising Gala in Manhattan. Other events include regional graduations each summer and winter.