Project type: Virtual/short term
When: January to mid-March or mid-June to late August
Nationwide, half of college grads (ages 21-27) are unemployed or underemployed, including more than two thirds of black college grads. Even in the digital economy, a bachelor’s degree is not enough. We need social capital—connections, casual favors, timely referrals—as much as we need skills. These favors travel quickly and organically across strong and weak social ties, but rarely across racial or economic lines.
COOP closes the social capital gap by recruiting and investing deeply in diverse, low-income, and first-generation grads from the City University of New York, San Francisco State, and other urban public colleges. COOP’s flagship program is a unique digital apprenticeship: peer cohorts meet nightly for 16 weeks to learn technical skills, build community, and jumpstart careers in digital marketing and data analytics. Their mission is to overcome underemployment through digital skills and peer connections for underrepresented college graduates.
Project Opportunity: COOP Careers aims to grow through technological improvements, implementing new tools, and optimizing their current systems. COOP Careers is interested in leveraging a team of volunteers to help with:
- G-suite optimization
- Digital asset infrastructure
- HRIS and talent management systems
- Website/Database integration
- Salesforce optimization
- Integration of current applications/technology
Impact: This project will help COOP reach about 800 post-secondary learners.