KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Nonprofit Kansas City Scholars has received a $50 million grant from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation for its Great Jobs KC program, which will cover tuition for over 30,000 adults looking to enter careers that do not require a college education.
By 2032, the Great Jobs KC program will provide adults with training and credentials for careers through existing training programs, according to a release from KC Scholars.
“KC Scholars has always believed in lifelong learning, and with this catalytic grant from the Kauffman Foundation, we are excited to expand our offerings to adults who are looking for a career with upward mobility, but who may have lacked the means and support in the past,” KC Scholars CEO Earl Martin Phalen said in a statement.
KC Scholars says it will work to place adults in high-demand and high-paying careers paying $45,000 to $85,000. The program is focusing on industries such as the health care, information technology, construction and manufacturing industries.
The organization also says it is aiming to diversify the workforce, and says of the 32,000 individuals it plans to set on a career path over the course of the next decade, at least 20,000 will be people of color.
“Our grants are designed to support the region with common-sense alternatives in addition to robust support for two-year and four-year degrees. The KC Scholars grant will shape and catapult the region’s workforce preparedness for many years to come,” Kauffman Foundation Vice President of Education Aaron North said in a statement.
The program also will provide support for childcare and transportation.
“KC Scholars is cultivating the most reliable and diverse workforce pipeline for traditional and non-traditional students within our region. These efforts will upskill and help improve the workforce, which will better the quality of life and the socioeconomic path of our communities,” Phalen said.
