After forming part of NESsT's publication Closing the Talent Gap of the BPO/IT Industry in Poland, Coders Lab decided to launch their own social enterprise to make their programming lessons available to youth from underprivileged backgrounds.
Many young people in Poland undertake work where development opportunities are limited or remain unemployed entirely because they are unable to meet the desired qualifications of the labor market. In particularly difficult situations are the young people leaving foster care and government institutions. Faced with the need to become independent, they give up on further education in favor of low quality jobs available. Without prospects for further professional development, they remain in at risk of marginalization.
At the Coders Lab Schooling Program, young people at all levels of education learn programming from scratch, enabling them to work in IT. Coders Lab founded the "Keep Up the Pace" Foundation to implement the professional education program, Możesz ITy, that will make it easier for homestay and foster home children to live independently. In addition to the programming course, young people will take part in soft skills workshops to help them develop effective communication, teamwork and time management skills.
NESsT supports Coders Lab in implementing this venture. With a $ 25,000 NESsT investment and non-financial support, Coders Lab is refining the business model of their social enterprise, establishing partnerships, measuring social impact, and piloting an educational program.
NESsT works with Coders Lab, Siedlisko and Dimpact under the NESsT Empowers program, which aims to facilitate access to decent and stable employment for people from marginalized communities. Through the program, NESsT invests in social enterprises that prepare people from these communities for employment. This is possible due to the cooperation of companies from the fastest growing sectors of the economy with social enterprises.
In response to the needs of employers, they collaboratively formulate vocational training programs for people without stable jobs. In addition to training, social enterprises also offer first aid and early career support and counseling. The program understand that it is social enterprises that are best prepared for the professional activation of marginalized people because they understand the social problems best and have a track-record of working with them. Thanks to the NESsT Empowers program, 3,500 have received employment or income opportunities to date. In the next five years our goal is double this number and support 7,000 people.
NESsT Empowers is an initiative whose implementation in Poland is possible thanks to the support of J.P. Morgan.
Video produced by Burban Film. We sincerely thank the El Passion team for their commitment to film production!