Press release
ComEd Announces $450,000 to Launch Skilled Trades Program in Partnership with Four Chicago Catholic High Schools
Set to launch in fall, Powering Our Future program will expand STEM and skilled trades training for up to 1,000 Chicago students CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
About this update from Exelon Corporation
[{"type":"text","content":"\nSet to launch in fall, Powering Our Future program will expand STEM and skilled trades training for up to 1,000 Chicago students\n\n CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--\nComEd, in collaboration with Big Shoulders Fund and United Way Metro Chicago, today launched Powering Our Future – a new initiative that will expand skilled trades and STEM training at four Chicago Catholic high schools. To remove barriers to entry to energy and skilled trades careers, a new $450,000 investment by ComEd and parent company Exelon will pilot the program in schools located in historically underserved communities.\n\nBuilding on expansive STEM programming ComEd supports at Chicago Public Schools, this initiative will expand career pathways for women and minorities, who are underrepresented in STEM industries. Thanks to ComEd’s investment and support from local philanthropy, the new Powering Our Future program is set to reach up to 1,000 students over the next three years.\n\n“Women and people of color continue to be vastly underrepresented in STEM fields, but though our investments in workforce training and STEM education, we are looking to change that,” said Terence Donnelly, president and COO at ComEd. “At ComEd, our goal is to ensure our workforce matches the diversity of the communities we are privileged to serve, and that our ongoing and critical infrastructure investment serves as a catalyst to create jobs for local residents.”\n\nPowering Our Future will combine in-classroom and hands-on technical experience to help more students explore possibilities and build skills to work in key skilled trades in the energy/utilities, advanced manufacturing, and technology sectors. Powering Our Future is set to launch at four Chicago Catholic high schools in the Big Shoulders Fund network this fall:\n\n\nJosephinum Academy in Wicker Park\n\n\nLeo High School in Auburn Gresham\n\n\nOur Lady of Tepeyac High School, serving Lawndale\n\n\nSt. Francis de Sales High School, serving East Side and South Chicago\n\n\n“Big Shoulders Fund is thrilled to partner with ComEd and United Way Metro Chicago to not only build students’ knowledge of skilled trade fields, but also provide pathways to a wide variety of college, training, and career opportunities,” said Big Shoulders Fund President and CEO Josh Hale. “The four Big Shoulders Fund high schools participating prepare stud...