Generation USA
Generation USA provides free, bootcamp-style job training and placement support to unemployed and underemployed individuals. In response to the massive layoffs caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, we innovated our services, drawing on learnings from our first five years of programming to enable an ambitious goal of training 500,000 people by 2030. Our formerly in-person programs and wraparound supports were redesigned to be fully online, while maintaining the high ratio of practice to instruction that is critical to graduate success. We’re targeting entry-level roles in technology that have both current hiring demand and projected continued growth. Finally, we’ve innovated our staffing model to allow us to support regional networks of community college partners to implement our programs at a larger scale and lower cost per participant, because it is clear that reskilling and reconnecting people to living-wage jobs is needed on a larger scale than anyone previously imagined.
The COVID-19 pandemic has destroyed livelihoods at unprecedented scale, with those least able to endure economic shocks most at risk. Mass layoffs have left vast numbers of jobseekers with no option but to change career paths, and cutbacks in retail and hospitality industries will disproportionately hurt young workers at the very start of their careers. The individuals we serve were already facing barriers to employment in the robust pre-COVID economy, so we know that an equitable and resilient recovery will require solutions that provide accessible pathways to careers with thoughtfully-designed social supports to help them overcome barriers that have been exacerbated by COVID-19.
While many industries are laying off employees in record numbers, a handful, including IT and healthcare, are struggling to fill roles to meet a surge in demand. There are currently 700,000 unfilled tech roles in the U.S., and software development jobs are projected to grow by 21% or nearly 300,000
jobs per year.
Generation USA has deep experience in crafting programs that deliver high (>80%) employment outcomes for the populations that are being hardest hit by COVID-19, and we view the current crisis as a call to action to do so at a much greater scale.
Generation - with a mission to transform education to employment systems to prepare, place, and support people into life-changing careers that would otherwise be inaccessible - is committed to accelerating equitable economic recovery.
Generation USA programs are built on a proven 7-step methodology that holistically addresses the needs of participants and creates positive return-on-investment for employer partners. From our inception, the end-to-end nature of our programs has been a deliberate design choice, seeking to address the main obstacles in the education-to-employment value chain. It stands apart from many other programs targeting employment outcomes through a single lever (particularly training, which is often incorrectly taken as synonymous with employment).

Our delivery model is built for scale, and we have developed a plan to expand to serve an annual volume of 60,000 learners by 2030, for a cumulative reach of 500,000 participants over 10 years. To achieve the scale necessary to meet the unprecedented level of need for reskilling and placement in sustainable careers created by COVID-19, we are focused on growing our Program Delivery Partner (PDP) model, embedding our methodology in regional coalitions of community colleges and innovating to deliver programming fully online.
Generation predominantly serves unemployed and underemployed people who are disconnected from the labor market and have struggled to find financial security. Of our learners to date, 60% are female and more than 85% are Black or Latinx. 41% have dependents (children or family members). Most are urban, although we also serve suburban and rural learners. On average, participants enter the program earning $512 from government benefits or part-time work.
In the context of COVID-19 recovery, Generation USA has identified three distinct populations in need of our support:
1. Those recently laid off with little prospect of re-employment. These learners will most likely be able to achieve employment once they’ve completed Generation as they have prior experience in the workforce and are most likely looking to transition to a new field.
2. Unemployed or underemployed learners looking to change careers. We anticipate a portion of these learners will use Generation as a springboard to continuing post-secondary education, completing a BS or AA in Computer Science while rejoining the workforce.
3. Generation’s traditional learners -- Opportunity Youth, 18 to 29 years old and disconnected from the workforce/education sectors, or those reentering the workforce. These populations, supported fully, are proven to benefit from Generation programs.
- Increase access to high-quality, affordable learning, skill-building, and training opportunities for those entering the workforce, transitioning between jobs, or facing unemployment
Generation USA was founded on research that surfaced many of the issues with existing education to employment systems that the Challenge seeks to address. Seeing the ways the events of 2020 have amplified these issues, we have demonstrated the nimbleness of our model by rapidly re-aligning to the most promising industries in the post-COVID economy. We have continued our commitment to breaking down the barriers to employment systemic racism creates by developing additional on-ramps to careers - paid internships and apprenticeships - and by continuing our work to shift employer mindsets and hiring practices.
- Florida
- Nevada
- New York
- Texas
- Washington
- Louisiana
- Ohio
- South Carolina
- Tennessee
- Florida
- Nevada
- New York
- Texas
- Washington
- Louisiana
- Ohio
- South Carolina
- Tennessee
- Scale: A sustainable enterprise working in several communities or countries that is looking to scale significantly, focusing on increased efficiency
Generation USA is now made up of 105 full-time staff, and is rapidly growing as we scale across the country. Additionally, community college partners will hire instructors and teaching assistants to implement the Generation programs beginning in late 2020.
Advancing equity and breaking down systemic racism and discrimination is core to Generation USA’s mission and culture. We demonstrate this commitment through the programmatic choices we make and internally by building a diverse and inclusive team.
It is one of our core beliefs to build an organization that mirrors the population we serve. As such, the diversity of our team is reflected in our staff composition: 55% are Black (61% program participants); 3% are Asian (7% program participants); 15% are Hispanic/Latinx (17% program participants); 24% are Caucasian (7% program participants) and; 3% Multi-racial. Additionally, we are in the process of establishing an equity committee led by a full time role to formalize our commitment to integrating and elevating principles of equity, belonging, justice, and diversity across all our operations and programs.

CEO