Inspiring Success

When IT-Ready Apprentice Program graduate Ngina Baggett, 26, posed for a close-up this summer, she was a little bit apprehensive. “You’re going to put my photo where?” Just a few weeks later, her photo was on three billboards in Minnesota’s Twin Cities. “I love it!” said Baggett, who recently began a full-time technical support position that she credits IT-Ready’s training with helping her to land.

Born and raised in Peru, Edgardo T. Cornejo moved to Venezuela in his 20s and worked for eight years as a computer programmer. He passionately loved his work – and was, admittedly, quite good at it. “I can fix any computer – I don’t even have to open my eyes to fix a computer,” he said. “IT (Information technology) was my first career and it always been my passion.”

I had the pleasure of spending time with an inspiring IT-Ready graduate and her family recently. Linda is a graduate of the IT-Ready Columbus program operated by Per Scholas. You can watch her video story here. Linda is a marathoner, but it took her a while to realize she had a talent for long races. She attended Ohio State on a golfing scholarship and only started running after becoming a mother.

Until recently, Kathleen Brennan’s job was helping to sell GPS electronics to large retailers around the Twin Cities, MN. She’s still helping people locate a true direction, but in a slightly different way. Now Brennan is helping them find careers in technology.