CNM Ingenuity Receives $200,000 Grant to Help Skill Up Rural and Underrepresented New Mexico Communities For Digital Workforce

Over the next six years New Mexico expects to add some 6,500 tech jobs. Over the next decade, the United States will need to fill nearly a quarter million tech jobs and the software development sector alone is expected to grow by a full 25 percent.

To help fill this growing need, CNM Ingenuity is proud to announce that it recently received a $200,000 grant that will be used to provide financial assistance to learners across New Mexico who want to participate in one of its immersive 10-12 week Deep Dive Bootcamps. The money will also provide paid internships for alumni participating in Ingenuity’s Technology Solutions Lab resident program.

 The grant is from The Encantado Foundation, and will be specifically used to help underrepresented communities that want to pursue tech careers including women, people of color, native people, and people with physical limitations. The grant-funded tuition assistance is also available for learners and workers from rural parts of New Mexico counties including Bernalillo, Sandoval, Socorro, Valencia, Santa Fe, and Los Alamos counties. 

“People’s lives will be changed by this funding,” says Deep Dive Program Director Nora Meah. “The scholarships made possible by The Encantado Foundation have the power to move a person who wants to attend a Deep Dive Bootcamp directly into that Bootcamp. This is what immediate and meaningful change looks like.”

All scholarship recipients will be eligible to enroll in the next round of Deep Dive Bootcamps that start in early 2023, and scholarship recipients can choose from a wide variety of bootcamps that include everything from Fullstack Web Development to Digital Media to the Internet of Things. Deep Dive graduates make an average starting salary of nearly $50,000 and come out trained to build apps, create websites, design video games, design hardware, and more.

“We are excited to support CNM Ingenuity through our Impact Grant funding program,” says Jay Galvan Heneghan, Executive Director of The Encantado Foundation. “As a newly-created Foundation working in this space, we look forward to Ingenuity being one of the first to help strengthen New Mexico’s high-tech workforce through funding from our Foundation.”

The Mission of The Encantado Foundation is to stimulate the development of hire-ready candidates for STEM-related positions, particularly in the areas of cyber security, application development and management, and IT operations. The foundation seeks to foster the professional development of individuals who wish to be a part of the digital workforce, including those from underrepresented communities in tech careers while also reshaping the way that workforce resources are acquired by technology-related employers.

As a grant recipient, CNM Ingenuity is excited to use the funding to contribute to its long record of success. To date, Deep Dive Bootcamps have graduated nearly 1,000 students who have had an overall economic impact of $121 Million on the state of New Mexico. The program has also graduated students who have gone on to start 70 businesses across the state and country. 

If you want to learn more about the scholarships, Ingenuity will be holding an in-person information session on Oct. 20 from 5:30-7 p.m. at the CNM STEMulus Center, or you can attend an online information session via Zoom on Oct. 28 at noon.

Questions? Contact CNM Ingenuity.