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The Pritzkers’ donation will create the Pritzker Tech Talent Labs at DPI, which will be led by Omowale Casselle, CEO of Digital Adventures, which runs STEM classes for kids in Chicago. The goal is to train 7,000 people a year, including 3,000 women, Blacks and Hispanics by 2029. Specific details of the programs are still being worked out, but the approach will include a mix of funding existing efforts, such as Tech Ready, and a new U of I master’s degree in technology leadership.
“There is significant income inequality, and COVID has really exacerbated that,” said Penny Pritzker, former U.S. secretary of commerce, in a statement. “In addition, you have accelerated tech adoption, which makes the need for training and up-skilling more acute. Automation and digitization are really on an exponential growth path. We’re leaving too many people behind.”