Workforce Development¶
The most important design feature of Boot Up may be this: every operational role inside the program is also a path into paid work for participants and alumni. The hardware techs, the instructors, and the logistics coordinators aren't separate hires — they come from the cohorts.
Roles¶
Hardware Technician Trainee¶
Train marginalized adults, recovery graduates, and reentry participants in laptop triage, repair, and OS installation at the makerspace. Trainees earn hands-on experience documented in a real portfolio of repaired units, CompTIA A+ study materials and exam prep, a reference from a real organization (Boot Up + the makerspace), and a path to a paid role inside the program or in the local IT job market.
Typical timeline: 3–6 months of part-time involvement before paid status, depending on incoming skill and consistency.
[HYPOTHESIS] This role is one of the strongest single-program interventions Boot Up can offer for adults in recovery or reentry, because it combines a marketable skill, a documented work history, a reference, and an employer (the program itself). Validate with outcome data on the first cohort.
Peer Instructor¶
Program alumni who complete an instructor-training pass become facilitators for their own community groups — e.g., a recovery-graduate alumnus leading Module 04 (AI Literacy) at their recovery center; a reentry alumnus leading Module 05 (Job Skills) at the next reentry cohort.
Compensation model: first few sessions volunteer (supported by a lead instructor); once independent, a stipend per session; with regular sessions across multiple modules, paid hourly status.
[HYPOTHESIS] Lived experience in the participant audience is a teaching asset, not a remediable gap. A recovery-aware instructor in a recovery cohort will likely reach participants in ways an outside instructor cannot. This is the program design bet; validate with cohort feedback.
Logistics & Intake Coordinator¶
Entry-level operations role: manage donation intake; inventory tracking (log every device against its eventual disposition); schedule coordination across cohort sites; light database / spreadsheet work (Phase 0–3) becoming light database work (Phase 4 when the inventory system ships). Skill development: database basics, documentation discipline, calendar management, donor communication — all transferable to entry-level IT operations roles.
Content & Media Creator¶
Produce social media, documentation, tutorial videos, and newsletters using the same tools taught in Module 06. A portfolio-building role: every piece produced for Boot Up is also a real portfolio entry the alumnus owns. Especially well-suited to Module 06 graduates with creative interests.
How the workforce pipeline works¶
Every alumnus pathway flows into both an internal-to-program paid role and an externally-marketable career path: a Hardware Trainee toward a paid hardware tech / IT job; a Peer Instructor toward paid instruction or external teaching; a Logistics Coordinator toward a paid coordinator / external IT-ops role; a Content Creator toward a paid creative / freelance portfolio. The program is the on-ramp, not the destination.
Workforce funding¶
These roles cannot scale on volunteer time alone. The model depends on grant funding that explicitly covers stipends and entry-level wages (see Grants & Funding — Second Chance Act, SAMHSA, AT&T Believes, state CSBG); corporate sponsorship of trainee cohorts; and earned revenue from device sales to ability-to-pay buyers and corporate IT donation-processing fees (future-state, not validated).
[HYPOTHESIS] A mixed funding model (grants + sponsorship + modest earned revenue) is sustainable for the workforce program at the targeted scale. The earned-revenue component is unvalidated; do not assume it without piloting.
What this is not¶
A workforce program for the general public (these roles are for Boot Up participants and alumni); a guaranteed job program (Boot Up is a path, not a hire); a substitute for formal vocational training (it works alongside community college and certification programs, not instead of them).
Coordination with partner organizations¶
For partners running their own workforce programs (Goodwill, Workforce WV, recovery employment programs), Boot Up roles complement rather than compete: partner programs handle benefits navigation, employment-readiness training, and broad placement, while Boot Up roles offer specific technical skill and a documented work history in IT operations / hardware repair / instruction. Together: a person leaves with both general workforce skills and a specialty. This coordination is part of the partner MOU template; see Partners.