Workforce Readiness

3 Universities Partner with Adobe to Boost Students' Digital Skills

• By Rhea Kelly
• 09/17/21

Through a new Anchor School Program, Adobe is working with universities to provide students with the creativity and digital skills they need to pursue careers in technology. The program launched with three inaugural members: Bowie State University, Winston-Salem State University and San Jose State University.

"Longstanding change requires a conviction to innovative solutions and a willingness to lead," explained Brian Miller, chief talent, diversity & inclusion officer at Adobe, in a statement. "Our Anchor School Program gives us the opportunity to partner with universities to develop unique solutions that expose students to careers in tech and prepare them with the creativity and digital skills of the future. We will strategically invest in providing students with training, career readiness, internships, financial assistance and digital tools to fuel their professional careers at Adobe or elsewhere."

Each school will receive a $1 million donation to fund student training, career readiness efforts, internships, financial assistance and digital tools, with an emphasis on serving underrepresented students. The program will also offer a number of resources and opportunities for both students and faculty:

• Curriculum materials;
• Hands-on work experience through Adobe's Experience Days, the Adobe Career Academy and other programs;
• Micro-internships for student athletes; and
• Annual scholarships of up to $15,000 for 100 students.

San Jose State University stated in a blog post that it will use the grant to further its mission to provide access to students from diverse backgrounds. "We are excited to receive funds that further our efforts as a Hispanic Serving Institution and Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institution," said Vincent Del Casino, Jr., provost and senior vice president for academic affairs. "We can provide our faculty with the resources to engage in new forms of pedagogy and practice that infuse principles of digital and creative literacy. Among our goals is a faculty fellows program that identifies and trains champions committed to closing the equity gaps for all our students."

Aminta H. Breaux, president of Bowie State University, commented: "This new partnership with Adobe will enable Bowie State to amplify the work we've already begun to create an entrepreneurial environment for innovation, enabling greater supports for increasing digital literacy in our data sciences and analytics, cyber security and digital media programs. We applaud Adobe for providing training, internships and digital tools for diverse students to develop the skills that will position them to bring new perspectives into technology companies."

"Every school is different, so we're focusing on partnering with each institution to identify where we can drive the most impact together," Adobe noted in a company blog post. "Our goal is to continue to iterate and evolve so that we can scale our approach to add more schools in the future."

For more information, visit the Adobe site.