Frankly Speaking – Adventures in Tech Apprenticeships was produced by Franklin Skills (formerly Franklin Apprenticeships), a woman-owned tech apprenticeship company on a mission to unlock the potential of the American workforce. Franklin offers upskilling, reskilling, coaching, and apprenticeships for a range of tech roles, such as cybersecurity, help desk, IBM Z, network engineering and software engineering.

Help us spread the word about tech apprenticeships by leaving a review and telling a friend about our show. And don’t forget to subscribe to be notified of new episodes.

You can also find detailed show notes and more details at: https://franklinskills.com/category/news-resources/podcast/.

Melissa shares her experience making the leap into a new career in tech with Franklin’s Network Engineering Pre-Apprenticeship. Around twenty years ago, Melissa started her career with a Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Horticulture from the University of California Davis. She's had several different kinds of jobs – from working with animals to customer service – and also became a mom. Then, a life event prompted her to re-evaluate and discover she wanted to make a switch to tech.

“I didn't really feel like I was reaching my full potential,” she explains. “I wasn't growing every day. It didn't feel like the future that I wanted to build for my family. And so I started looking at technology and it just kind of checked all those boxes for me, all the things that I was looking for.”

Melissa considered a degree but decided to pursue an apprenticeship instead as she wanted to start working and learning in the real world.

She reflects, “I didn't know if I wanted to pursue a degree. I didn't know if I wanted to put in the time. I just wanted to get in there. I wanted to get working. I wanted to get the experience.”

Through Franklin’s Pre-Apprenticeship program, she fell in love with Network Engineering.

“My kids just think I'm the coolest when I can pull up a command line and do something, they think I’m like a hacker!” she joked.

Melissa also developed a passion for the coding language Python, which prompted her to launch a YouTube channel called “Pea-Sized Python.”

UPDATE: At the time of this interview, she was actively pursuing a full-time position and has since been hired in her first Network Engineering role. Congratulations Melissa from the whole Franklin team!

Mixed & Edited by Next Day Podcast.

Frankly Speaking – Adventures in Tech Apprenticeships was produced by Franklin Skills (formerly Franklin Apprenticeships), a woman-owned tech apprenticeship company on a mission to unlock the potential of the American workforce. Franklin offers upskilling, reskilling, coaching, and apprenticeships for a range of tech roles, such as cybersecurity, help desk, IBM Z, network engineering and software engineering.

Help us spread the word about tech apprenticeships by leaving a review and telling a friend about our show. And don’t forget to subscribe to be notified of new episodes.

You can also find detailed show notes and more details at: https://franklinskills.com/category/news-resources/podcast/.

Six years ago, an idea was born on the back of a napkin in a New York restaurant. Instead of relying solely on the same talent pool of computer science college graduates, the IBM zSystems Ecosystem team decided to build its own. Meredith Stowell, Vice President of IBM zSystems Ecosystem at IBM, and her colleagues have been developing and growing the IBM Z Apprenticeship program ever since.

“We had been doing apprenticeships in other areas for years and years and years, but not in IT. We wondered, how does this fit IT? And it does. It's fantastic,” Meredith tells Cable Rose, host of Frankly Speaking.

In this episode, Meredith and Cable explore the evolution of the IBM Z Apprenticeship program, where it started and how it has evolved to help hundreds of people develop IBM Z skills and been adopted by more than 30 IBM clients and counting.

Meredith explains, “We hit a challenge with all the administration, everything behind the scenes. We teamed with Franklin because Franklin has the deep skills and the deep knowledge of the best ways of recruiting diverse talent and the best ways of ensuring success for the apprentices. Having that Success Coach help them along the way, that's what really ensures the overall success of the program.”

Fast forward to 2023, and as Meredith explains, the program expanding quickly. “Holy smokes, this thing is taking off. And not only are we doing this within the U.S., but we've taken this framework and we've leveraged it to go global. And so now we're starting to see successes in Canada. We're looking at Australia. We're looking at Thailand. We're going all over the world with this program.”

For Meredith and the IBM team, it's all about creating opportunity. By forging a new career pathway for people from any background with a passion for IBM zSystems, they are not only changing lives, but also future-proofing IBM zSystems for decades to come.

“For anything to really be successful, you've got to have a vibrant, sustainable, diverse community surrounding it,” she observed.


GUEST BIOGRAPHY
Meredith Stowell, Vice President of IBM zSystems Ecosystem, IBM

Meredith is the Vice President of IBM zSystems Ecosystem, helping to build skills and a strong community of partners. Her team works with clients, universities, students, professional developers and partners around the world to build critical IT skills needed in the marketplace by IBM and the broader ecosystem.

She leads developer outreach activities including hackathons, meetups, and trial programs to increase awareness of the platform and build a vibrant ecosystem of solutions supported on the IBM zSystems and LinuxONE platforms.

She has worked with a broad range of IBM software solutions and much of her background is in the analytics field where she has worked as a business analyst, enterprise implementation consultant, program manager, and leader for Business Analytics technical and sales enablement.

Mixed & Edited by Nex

Frankly Speaking – Adventures in Tech Apprenticeships was produced by Franklin Skills (formerly Franklin Apprenticeships), a woman-owned tech apprenticeship company on a mission to unlock the potential of the American workforce. Franklin offers upskilling, reskilling, coaching, and apprenticeships for a range of tech roles, such as cybersecurity, help desk, IBM Z, network engineering and software engineering.

Help us spread the word about tech apprenticeships by leaving a review and telling a friend about our show. And don’t forget to subscribe to be notified of new episodes.

You can also find detailed show notes and more details at: https://franklinskills.com/category/news-resources/podcast/.

What is it really like setting up an apprenticeship program? How can skills-based hiring practices set up your workforce for the future?

Workforce Futurist and Apprenticeship Guru Christina Arnone talks to Cable Rose about her experiences from the trenches of setting up highly successful apprenticeship programs. She started laying the groundwork for Sprint’s first apprenticeship program back in 2020 – and not only did she have to contend with Covid-19, but also organizational change thanks to the merger of Sprint and T-Mobile.

“When we're talking about retention in the age of such talent upheaval, with apprenticeship programs you play the long game,” Christina says. “It will pay for itself in dividends three, five, ten years down the road because you're going to still have that really excited talent in your organization.”

She shares what it takes to build an apprenticeship program from the ground up, the reality of starting from scratch, and how to get a leadership team on board.

“My argument to leadership is, where can I help you save money in your workforce? How can I help you create more efficiency in your current workforce, and how might apprenticeships enable those two things?”

After seeing the impact of apprenticeships grow over multiple years at T-Mobile, now Christina is dedicated to sharing her knowledge and helping others shape the future of work for the good of society.

Disclaimer: All views shared in this episode are Christina Arnone’s. They in no way represent her previous employers, T-Mobile, Sprint or any other company she has supported.

BIOGRAPHY

Christina Arnone, Workforce Futurist and Apprenticeship Guru

Christina Arnone is the former Sr. Program Manager for Apprenticeship Programs and Skills Based Learning at T-Mobile. Christina led a cross-functional team responsible for building, registering, and scaling company-wide apprenticeship programs as well as building a foundation for skills-based talent strategy.

Over five years at T-Mobile (and Sprint prior to 2020 merger), Christina implemented and operationalized T-Mobile’s inaugural apprenticeship programs and created a foundation for a skills-based talent strategy and role-based learning. Before her role in L&D, Christina was an HR Business Partner leading workforce planning, organizational effectiveness, and performance management efforts for finance, procurement, and network. Christina also led cross-functional teams supporting employee relations and recruitment for these corporate functions.

Prior to T-Mobile, Christina led enterprise-wide cross-functional teams, project managed HR programs, mentored junior staff members, and facilitated learning with business leaders to determine their training needs with DST Systems, Inc for over 13 years.

Christina is a workforce futurist and apprenticeship guru. Since leaving T-Mobile, she is dedicated to sharing her knowledge and skills to benefit her community and socie

Frankly Speaking – Adventures in Tech Apprenticeships was produced by Franklin Skills (formerly Franklin Apprenticeships), a woman-owned tech apprenticeship company on a mission to unlock the potential of the American workforce. Franklin offers upskilling, reskilling, coaching, and apprenticeships for a range of tech roles, such as cybersecurity, help desk, IBM Z, network engineering and software engineering.

Help us spread the word about tech apprenticeships by leaving a review and telling a friend about our show. And don’t forget to subscribe to be notified of new episodes.

You can also find detailed show notes and more details at: https://franklinskills.com/category/news-resources/podcast/.

What do you do when you can’t find enough talented tech workers? For Gary Fusco from M&T Bank the answer is, grow your own.

Based in Buffalo, New York, M&T Bank was struggling to find enough tech workers for their IBM zSystems Platform team. And they were facing impending retirement for some of their most experienced team members.

As Technology Director, z Platform & Middleware Engineering & OPS, M&T Bank, Gary discusses how M&T collaborated with IBM to become one of the first employers to implement the IBM Z Apprenticeship program, delivered by Franklin Apprenticeships, to attract talent from non-traditional sources to the bank.

M&T is now supporting its third cohort of tech apprentices and planning to start recruiting for its fourth cohort this summer. Gary reflects on the journey and what M&T Bank has learned along the way.

“What I really love about this program is that it is very targeted to what these individuals need to know for these roles on the Z platform. It’s been a journey and no journey is ever done,” Gary explained. “We are doing everything we can to help them be successful... a lot of the success from the program is due to feedback from the individuals. It’s a continuous improvement loop.”

GUEST BIOGRAPHY

Gary J. Fusco is a Senior Vice President / Technology Director responsible for managing the z Mainframe and Middleware Engineering organizations in the Technology Division at M&T Bank. In this role, Gary is responsible for managing all account transaction processing along with various software products that support Mainframe processing at the bank. He is also responsible for managing the Corporate Data Centers in the United States as well as technology infrastructure that supports the bank's European footprint.

Gary is the ambassador of the z Development Program at M&T Bank and has been a speaker at the IBM Executive Panel for Skills of the Future to attract, retain, and grow z Mainframe Talent.

He is also an acting member of the IBM-GDPS & BMC Executive Mainframe Software Councils.

Mr. Fusco is a 1983 graduate of Canisius College where he obtained his Bachelor of Science in Management and minor in Computer Science. His experience includes over forty years in various technology functions.

Gary is active in the Town of Tonawanda community by volunteering his time on the Technology Board at St. John the Baptist’s Grammar School in Tonawanda. He is also on the Board of Trustees at St. John the Baptist Church. He also belongs to Resource Group Charters at M&T Bank, being Intergenerational Resource Group (iGen) and Wellness Resource Group.

Mixed & Edited by Next Day Podcast.

Frankly Speaking – Adventures in Tech Apprenticeships was produced by Franklin Skills (formerly Franklin Apprenticeships), a woman-owned tech apprenticeship company on a mission to unlock the potential of the American workforce. Franklin offers upskilling, reskilling, coaching, and apprenticeships for a range of tech roles, such as cybersecurity, help desk, IBM Z, network engineering and software engineering.

Help us spread the word about tech apprenticeships by leaving a review and telling a friend about our show. And don’t forget to subscribe to be notified of new episodes.

You can also find detailed show notes and more details at: https://franklinskills.com/category/news-resources/podcast/.

Kim Nichols, Founder and CEO of Franklin Apprenticeships, is on a mission to change the way American companies discover and develop talent. In this episode of Frankly Speaking, Kim talks to host Cable Rose about how Franklin has cracked the code for tech apprenticeships.

She shares the highs and lows of building a company that is forging a new path to develop tech talent. She discusses how Franklin landed on its nationally renowned tech apprenticeship model, and her view on what the future holds for apprenticeships as an alternative source for passionate, diverse tech workers.

“The reality is you just can’t take people without professional experience and drop them into the biggest companies in the country with no support, and expect them to be successful,” Nichols explains. “We are setting these individuals up for lifelong careers at these companies. Actually, 90% of our learners come from communities that are underrepresented in tech. And how do we help make them successful? It's by coaching them and helping them to become excellent employees.”

BIOGRAPHY
Kimberly Nichols, Founder and CEO, Franklin Apprenticeships

As Founder and CEO of Franklin Apprenticeships, Kim is creating a new route to tech careers via apprenticeships and work-based education. Through her leadership of Franklin, she is helping some of the nation’s largest companies to fill mission-critical tech vacancies with diverse, motivated candidates while providing thousands of individuals with life-changing career opportunities.

Kim is a nationally recognized apprenticeship advocate, serving on the Advisory Committee of Apprenticeships for America as well as the United States Department of Labor Apprenticeship Ambassador Network, the Greater Washington and the Northern California Apprenticeship Networks, the Consumer Technology Association’s Apprenticeship Coalition and the 21st Century Workforce Council. She’s also a member of the Forbes Business Council and makes frequent appearances as a speaker at national events and in the media.

Before founding Franklin, she spent more than two decades in business development as a CPA and finance leader serving the Fortune 1000. Kim’s passion for changing the world doesn’t stop at work. She’s also served as a Board Member of The Children’s Guild and as a volunteer at both the Kennedy Krieger Institute and the Maryland Food Bank.

Mixed & Edited by Next Day Podcast.

Frankly Speaking – Adventures in Tech Apprenticeships was produced by Franklin Skills (formerly Franklin Apprenticeships), a woman-owned tech apprenticeship company on a mission to unlock the potential of the American workforce. Franklin offers upskilling, reskilling, coaching, and apprenticeships for a range of tech roles, such as cybersecurity, help desk, IBM Z, network engineering and software engineering.

Help us spread the word about tech apprenticeships by leaving a review and telling a friend about our show. And don’t forget to subscribe to be notified of new episodes.

You can also find detailed show notes and more details at: https://franklinskills.com/category/news-resources/podcast/.

Tim Fry is a veteran of the United States Air Force who holds the distinction of being the first graduate in the country of the Professional Success Coach Registered Apprenticeship.

Tim talks about his transition from the military and why apprenticeships are a great path for transitioning service members. He also discusses his role in helping apprentices reach their potential as a Professional Success Coach and Veteran Outreach Manager for Franklin Apprenticeships.

“Unlocking your potential is easy to say,” says Fry. “But in reality, you have to challenge yourself and become vulnerable.”

BIOGRAPHY
Tim Fry, Professional Success Coach and Veteran Outreach Manager, Franklin Apprenticeships.

Tim Fry is a 17-year combat wounded veteran who served proudly in the United States Air Force. His time was served as a Weapons Loader on the F-15, F-16 and A-10 aircraft. He is now a Professional Success Coach for Franklin Apprenticeships and leads engagement activities with the military community. He also serves as the State of Tennessee Leader for Mission22.

Mixed & Edited by Next Day Podcast.

Frankly Speaking – Adventures in Tech Apprenticeships was produced by Franklin Skills (formerly Franklin Apprenticeships), a woman-owned tech apprenticeship company on a mission to unlock the potential of the American workforce. Franklin offers upskilling, reskilling, coaching, and apprenticeships for a range of tech roles, such as cybersecurity, help desk, IBM Z, network engineering and software engineering.

Help us spread the word about tech apprenticeships by leaving a review and telling a friend about our show. And don’t forget to subscribe to be notified of new episodes.

You can also find detailed show notes and more details at: https://franklinskills.com/category/news-resources/podcast/.

Oscar H., a former youth worker for a detention center in Buffalo, New York, describes how his IBM Z Apprenticeship at M&T Bank changed his life.

“My apprenticeship was literally the turning table for my life and never in a million years would I have thought that I would be here,” Oscar says.

Oscar has nearly completed his apprenticeship, and in this episode, he reflects on his journey over the past year, and what comes next.

In 2020, M&T Bank launched its ZDP tech apprenticeship program in collaboration with IBM, Franklin Apprenticeships, and The Urban Institute to expand access to tech careers for people with little to no technology experience. With a special focus on recruiting candidates from traditionally underrepresented communities in technology, M&T has recently welcomed its third cohort of IBM Z apprentices.

Mixed & Edited by Next Day Podcast.

Frankly Speaking – Adventures in Tech Apprenticeships was produced by Franklin Skills (formerly Franklin Apprenticeships), a woman-owned tech apprenticeship company on a mission to unlock the potential of the American workforce. Franklin offers upskilling, reskilling, coaching, and apprenticeships for a range of tech roles, such as cybersecurity, help desk, IBM Z, network engineering and software engineering.

Help us spread the word about tech apprenticeships by leaving a review and telling a friend about our show. And don’t forget to subscribe to be notified of new episodes.

You can also find detailed show notes and more details at: https://franklinskills.com/category/news-resources/podcast/.