Congratulations to our Alumni & Reskilling Programs Graduates!
On Friday, November 5th, we celebrated our Alumni and ReNEW program graduates. There were over 100 graduates in attendance, from our inaugural Google Project Management cohort, our second ReNEW cohort, and our third Google IT Automation with Python cohort.
The graduation began with a procession from the graduates singing and dancing to ‘Happy’ by Pharrel Williams to celebrate the occasion. Their happiness shone through and is well-deserved – participants across the programs have worked hard throughout their respective programs and continue to work hard to achieve their career goals. In fact, already, over 40% of ReNEW graduates have been placed into employment and/or further education.
Our Alumni Engagement Specialist, Audrey, shared some fantastic statistics about our growth and the expansion of our Alumni & Reskilling programs: 100 adults completed our ReNEW pilot program and we have helped 475 alumni upskill through our Google Project Management and Google IT Automation with Python Alumni programs.
Staff had also curated a montage to express how proud they are of their graduates and to remind them that NPower Canada will continue to support them on their career journey. Alumni were reminded in the montage, “graduation is not the conclusion of an achievement, it is only the end of one chapter and the beginning of another.”
One of the most special parts of the graduation ceremony was listening to graduates share their experience with NPower Canada through creative artistic expressions. Hervé, a Google Project Management alumni, rapped a song to express his newfound sense of confidence after completing the program. Some of the lyrics that resonated with other graduates included, “what can stop me, to be honest, nothing,” and “even if the door is locked, I’ll make the key.” Zaddi, a ReNEW graduate, sang a beautiful rendition of Green Day’s “Time of Your Life”, while playing the song on the guitar. Juanita, a Google Automation with Python graduate, read her poem “NPowerful step towards success.” The poem took us through her journey with NPower Canada, capturing her experience from the bridging course all the way to graduation and thanking her peers and instructors, the NPower Canada family. We also had the opportunity to hear from some grad speakers. Thomas expressed his gratitude for the immense support he received, “there are so many opportunities that never would have presented themselves to me and to many people here if it wasn’t for NPower Canada staff.”
Ravi, representing the Google Automation with Python cohort, echoed the sentiments of the staff montage: “it’s not the end, just the end of a chapter. There’s still a big journey to go ahead.” He also reflected on the challenges he and his peers had faced, “during this pandemic, it hasn’t been easy for everyone and there were many challenges we faced along that way, but despite all of that, I am proud to say we have succeeded and reached today.”
Joan, who spoke on behalf of the ReNEW graduates, reflected on the meaning of ‘renew’ and contextualized the program as “the tool to make a difference in going forward.” She spoke to her fellow graduates, “the past is already past and as now NPower Canada graduates, I am charging you to go out there and make the difference.” She finished her speech by proudly claiming “the workforce is going to be better now with NPower Canada graduates.” It was an emotional event, for both graduates and staff, who have been on a tremendous journey together. As our Senior Manager of Alumni Programs Terry-Ann stated during her closing remarks, although “we all started off at different places, we are all sharing this day.” She continued, “we look forward to thanking you in the years to come, for all the difference and all of the milestones you accomplish that make a difference to this country.”
We are offering our Google Project Management Alumni program again from January 31st to May 13th, 2022. To learn more, please visit this page.
