By Bethaney Lee
Hope Training Academy, a nonprofit educational provider located in Indianapolis, is the brainchild of husband-and-wife visionaries Rick and Cara Barretto who introduced the program as an extension to their charity, Video Game Palooza, a foundation launched a decade ago dedicated to motivating interest in STEM research and learning among America’s youth through video gaming.
The academy has partnered with the Cybersecurity Youth Apprenticeship Initiative (CYAI) for two successful cohorts where graduates can receive certifications aligned with three different learning paths which can be combined into a stackable experience: Desktop Technician, Network Administrator, and Cyber Security Technician.
Though the Video Game Palooza charity was developed for youth, the academy is “the adult educational program” that serves young adults who have not had prior higher educational training and are often from other countries, academy President and Co-Founder Rick Barretto said.
“The participants are usually individuals just trying to get new skills. So, for a lot of our students, the reason they're getting their certification is not just to get a certification, but they're trying to start a business. They're trying to make ends meet. They're trying. They're all very hard workers, but they haven't been given a shot or opportunity,” Barretto said. And it is this gap in educational opportunity and accessibility that the academy has been filling with its Registered Apprenticeship Program (RAP).
“The most gratifying thing that I hear from participants is that - as a training academy - we actually care about the person. Whereas they've never experienced or had that before. It’s that kind of ‘you go through the system’ and feel like you're just, you're just a number. I don't think there's any higher a compliment than to hear from participants that we care,” Barretto said.
In truth, Barretto cares so much that he has even begun creating and posting video content related to workforce development and RAPs in hope to spread the word about the life changing opportunities that can be provided through accessing such resources.
“We’ve built a whole green screen live production studio,” Barretto said. “And what I'm going to be doing … is creating ongoing content with a dialogue on apprenticeship.”
His enthusiasm for RAPs carries over into his partnership with CYAI, a program managed by the international consulting firm ICF. Barretto said the process has been “super smooth,” “and the team have been unbelievable to work with.”
“They're super helpful, you know, both on a business level and also a personal level. They're very committed to this business and the students. You can tell they're just not doing it just to do a job. They're the type of people that's in this for the right reasons. It's a blessing we've been able to work with them and, you know, we look forward to even doing much more,” Barretto said.
And Barretto’s vision does include more- more students, more certifications, more opportunities, and more change.
“Having the privilege to serve these students that want to make changes in their lives and need a place that they know they can go, where there's people that care about them and are going to sacrifice to help them- that’s everything,” Barretto said. “What we've learned is that the more people that we've helped, the more people that you see that there's need. And that's where the opportunity is to go out and find other like-minded partners to help even more.”
If, like Barretto, you too are looking to discover more- whether about RAPs or CYAI - visit the U.S. Department of Labor’s website or the initiative’s website.
