Women in Cloud Partners with Coursera and Microsoft to Launch Additional 500 Scholarships Providing In-Demand Skills Training Towards Microsoft Azure Certification

Women in Cloud (WiC) is excited to announce through our collaboration with Microsoft and Coursera, it will distribute an additional 500 scholarships towards Microsoft Azure training and certification to those who have been affected by the pandemic and who are looking to join the tech workforce. End Quote

We need to ensure everyone has access to the cloud education and skills they need to be successful --Debbie Uttecht, Microsoft

(1888PressRelease) March 11, 2022 - The Cloud Skilling program is designed to deliver over 1500 scholarships globally to women and men who are interested in upskilling or reskilling to advance their careers in Cloud technology. Students who are approved will enroll and complete the Azure Fundamentals digital skilling courses via the Coursera self-learning platform, providing students foundational knowledge of core data concepts and how they are implemented using Microsoft Azure data services. After completion, students will be granted certification vouchers they can use towards their Azure certifications and unlock in-demand cloud jobs in the trillion dollar market.

Amid a rapidly changing world of work, certification programs from technology companies such as Microsoft are highly relevant. A 2018 Pearson VUE study reported that nearly 35% of technical professionals said getting certified led to salary or wage increases and 26% reported job promotions. Simultaneously, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has reported more than 2.2 million women have found themselves unemployed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and it is estimated 180 million women’s jobs will be eliminated over the next 20 years as a result of AI transformation.

Azure training and certification provides students with the skills needed to combat job loss and successfully impact the ongoing technical revolution, including how to run artificial intelligence workloads, like machine learning, computer vision, natural language processing, and conversational AI.

“At Women in Cloud, our mission is to empower every member of our community and beyond to achieve success in the technology industry,” said Chaitra Vedullapalli, President and Co-Founder of WiC. “This includes expanding access to training and skilling opportunities for women to excel in the ever changing technology landscape.”

The curriculum provided by Microsoft and Coursera is receiving phenomenal feedback from WIC Scholarship students like Tonya Makowski, “ With the resources provided by Women in Cloud (WIC), I earned an AZ-900 Azure Fundamentals certificate in October 2021. The materials were great and the practice tests were invaluable. Two of my co-workers were also working on this certification and I was the only one to complete study materials and pass the exam. When working in a co-worker study group, they commented that my study materials through WIC were better than what they had access to!... I am the only female tech in my company and one of the only certified technicians.”

Debbie Uttecht, senior partner marketing manager, Microsoft Worldwide Learning added, “In order to create a new workforce for in-demand cloud roles, we need to ensure everyone has access to the cloud education and skills they need to be successful. Microsoft’s collaboration with Women in Cloud and Coursera unlocks Azure training and certification scholarships for members of the Women in Cloud community.”

With partners like Microsoft and Coursera, Women in Cloud is continually offering flexible learning programs to help women develop in-demand cloud skills. Learn more at https://womenincloud.com/universal-digital-skilling-campaign/.

About Women in Cloud
Women in Cloud is a community-led economic development organization taking collective action to generate $1B in new net economic access for women entrepreneurs and professionals by 2030 through global partnerships with corporations, community leaders, and policy makers. All of which are united by the ESG and UN Sustainable Development Goals that are driven by job creation, diversity and inclusion, technology innovation and sustainability, giving women a powerful platform to accelerate as industry leaders.

For further information, visit womenincloud.com or contact wicmarketing ( @ ) womenincloud dot com dot

About Coursera
Coursera was launched in 2012 by two Stanford Computer Science professors, Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller, with a mission to provide universal access to world-class learning. It is now one of the largest online learning platforms in the world, with 87 million registered learners as of June 30, 2021. Coursera partners with over 200 leading university and industry partners to offer a broad catalog of content and credentials, including courses, Specializations, Professional Certificates, Guided Projects, and bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Institutions around the world use Coursera to upskill and reskill their employees, citizens, and students in fields such as data science, technology, and business. Coursera became a B Corp in February 2021.

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