At ChannelCon this month, Creating IT Futures Foundation CEO Charles Eaton joined CompTIA CEO Todd Thibodeaux during his keynote speech to introduce CompTIA’s new initiative that focuses on influencing the dreamers—NextUp.
Eaton explained that NextUp will develop a series of programs in conjunction with partners like Spark and TechGirlz that will involve CompTIA alumni as mentors and role models. The goal of these programs is to introduce kids to the many possibilities of technology. “IT is more than just coding and the industry needs workers in a wide range of IT jobs,” Eaton said. “We need to create a generation of technologists who understand how technology can be applied to a variety of businesses and professional purposes.”
For CompTIA members, this is an opportunity to share their passion for tech by engaging with young people as mentors and share with those young people what it is about technology that excites them. In Thibodeaux’s words, “We’re not doing a good job of telling kids why we love what we do. They want to understand not what you do, but why you love what you do.”
