Profile: Kevin Gadd

Meet Kevin Gadd. Apprenti Ohio State Director.

Name: Kevin Gadd

Job: Apprenti Ohio State Director

City: Columbus

Hometown: Zanesville

Q: What do you do at Apprenti?
Apprenti is a national nonprofit with a mission to help women, people of color and veterans get into tech careers through registered apprenticeship. Apprenti is the Department of Labor's industry sector lead for national registered technology apprenticeships.

So, we find people that want to get into tech but are having trouble making it happen, and we pair them with open jobs. Then, we use public and private funds to pay for that training, and support the apprentice through tech training and a year of on the job training.

Q: What’s a problem that you are working to solve?
There are just not enough people in the tech talent pool, not just in Ohio, but nationally. One report last year stated that there were over 700,000 unfilled tech jobs across the US!

It is a fact that degree programs will never produce enough people to meet the demand. And, it is also a fact that the tech talent pool is not as diverse as it should be. It is not reflective of the national demographic makeup. Both women and people of color represent less than 20% of the high tech workforce. So, we are one awesome program that seeks to solve that problem, through the time tested (but very new to technology occupations) model of registered apprenticeship.

Q: What’s a lesson you’ve learned that has helped shape your work?
"Only a life lived in the service of others is worth living," Albert Einstein. This quote has shaped my life for a very long time, whether it is my military service, community service, work with nonprofits, and certainly the work I do now. The feeling of helping others succeed, or just get where they want to go, is awesome.

Q: What’s a trend in technology or innovation that you believe doesn’t get enough attention?
The trend of changing how companies hire tech workers is obviously interesting to me and it definitely does not get enough attention.

Many companies have traditionally required a college degree (in IT) to get into a tech career. The phrase "relevant technical degree, or equivalent" was very common for many years. However, there was little agreement on what the equivalent was. But, that is changing.

Large tech companies like Microsoft and Amazon started experimenting a couple years ago with this "comma or equivalent" and how they could get good people in even if they didn't have an IT degree. This is how Apprenti was started, to help these big tech companies address this need through a more stringent apprenticeship process. The Department of Labor got behind this effort and is now taking H1B visa fees and funding organizations like ours to create new and better paths into an IT career.

Q: What’s one moonshot idea that could help make Ohio a world leader in technology and innovation?
I would like to see the state put even more money directly into training people in technology jobs. I love TechCred, but that is just a couple thousand dollars to a company to offset training. The training typically goes to people already in the job, too.

Apprenti has received a large state grant in the past that pays a considerable amount of training for NEW employees (as long as they are registered apprentices). This makes it easier for companies to cover the remaining portion of the apprentice training, and add new people. We have almost spent our grant by adding about 90 people to the tech talent pool through registered apprenticeship.

Washington state, for example, set aside several million dollars and matches training 1 to 1 with the companies hiring registered apprentices. I envision something similar to how Third Frontier invested heavily in new technology businesses starting about 15 years ago. This really had a huge impact on the success of the incubator programs and startups. We can do that with our tech talent pool, too.

Q: What’s a recent book, podcast or news story that you found interesting?
I'm pretty into anything by former Navy SEAL Jocko Willink right now. His podcast is a bit long for me, but I recently read his books and watched his great TedX presentation. "Leadership Strategy and Tactics" is my particular favorite of his and I will read it again soon.

Q: What's your favorite place in Ohio?
My favorite place in Ohio is out in the woods during the fall. Whether bowhunting, or just walking, I love the peace, the sounds, the smells, and being out there with my hunting buddies just makes it even better.

Q: What makes Ohio special to you?
Well, it is home and the heart of it all! I also love that we have four seasons (sometimes all in one week!). And, Buckeye football!

Connect with Kevin on LinkedIn.