Power Up Academy Receives City Colleges Of Chicago Accreditation

ComEd’s Power Up Academy recently hosted a graduation for its second cohort. PHOTO COURTESY OF COMED.
ComEd’s Power Up Academy recently hosted a graduation for its second cohort. PHOTO COURTESY OF COMED.

Power Up Academy Receives City Colleges Of Chicago Accreditation

By Tia Carol Jones

A ComEd program that trains participants for careers also is now enabling those students to earn up to 13 college credit hours as part of the training program. Power Up Academy, a 14-week ComEd career training program, has received accreditation from the City Colleges of Chicago.

In mid-November, nine Power Up Academy participants received their certification. They are now qualified to work full-time at ComEd or a sponsoring engineering firm, and they can use their college credits to apply towards a related degree program at the City Colleges of Chicago.

Laticia Holbert, Senior Manager of Workforce Development at ComEd, said Power Up Academy took a little more than two years to develop because ComEd wanted to be thoughtful because they knew it would address a need within the company and some of the engineering partners, as the industry is looking into the clean energy transition.

“We took a look at some entry level roles that had requirements that needed some updates. We found a perfect intersection, within ComEd and also throughout those engineering companies, where we were able to tackle having entry level talent without having so many of those requirements that weren’t truly needed,” Holbert said.

In 2023, the Power Up Academy had its first cohort graduate. The program gave the participants the technical skills they needed including design tech, work coordinators, and permit analysts. Holbert said the program is unique because it takes barriers out of the way and enables people to receive the training, they need to get the jobs that are available. She added the program has a high job placement rate at 80%. Those who graduate go into full-time roles with ComEd and their partnering local engineering companies.

“ComEd is truly leading the way in creating that diverse pipeline to local talent,” she said.

Revolution Workshop does the training, recruitment and worked with City Colleges on the accreditation piece. Holbert said that City Colleges of Chicago has been a partner with ComEd in various ways. With Power Up Academy and the partnership, it is s a great way for participants to marry the skills they are learning in the program with the curriculum at Kennedy-King College and Dawson Tech. The program creates a pathway to allow participants to be ready and available to access jobs as part of the Clean Energy transition, where it is estimated that it could bring as many as 150,000 jobs to the state by 2050.

“City Colleges of Chicago is committed to supporting students across the Chicagoland area with educational opportunities that prepare them for a variety of high growth, good paying careers, including those in the utility and construction sectors,” Dr. Webb Walker, President of Kennedy-King College, said in a press release. “Through our partnership with ComEd, we are providing Power Up Academy participants with an opportunity to earn college credit hours during their technical services training, ensuring that more women and diverse students who have been underrepresented in the STEM fields are able to enter and advance in this industry.”

Holbert said the Power Up Academy program is lifechanging because the salary from the job changes the trajectory of the graduate, their family, their community and can be a representation that can give hope to others. 

For more information about the program and to sign up for the session in 2025, visit www.ComEd.com/CleanEnergyJobs.


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