Growing up in the South Bronx, Plinio Ayala saw many talented peers take the wrong path. “There weren’t any opportunities for them,” he says. Determined to change that, Plinio dedicated his career to creating better futures for his peers and beyond.
He found his calling at Per Scholas, a not-for-profit organization that provides free technical and soft-skills training for careers in tech. Founded in 1995 and based in the Bronx, the organization has since graduated over 30,000 learners nationwide.
“Our learners’ lives are improved, but so too are those of their families,” explains Plinio, who became CEO in 2003. “Employers win, our communities win. And at the end of the day, our economy wins.”
Rapid growth, new needs
Per Scholas has been quickly expanding. In 2019, it had just 100 employees across 11 cities. Today, it operates campuses in 24 cities with a team of over 500 supporting 5,000 learners—and it aims to triple its reach by 2030.
About Per Scholas and its work with McKinsey.org
The organization needed to strengthen its internal capabilities and infrastructure to support its ambitious growth. That’s where McKinsey stepped in.
Working through its global social impact platform, McKinsey.org, the firm partnered with Per Scholas to deliver a multi-pronged program that included Ability to Execute (A2E) for Nonprofits, the Organizational Health Index (OHI) for Nonprofits, and Forward, which focuses on soft-skills development.
“As we think about serving more people, we need to be more efficient to bring costs per learner down,” says Plinio. “These programs have been transformational for getting our organization there.”
By learning to focus on what’s important, our staff frees up ‘think time’ to improve our work.
A common language for growth
Through the A2E program, Per Scholas developed a shared language and set of practices to help its teams operate more effectively.
“Growth requires a common set of processes and a way of talking about things like prioritization, meetings, feedback, and coaching,” says Gabe King, senior manager of business solutions in Per Scholas’ Seattle office. “With this framework we’ve built, we can move faster and make more of an impact.”
This structure has also increased openness and innovation.
“Our people feel more comfortable voicing their ideas in meetings and challenging the status quo,” says vice president of people development, Jennifer Reyes.
A core A2E concept focuses on “Big Rocks” (high-priority tasks), while avoiding distractions, like “Pebbles” or “Sand” (lower-priority tasks), which fosters strategic and entrepreneurial thinking.
“By learning to focus on what’s important and managing time better, our staff frees up ‘think time’ to improve our work, plan for the future, and be ambitious,” Plinio says.
The training also helped increase efficiency and time management.
“We sometimes had meetings without an agenda or follow-up items,” says Montreece Smith, chief people officer at Per Scholas. “Now, we’ve cut meeting times down, only involve the necessary people, and maintain an actionable focus.”
Building a healthier organization
The OHI, which surveys employees and benchmarks the organization against global peers, helped Per Scholas examine its culture and capabilities in depth.
Ken Walker, executive vice president of inclusion and culture, says the OHI guides its next moves: “The leadership team poured over the data and came up with several areas to focus on as an organization.”
One initiative born from that work is “Culture Carriers,” a group of 30 staff members from across the country who meet regularly to reflect on the organization’s culture, elevate concerns and successes, and share input directly with the board of directors.
Delivering for learners
The partnership also directly benefits learners. McKinsey.org’s Forward program—designed to build soft skills for career success—is now fully integrated into Per Scholas’s curriculum.
“Forward helped us get specific on the skills we were teaching, like communication, prioritization, problem-solving, and resiliency,” says deputy chief training officer Noah Mitchell. “Forward helped our learners process, digest, and live out these skills.”
For Noah, the collaboration has been a turning point: “McKinsey.org helped us slow down and say ‘Hey, I know that we are a tech organization focused on our learners, but to expand our mission and impact, staff education is crucial,’” he says. “The chance to develop our skills has been a gift.”