Next Steps at Vanderbilt announced its acceptance of a $2.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor on Aug. 12. This grant will help to grow Next Steps’ apprenticeship programs to allow them to partner with a wide range of employers and mentors.
Next Steps, which began in 2010, is a 4-year program providing post-secondary education to neurodiverse students to prepare them for the workplace and life after college. Currently, the program has apprenticeship partnerships with The Acorn School and the Susan Gray School at Vanderbilt, providing career preparation in early childhood education. Director of Next Steps Ariana Amaya highlighted the importance of this program in obtaining this grant.
“We use that [early education] model to ask how we can create more opportunities like it because this is an opportunity for students to have greater competitive employment, earn a credential and enhance their experience,” Amaya said.
Next Steps plans to expand this program while also providing new opportunities in public sector careers, K-12 education, IT, hospitality and the care economy. Students in the program also take Career and Community classes focused on independent living skills during their first two years, audit Vanderbilt courses based on their interests and participate in peer mentorship via the Ambassa’Dores program.
Ambassa’Dores’ president, sophomore Abigail Hopper, described the role that the program plays in helping Next Steps students with the apprenticeship program and with campus life as a whole.
“Ambassa’Dores are able to support students in Next Steps throughout their apprenticeships and internships by having conversations with the students to hear about what they are doing and to support them in any organizational tasks they need, such as responding to emails from their supervisors and making sure work obligations are on their calendars,” Hopper said.
The grant will also support a series of video modules explaining different apprenticeships and highlighting the experiences of select apprentices. Amaya said she hopes that these modules will help inspire other programs.
“We want to help other inclusive post-secondary education programs like Next Steps to replicate what we’re doing,” Amaya said. “As far as we know, we are the only one out of the 250 or so programs like Next Steps across the country that are using apprenticeships in their programming.”
Amaya expressed her optimism for the future of Next Steps in providing high-quality educational and professional experiences for neurodiverse students.
“We’re always innovating and growing. I think that’s a part of being at Vanderbilt and part of being in a new field like inclusive higher education,” Amaya said. “The mindset of growing and enhancing what we’re doing every year is part of the culture here.”
