Kyndryl Funds Cybersecurity & AI Skills

Cybersecurity and AI Skills Development Grants Awarded to 12 Nonprofit Organizations

Twelve nonprofit organizations from eleven countries have been awarded second-year grants to support initiatives focused on developing cybersecurity and AI skills, raising awareness, and facilitating job placement. These grants are expected to impact over 55,000 individuals over the next two years. The countries represented by the grantees now include Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Spain, and the United Kingdom, in addition to the Czech Republic, Hungary, India, Japan, Poland, and the United States. To foster deeper engagements and create long-term impact, select multi-year grants of up to two years have been introduced.

Multi-Year Grantees

The Data Security Council of India (DSCI) is among the organizations that have received multi-year grants. DSCI will be offering two programs: the Cyber Vaahini program, which was launched in 2024 and provides cybersecurity training to 100 women in tier two and three cities, helping them secure job opportunities, and the establishment of a cybersecurity training center in Mumbai. Other multi-year grantees include:

Czechitas (Czech Republic): Will be training 100 women in cybersecurity, running awareness programs for 50,000 women, and educating government officials on cyber resiliency.
Girl Security (US): Expanding its Workforce Training Program with the aim of preparing over 1,000 individuals from low-income communities for cybersecurity roles by 2026.
NPO Sodateage Net (Japan): Providing cybersecurity training for 1,500 young people, along with internship and job placement support.

Single-Year Grantees

Single-year grants have been awarded to the following organizations:

CLACK (Japan): Offering the "Be Pro Cybersecurity" course to 100 students from economically disadvantaged families.
Fundación Cibervoluntarios (Spain): Running a one-year cybersecurity course for 5,000 young people from underserved areas.
Generation: You Employed (UK): Hosting boot camps for 230 people facing career barriers in IT and cybersecurity.
JA Americas (Brazil and Costa Rica): Delivering cybersecurity and career skills training to 400 women and supporting job placement.
JEDI (Canada): Providing IT training to 50 Indigenous students in New Brunswick.
Justice Through Code (US): Running a 10-month AI and software engineering program for 125 formerly-incarcerated individuals.
Mamo Pracuj Foundation (Poland): Supporting 40 women, including refugees, with cybersecurity training and job search guidance.
United Way Hungary: Training 345 young people, including those with visual disabilities, in cybersecurity and career development.

According to recent reports, cyberattacks are the number one challenge faced by organizations, with 64% of leaders expressing concerns that their IT departments are not adequately prepared for AI implementation due to a lack of necessary skills and talent.

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