By closing the skills gap—and opening doors—JPMorganChase is helping to strengthen Miami's workforce pipeline

JPMorganChase client was told in advance that they would be featured in advertising.

Miami is booming. In the past five years, tech startups and other companies have infused billions of dollars into the local economy. The Financial Times has dubbed the city “Wall Street South.” But as a surge of corporate relocations draws more and more out-of-state workers into the city, it’s crucial to ensure that all of Miami’s different communities enjoy the benefits of its economic rise.

JPMorganChase believes that growing the local workforce pipeline is one critical way to accomplish this. To that end, we've made a $10 million, five-year commitment to Momentum Miami—a nonprofit that deploys philanthropic funding to expand opportunities and access in the tech industry. We have provided $420,000 to The Idea Center at Miami Dade College to help launch a paid internship program. 

“We are focused on bringing opportunity to more local residents and realizing the full potential of the Miami economy, and our philanthropic work is an important part of that mission,” says Maria Escorcia, Southeast Region Executive and Executive Director of Global Philanthropy at JPMorganChase. “Our contribution to Miami Dade College through Momentum Miami is helping connect the area’s premier talent to the professional opportunities they need to grow their skills and build careers they’re proud of.”

These are only the latest chapters of an ongoing project. Since 2021, we’ve helped place more than 2,500 Miamians into local jobs or apprenticeships and nearly 1,000 individuals into tech careers, and we’ve helped fund tech education for over 5,000 others.

Helping Students, Helping Businesses

With 125,000 students at eight campuses, Miami Dade College is one of the largest educational institutions in the country. Through The Idea Center, and in collaboration with Momentum Miami, the College oversees a student-internship program encompassing some 40 companies, mostly start-ups or small businesses in the tech and business sectors. Known as the Miami Startup Ecosystem Internship Program and funded in part by JPMorganChase, it will engage 200 students over the course of two years, offering real-world experience in the workplace, as well as access to a mentor and a network—and a potential pathway to a career.

Crucially, these internships are paid. Many of the College’s students are first-generation Americans who simply can’t afford to leave their part-time jobs to take on an unpaid internship. Similarly, businesses operating on thin margins can’t hire interns without the program’s support.

Students’ tech expertise, particularly in AI-driven automation, is in high demand: Seventy percent of Miami-area employers surveyed believe a lack of qualified candidates in the job market pool is a challenge in their recruitment process. The Idea Center’s employer partners describe the projects they would like to complete over the course of the cycle, and the program matches them with the best and most appropriate student intern.

“Many businesses have projects on the back burner that they want to explore,” says Jorge Gonzalez, Executive Director of The Idea Center. “What they've shared with us is that the internship program is a game changer.”

Gonzalez emphasizes the credibility that JPMorganChase’s support brings to the program, not only elevating it as a résumé highlight for students, but also providing assurances to employers about its durability and scalability. Numerous participants in the program’s first cycle have been hired into full-time positions.

‘We’re Still Here’

Momentum Miami brings together a variety of local organizations, including The Idea Center, that can benefit from the resources that a funder like JPMorganChase can offer. In addition to big institutions like Miami Dade College, the organization works with hyperlocal nonprofits that are deeply attuned to community needs but whose small size can make accessing funding a challenge, says Rachel DeLevie-Orey, Momentum Miami’s Managing Director.

Between 2022 and 2026, we committed $10 million to support Momentum Miami’s funding outreach, including $500,000 for Miami EdTech, a digital-workforce-development program that provides hands-on teaching and mentorship to the city’s diverse adult learners and connects them to both apprenticeships and career opportunities in high-demand fields. Miami EdTech maintains partnerships with many local employers, and to date has reached some 4,000 individual participants.

Our staffers actively follow the activities of the program’s various local beneficiaries, including Miami EdTech, and take part in major planning meetings and events. In a turbulent philanthropic landscape, says DeLevie-Orey, JPMorganChase’s unwavering long-term support has been critical in allowing Momentum Miami to focus on its work, rather than scrambling to find its next grant. “Plenty of people had their funding pulled back, adjusted, shifted,” she says. “JPMorganChase told us, ‘We're still here. You’re still getting your funding.’ They’ve made their reputation so strong in this community.”

The Talent Pipeline

Through our collaborations with Momentum Miami and Miami Dade College, our goal is to help benefit not only individuals, but also, at scale, the city itself. It’s in the aggregate—in the accumulation of story upon story of successful internships, apprenticeships, and job placements—that the broader value of the programs we help support clearly emerges: These programs are helping to create a powerful, inclusive talent pipeline that will train students and workers, help close the skills gap, and fuel Miami’s economy for the next generation.

JPMorganChase & Co. is an Equal Opportunity Employer, including Disability/Veterans.

JPMorganChase & Co. is an Equal Opportunity Employer, including Disability/Veterans. Opinions, findings or experiences of our customers and not those of JPMorgan Chase & Co. or any of its affiliates. These opinions, findings or experiences may not be representative of what all customers may achieve. JPMorgan Chase & Co. or any of its affiliates aren't liable for decisions made or actions taken in reliance on any of the testimonial information provided.