ALISHIA PRIDGEN | President’s Award

Here is Alishia’s story

I was born and raised in Riggs Park in Northeast Washington, D.C. I graduated from McKinley Tech High School in 2007. I am the mother of a beautiful son who is autistic and inspires me every day to work even harder. Before the hope project I was working retail and at Giant Foods. I also had different summer jobs but nothing that was taking me anywhere.

After completing training with the H.O.P.E. Project, I don’t just have a job but a new career in IT. While in the H.O.P.E. Project I received my A+ Certification and got my first IT help desk job working for the FDA. This year I studied and received both my Network+ and Security+ certifications.

I also started a new job working at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as a Mid- Level Service Desk Analyst. I am currently studying for my System Security Certified Professional certification and plan on going back to school in January in hopes of soon transitioning into the cybersecurity side of IT.

Video ► H.O.P.E. Project’s Super Saturday vignette featuring ‘ Harvard of the Hood‘ and original H.O.P.E. themed rap song from Archie Bunka.