Special Supplement
Scholars learn about circuits working on an
LED mural at the Square Root Academy’s
STEM-curated activities at an event
Jan. 6 at the California State Railroad
Museum. Square Root Academy is a Rapid
Acceleration, Innovation and Leadership
Sacramento grant recipient.
Tomorrow’s
Tech Workforce
The Rapid Acceleration, Innovation and
Leadership Sacramento grant program
awards organizations that invest in the city’s
underserved communities to create careers
for the future
by Vanessa Labi
S
ome startups recognize there is untapped workforce potential
in Sacramento’s underserved communities and have made it
their mission to empower them. But to serve the underrepre-
sented populations they seek to support, these startups need
some assistance themselves. Recognizing the need to champion
community-based initiatives, the City of Sacramento created the
Rapid Acceleration, Innovation and Leadership Sacramento grant
program, which focuses on preparing communities for the evolving,
increasingly STEM-based career landscape.
RAILS launched in 2016, and it granted $900,000 in July 2018 to
14 organizations serving neighborhoods including Del Paso Heights,
Lemon Hill, Meadowview, Old North Sacramento, South Haggin-
wood, South Oak Park and Twin Rivers, with initiatives like girls youth
mentoring and hands-on robotics training. Although each organiza-
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