Northwest NC is building a new generation of tech talent. Nestled in the foothills and high country of the Blue Ridge Mountains, NC Tech Paths is blazing a trail to the digital economy, leveraging world-class broadband, natural beauty, and burgeoning talent.
Building equitable pathways for our rural neighbors to participate in the digital economy.
To solve a business objective for North Carolina employers – the gap in supply of tech talent
To solve a career objective for the emerging and existing workforce – accessing high-growth, high-pay jobs
To solve a community economic development objective of Northwest NC – revitalizing the local economy and downtowns
To solve a social imperative – bridging demographic inequities, including the rural-urban divide, that limit inclusiveness in the digital economy
Five reasons employers should target Northwest NC when building their tech workforce of the future:
Bridging the rural-urban divide in the digital economy requires optimizing four key components.
A birth-to-career educational pipeline and adult reskilling portfolio to prepare, mentor, and connect a new generation of rural tech talent.
A national network of employer partners to shape curricula, promote careers, and hire remote employees out of NC Tech Paths partner programs.
Remote Tech Outposts with walkability to local coffee shops to provide low-cost satellite “outposts” for remote employees, freelancers, and entrepreneurs.
Accelerator-style training, capital, and mentoring for tech entrepreneurs looking to start, grow, or IPO their tech venture.
Zach Barricklow is an award-winning entrepreneur and strategist whose work spans twenty years across Fortune 500 consulting, international development, non-profit, and higher education. Zach has a degree in management and philosophy from Hope College, and is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in organizational change at the University of Southern California. Zach is passionate about equitable community economic development. He is an advocate for leveraging education, employer partnerships, and entrepreneurship as tools to foster inclusive wealth.
Executive Director
Kate brings 20 years’ experience in the administrative, training, and education fields. As director of student life at the University of South Carolina Beaufort for nearly 12 years, she advised students, trained them, unofficially counseled them, and mentored them as they grew into young adults. Since 2017, Kate has worked in the “Gig Economy,” as a virtual assistant. This has included project management in education, and both the non- and for-profit sectors. Her projects have included work in e-commerce, writing, editing, and maximizing efficiency for small businesses. She holds a Master of Education in college counseling and student affairs practice from the University of Delaware and a Bachelor of Art in art history from Ithaca College. Kate is energetic, passionate, and considers her work with NC Tech Paths a “heart project.” Providing education access to people in rural areas has been a focus for most of her professional career. The weaving of access to technology careers and learning is a natural fit for Kate.
Communications Manager
LeClair Boone, a former 15-year educator, made the career transition into tech through a Software Engineering Program by one of our partners, Per Scholas. LeClair has Master’s Degrees in Educational Leadership and Spanish, several years of business experience, and has found her niche in technical curriculum alignment to lay the groundwork for establishing a solid pipeline of technical talent. LeClair is passionate about introducing youth and adults to careers in technology and strengthening technical education connections from pre-K to industry.
Program Manager
Craig DeLucia has spent the last 25 years advising families, companies, and nonprofit organizations on matters of taxation, structure, governance and strategic planning. His formal education and professional background is in accounting, including undergraduate and graduate degrees from Clemson University, but his focus is more on problem-solving than number-crunching. Craig’s philanthropic goal is to address the inequities that exist when talent is more widely distributed than opportunities, counseling, training, and resources. He is particularly passionate about eliminating barriers that prohibit individuals from participating in fulfilling career paths, particularly bridging the urban/rural divide so that all of our neighbors can participate in the jobs of today. Separately, Craig is a passionate advocate for the arts and for arts education as a forgotten building block in developing well-rounded minds.
President and CFO
NC Tech Paths is a non-profit corporation dedicated to establishing Northwest North Carolina as a national leader in fostering rural inclusion in the digital economy through a variety of workforce development, employer partnerships, and entrepreneurial support interventions, all of which allow our neighbors to live, train, and remain in the area.
