Giving Compass is teaming up with SolutionsU, a platform that connects you to stories about responses to the world’s challenges. SolutionsU is a project of the Solutions Journalism Network: a nonprofit organization that seeks to rebalance the news, providing readers with critical reporting on society’s problems and stories that explain how individuals, institutions, and communities are responding.

Want to learn more about solutions journalism? Giving Compass interviewed David Bornstein, co-founder of the Solutions Journalism Network, who helped break it down for us.

This week, we are featuring a collection of solution journalism stories from their searchable database, focusing on developing tech skills for the workplace.

Across America, technology training programs help people find new opportunities. Although the media primarily covers the big tech giants in places like Silicon Valley, there are now organizations in every corner of the country that use technology to empower individuals and create new career possibilities.

Rural America appeals to technology companies for their applicant pools. Specifically, Kentucky has become home to an emerging tech sector as companies have begun hiring customer service workers, training former coal miners in mobile app development, and building new manufacturing plants. In New York City, libraries provide technology training, and a competitive programming course boosts immigrants from low-paying jobs to prestigious entrepreneurship programs. A Baltimore program call Digital Harbor engages youth in STEM programs.

Some key questions remain: what happens when these programs train more people than the number of available jobs? What happens to the low-income workers who do not get accepted to the training programs? Andrew Coy, founder of Digital Harbor, notes, “Creativity is evenly distributed, but opportunity is not.” Hopefully these programs will be intentional in distributing opportunity in a more equal way.

How you can make an impact in this area:

It all starts in school. Craig Newmark of Craigslist recently pledged $1 million to STEM-related public school projects on the crowdfunding site DonorsChoose, while the Kauffman Foundation recently awarded a three-year, $1.1 million grant to expand STEM programs in the Kansas City area. The latter includes Project Lead the Way, which uses project-based learning to engage kids in computer and biomedical science. The goal is to get the next generation prepared for the future economy.

Consider the “last mile.” A focus on the technical and soft skills employers are looking for (but that colleges don’t teach) is a growing field, with “last mile” boot camps prevalent for workforce training, in STEM and other areas. But the tuition for these programs can be prohibitive for low-income people. Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors did research into how the nonprofit sector could fill this gap — there is ample opportunity since only a handful of organizations are jumping into the pool.

Invest in organizations that connect youth with education and employment. In the workforce prep program Opportunities for a Better Tomorrow, 75 percent of young adults are placed in jobs or enroll in college or advanced training. Also, Year Up serves more than 3,000 youth ages 14 to 25 each year with intensive skills development — the average salary for alumni increased 32 percent compared to peers not in the program.

Read the full collection about developing tech skills by Serena Deutch at SolutionsU.