Graduate Profile: Sydney Atencio
Career Changers
Sydney Atencio is a graduate of ActivateWork's IT Support & Security Fundamentals bootcamp.
Sydney Atencio’s career journey is defined by determination, sacrifice, and transformation. At the young age of 19, she became a mother and entered Warren Village, a transitional housing program offering childcare and life-skills classes, while she worked and studied for her degree.
With this support, Sydney finished her bachelor’s degree in graphic design from the Art Institute of Colorado and launched a career in marketing and design. For seven years, she thrived at a small automotive business until the COVID pandemic upended her stability.
Forced to Pivot by COVID-19
Losing her job and, soon after, her apartment, Sydney, her husband, and their daughter moved into a family member’s basement. To get by, she began freelancing in graphic design, but the work was inconsistent and increasingly demanded web-based skills outside her expertise.
Remembering the career resources she had heard about at Warren Village, Sydney thought back to ActivateWork’s tuition-free workforce training programs. With an influx of freelance projects requiring a different skill set, she decided to enroll in ActivateWorks’ IT Support & Security Fundamentals bootcamp.
“So many of the projects were getting increasingly complex and outside my scope,” she said.
“I needed a way to build my skills without a huge financial or time commitment, as I didn’t want to spend that much time away from my family.”
The program was rigorous, requiring personal and family sacrifices, but Sydney was determined to show her daughter the value of hard work and resilience.
“Going through the ActivateWork program was extremely hard, especially because I was in the bootcamp during the holidays,” she said.
“I had to say no to a lot of things. This taught me and my daughter that sacrifice comes with hard work, but it’s 100 percent worth it.”
A New Beginning Thanks to ActivateWork
Upon graduation, Sydney landed an IT Support role with Sage Hospitality, an ActivateWork employer partner, applying her new skills to support hotel systems nationwide. With her new income, she and her family were finally able to buy their first home after years of living in a family member’s basement.
But ActivateWork’s impact extended beyond Sydney’s career. It also opened new doors for her daughter through Bring Your Kid to Work Day tours in downtown Denver, a new computer gifted by Sage leadership, and even opportunities to travel out of state for summer camp.
“My daughter has been with me through every up and down,” she said.
“She watched me graduate from college, lose my job, excel from intern to full-time designer, start freelancing, get married, and even helped me study for ActivateWork exams. Now she’s watching all that work pay off as we move into our own home after four years of living in a basement and struggling to get on our feet.”
Living by Example for Her Daughter
Today, Sydney continues to advance her career and upskill both through ActivateWork and directly through her employer, where she is currently obtaining her CompTIA Security+ certification.
Though she once dreamed of blending graphic design and tech through software development, she has found passion, opportunity, and stability in IT. Sydney credits ActivateWork for giving her a pathway to stability, growth, and renewed family dynamics, proving to both her and her daughter the power of perseverance.
“I wanted to prove to my daughter that we can do hard things,” she said. ”We can do it scared, and we can do it with a lot of ambition. ActivateWork helped me show her the way.”
Graduate Profile: Ulises Aguilar Maturin
Career Changers
Uli Maturin is a graduate of ActivateWork's IT Support & Security Fundamentals course.
Before joining ActivateWork, Ulises (Uli) Aguilar Maturin was working in construction and HVAC—reliable work, but far from his passion.
A lifelong gamer with a natural curiosity for how technology works, Uli began self-studying for IT certifications and applying for jobs in tech. But without experience or industry connections, breaking in felt impossible. That changed when he found ActivateWork.
Through ActivateWork’s IT Support & Security Fundamentals bootcamp, Uli built a solid foundation in IT fundamentals and earned his CompTIA A+ certification—credentials he now puts to work as an IT Service Specialist at Janus Henderson.
Just as importantly, our career development training and personalized coaching supports helped him develop the essential professional skills that helped him stand out.
“My instructor emphasized the power of communication, even when you’re nervous,” he says. Mock interviews and constructive feedback prepared him to confidently land his role and opened the door to a fulfilling tech career.
Uli’s journey is a testament to what’s possible when potential meets opportunity. As he puts it:
“I couldn’t have gone to a better bootcamp than ActivateWork.”
Graduate Profile: Anacani Briseno
Career Changers
Anacani Briseno is a graduate of the ActivateWork Summer 2021 cohort.
Anacani first developed an interest in computer systems as a child through her brothers, who often shared their computer games with her. Since then, she has been experimenting with computers in her own time as a hobby.
Anacani was born and raised in Denver, Colorado. She graduated from George Washington High School where she had taken college-level courses with the intent of going to college. She graduated in 2012 and went on to Metropolitan State University of Denver where she received her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with a minor in management.
Anacani had hoped to continue to graduate school, but her financial situation held her back. Freshly graduated but unsure what she wanted to do next, Anacani joined the Transportation Security Administration at Denver International Airport.
For three years, she worked as an agent and slowly leveled up the ranks to an officer position. But she found herself taking on roles that she didn’t feel comfortable in. Then the coronavirus pandemic shut everything down. With the airports running on survival mode, Anacani watched as many of her coworkers lost their jobs or quit. She remembers, “it was a very stressful work environment for everyone there.” She realized that a career in IT could put her where she wanted to be mentally and financially.
In the beginning of the shutdown, she had been going to work at the airport while many of her coworkers worked remotely from home. There were days where she spent a lot of her time on the phone in the airport with an IT support person working from their home. After a while, Anacani would ask the IT support members about their industry. With her background knowledge and understanding of computers systems, Anacani channeled her frustrations with her workplace into a search for better opportunities. She says, “I went down rabbit holes of information looking for the answers I needed.” And from those rabbit holes, Anacani turned it into a curious exploration of jobs in the industry.
She discovered ActivateWork’s tuition-free IT training through an Indeed job posting. “I thought it was too good to be true,” she said. She was intrigued and felt that she should scope out the program before she wrote it off. She applied and found out that it was an educational course designed to help people like her level up in the workforce. Anacani felt that her participation in the program would give her a leg up in the job search process. She felt confident despite the rigorous 15-week commitment that she could find great success with the support of the community ActivateWork could provide.
“It was a lot. I was up from 4 AM and often didn’t get down time until 12 AM. I was trying to balance work and going to school, but joining ActivateWork was a 180 degree change for me.”
After graduating with her IT support certification, Anacani started her job at Ardent Mills as an IT support analyst.
“I feel like I’ve finally found a company that will put their employees first,” she said. “They’re very supportive of their people and are open to helping them through more workforce development. I’m a lot happier here.”
Anacani feels that she has a great team at Ardent Mills—she appreciates the encouragement and support of her team to help her continue in an upward trajectory. She plans to continue to upskill and expand her skill set into cloud computing and engineering.
Graduate Profile: Randy Cordova
Career Changers
Randy Cordova graduated this spring from ActivateWork powered by Per Scholas with his IT Support certification.
Randy had been interested in tech all his life but only became involved in the field in recent years. He had previously worked a variety of jobs, including construction, plumbing, and customer service.
While pursuing a bachelor’s degree in computer information systems, Randy realized that his education was not actually providing him with the experience he needed to secure a job. All of the jobs Randy looked at also required specific certifications he wanted to earn, but he found it difficult to find the motivation to pursue them alone. Randy joined ActivateWork’s IT Support cohort and found it to be exactly what he needed. Randy credits the structure and discipline provided by a classroom setting and the support from his colleagues and the team at ActivateWork for helping him complete the course.
He enjoyed the diversity of his cohort and was overwhelmed by the support that the program provided for him.
“The whole program – the professional development, the mock-interviews — it gave me the confidence that I needed,” Randy recalled. “It changed the way that I think. Instead of being intimidated, I had confidence, and I had a whole team of people helping me with what I needed. Doing [ActivateWork] was probably one of the best choices I ever made.”
Since graduating, Randy has begun working full-time as an IT service desk analyst at Centura Health. He is interested in potentially pursuing Networking, Cloud Support, and Cybersecurity certifications and is currently taking an alumni NET+ course through ActivateWork.
“I feel like my path is on the right track for everything I need to do, so I’m very excited,” Randy reflected. “My confidence is up! This was a great opportunity. My whole cohort was so intelligent, and the teachers were great. I think this really changed my life.”
Graduate Profile: Jenell Weitz
Career Changers
Before the pandemic put our world into shutdown, Jenell was working at a small translation services company as a Project Coordinator and Office Manager. Although she had enjoyed her job, she felt that it was time for her to try something new.
When her husband’s job search brought them to Denver, she seized the opportunity to make some big changes to her career. Jenell hadn’t always had an interest in tech, but through the Denver Public Library, she heard about a program called Code Forward sponsored by Devetry. Jenell was able to attend a free coding fundamentals course that provided her with some basic understanding of DevOps and how applications worked and were set up. She completed the full course and was even able to get some hands-on experience in coding projects.
As she completed the program and began her job search, Covid precautions began emptying offices and halting hiring processes. Despite that, Jenell pushed on, inquiring where she could, about possible opportunities to put her skills to work when she heard about ActivateWork’s tuition-free IT program from a friend.
Jenell joined ActivateWork and finished her full-time, 15-week IT support course in April 2021. On the day of her ActivateWork graduation, Jenell was able to meet with S&P Global and secure her current position as an IT technician, supporting the team’s financial applications to streamline processes and ensure compliance to company policies.
“I probably wouldn’t have gotten this job without them,” she recalls. “They really helped me develop my soft skills and the mock interviews were extremely helpful.”
Jenell says she loves that she can bring the skills she learns back home to share with her husband and children.
Jenell says she really enjoys working at S&P Global and that it is nice to have people whom she can relate to personally and professionally with. She looks forward to taking advantage of the educational programs her employer offers to upskill.
Graduate Profile: Elena Kim
Career Changers
A multicultural professional with Russian, Korean, and Uzbekistan roots, Elena moved to the US at the age of 24 without knowing any English.
Her diverse professional experience as a former accountant, bakery manager, photographer, and real estate agent has provided her with a rich skill set that she now brings to her tech career.
Elena’s journey at the Credit Union of Colorado exemplifies dedication and growth. As she neared her six-month milestone, Elena’s enthusiasm and engagement in her help desk responsibilities were evident.
“When I was an accountant, I worked with QuickBooks and often collaborated with my best friend, who is a cybersecurity specialist. Watching her work and asking questions sparked my fascination with the process.”
Her commitment to continuous learning and development is evident as she aims to transition from an end-user specialist to a full-time help desk technician, with a future goal of moving into cybersecurity.
Pursuing a CompTIA Security+ certification upon transitioning to full-time status highlights her dedication to advancing her skills and career within the organization. Elena credits her ActivateWork career coaches for playing a crucial role in providing the necessary guidance and resources for her personal and professional growth.
“My coaches at ActivateWork have been instrumental in ensuring that I received the guidance and resources I need for professional development.”
Elena’s story is a testament to resilience, growth, and the relentless pursuit of excellence! Her journey is an example of what can be achieved with hard work and the right support.