The Richmond Ed Fund has received an $8 million investment from Bloomberg Philanthropies to launch RVA Builds, a citywide apprenticeship pathway that connects Richmond Public Schools students with paid careers in the skilled trades before they graduate. Richmond is among nine geographies selected to be a part of Bloomberg Philanthropies’ new $90 million national skilled trades initiative.

RVA Builds brings together 17 partners — including Richmond Public Schools, the City of Richmond, several businesses, and unions — around a shared goal of ensuring 500 RPS students complete paid, work-based learning experiences in skilled trades by the end of the 2028-29 school year.

The initiative responds to growing regional workforce needs. Construction is the highest-demand industry in the Richmond region, with hundreds of projected annual openings that pay above a living wage and offer multiple postsecondary pathways. This creates significant opportunities for students seeking high-demand, well-paying careers and doesn’t require a college degree.
Right now, fewer than 15 RPS graduates enter Registered Apprenticeships each year, and the largest employers of recent graduates are fast-food chains. Richmond also ranks among the bottom five metro areas in the country for economic mobility. The goal of the pathway is to have 150 RPS grads enter Registered Apprenticeships over the next three years. RVA Builds is designed to expand access to higher-wage career pathways and improve upward mobility for RPS graduates.

Every participating student completes at least 120 hours of paid work-based learning, with partners agreeing to pay at least $23/hour total compensation after graduation.  The initiative also provides career readiness instruction, paid industry externships for RPS teachers, and wraparound supports including transportation, tools, credentials, and post-graduation advising to help students successfully transition into registered apprenticeships and other high-wage skilled trades careers.

RVA Builds grows out of Passion4Learning, RPS’s ongoing high school redesign, which focuses on hands-on, theme-based learning with clear pathways to college, career, and national service.

“We’ve traveled around the country studying models before designing something for Richmond,” said Shavonda Fernandez, Chair of the RPS School Board. “Over the course of 150 community meetings for our strategic plan, Dreams4RPS, we consistently heard students and families say, ‘We want school to provide experiences and skills that lead to life-changing careers and futures.’ RVA Builds is a step in that direction.”

“Our students deserve to graduate with real options,” said Jason Kamras, Superintendent of Richmond Public Schools. “Every decision we have made over the past several years through Passion4Learning has used this as our North Star. RVA Builds is our first step toward publicly demonstrating how we will do it. A choice-filled life is not just a slogan; it is a standard we hold ourselves to, and this investment gives us the tools to deliver it.”

“As a 10th grader, I enrolled in the Pre-Engineering Academy at Southside Virginia Community College, an initiative similar to RVA Builds,” said Taikein Cooper, CEO of the Richmond Ed Fund. “That experience is a big part of why I’m here today. I chose to continue my education, and I graduated from high school with real options: an Associate’s Degree, job offers, and college admission. My experience is an anomaly for most high school graduates, but collectively, we are committed to changing that for RPS graduates. We must stop pretending that college is the only path to upward mobility in this country; the rest of the world has already figured that out.”

“Economic mobility is the defining challenge of this city,” said Danny Avula, Mayor of the City of Richmond. “We cannot close that gap by doing what we have always done. When young people have a clear path to a living wage, everything else follows — safer neighborhoods, healthier families, a more affordable city. RVA Builds is a workforce policy, housing policy, and public safety policy all at once. The Richmond we want depends on building the talent pipeline that makes it possible.”

Richmond Ed Fund will publish annual data on student participation, placements, wage progression, and retention. The organization will also develop a Richmond Playbook — documenting the model’s design, contracts, curriculum, and data tools — for replication in other cities.

About Richmond Ed Fund: The Richmond Ed Fund is an independent nonprofit that invests in bold, evidence-driven initiatives to improve student outcomes in Richmond Public Schools. For 25 years, the organization has served as the innovation engine for RPS, connecting private capital to early-stage interventions and making the case for public adoption when the evidence is strong. RPS.fund

About RVA Builds: RVA Builds is a citywide apprenticeship pathway connecting RPS students to registered apprenticeships and skilled trades careers before graduation. Backed by Bloomberg Philanthropies, the program brings together 17 partners — including Richmond Public Schools, the City of Richmond, several businesses, and unions — around one goal: 500 students earning living wages in the skilled trades by the end of the 2028-29 school year. [website]

About Bloomberg Philanthropies: Bloomberg Philanthropies invests in 700 cities and 150 countries around the world to ensure better, longer lives for the greatest number of people. The organization focuses on creating lasting change in five key areas: the Arts, Education, Environment, Government Innovation, and Public Health. Bloomberg Philanthropies encompasses all of Michael R. Bloomberg’s giving, including his foundation, corporate, and personal philanthropy as well as Bloomberg Associates, a philanthropic consultancy that advises cities around the world. In 2025, Bloomberg Philanthropies distributed $4.3 billion. For more information, please visit bloomberg.org, sign up for our newsletter, or follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Threads, Facebook, and X.