Partner Spotlight
Finding her future in a tech-forward career
Written by 2U on Jun 25, 2025
Related content: Strategic Partnerships, Impact and Outcomes
This article was originally published by Verizon. The Verizon Skill Forward program is a collaboration between edX and Verizon aimed at providing tuition-free, career-enhancing online courses focused on high-demand skills to facilitate long-term career growth.
Tiffany Paovella was running a restaurant in her hometown of Ossining, New York, when she realized that the ups and downs of the food service industry were becoming less palatable to her. As a mother of three teenagers, Paovella wanted a steadier career to provide for her family and allow her husband to stop working nights.
So, Paovella took a part-time job at the local library and decided to build on her associate’s degree to earn an online bachelor’s degree. Then she discovered Verizon Skill Forward while on social media. “I saw an ad that said, apply if you would like to learn about STEM courses that are available for free,” Paovella says. “And I was like, if it’s for free, it’s for me.”
After a quick and easy enrollment process, Paovella found that Skill Forward’s online courses easily fit into her busy schedule and she was impressed by the variety of the offerings. “When I started exploring [Skill Forward], it was easy to navigate,” she says. “I didn’t believe what I was seeing. I saw all the different schools and thought, ‘There’s no way they’re offering real certificates all in one spot.’”
Paovella dove right in, determined to take advantage of the year of free, unlimited online classes that Skill Forward offers. She has earned six professional certifications so far — most of them from a prominent tech company and one from Harvard. “I’ve gained computer science knowledge that I never would've had the access to before,” she says. “I learned how to speak computer languages that I didn’t even know existed.”
Paovella has also discovered genuine excitement for the more tech-leaning aspects of the Verizon Skill Forward courses. In fact, her curiosity and joy for learning have inspired her to explore an even broader range of STEM-related topics, such as AI and cybersecurity.
But it’s the real-world application of her newfound knowledge that Paovella says she most appreciates. She’s using her new skills at work, helping library patrons with tech difficulties. And even now, while she’s earning a master’s degree in library sciences, Paovella also has her eye on working in the tech industry, thanks to what she’s learned from Skill Forward.
“All these skills are useful and play into getting a job in this field,” she explains. “The more you have, the more beneficial. This is the future and where the demand is.”
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