SJSU Receives Additional $1 Million Investment From Adobe to Boost Digital Literacy, Creative Skills & Career Prep

Photo: David Schmitz.

San José State University’s strong partnership with downtown San José neighbor Adobe continues to grow, as the creative technology company announced an additional investment of $1 million in SJSU as part of Adobe’s goal to support underinvested communities and advance their Adobe for All vision. 

SJSU is one of three minority-serving institutions Adobe and the Adobe Foundation have made a multi-year investment in over the past three years. With this renewed funding, SJSU, Bowie State and Winston-Salem State University have each received $3 million from Adobe and the Adobe Foundation since 2021.

“SJSU deeply values continued support from Adobe and the Adobe Foundation as their collaborative work with us is empowering the next generation of leaders and addressing educational inequities that face many students pursuing a college degree and career,” said SJSU Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Vincent Del Casino, Jr., in Adobe’s release about the grant. “Together with our faculty, SJSU will continue embedding digital and creative literacy skills and practices into curriculum and programs across the breadth of our institution. SJSU is also deeply invested in supporting students as they pursue career aspirations with Adobe’s internship and mentorship opportunities. We cannot wait to see what our faculty, staff and students do next through our incredible collaboration with Adobe and the Adobe Foundation.” 

Among the uses of the grant, Adobe and SJSU will collaborate with Braven, a national nonprofit with which SJSU has had a 10-year partnership to incorporate career education for low-income and first-generation students, to create a student cohort focused on helping students gain the skills they need to secure a job after graduation. 

Extending beyond the grant, Adobe has developed internship programs to support students from underrepresented backgrounds. One program is the Student Athlete Micro Internship (SAMI) program, which builds a 30-person cohort from SJSU, Bowie State University and Winston-Salem State University. Student-athletes were able to work on transferable skills from their sport to the corporate environment.

Read the Spring 2023 edition of Washington Square magazine to learn more about SJSU’s growing partnership with Adobe.