Cesar Ruiz

President & CEO
Learning Alliance Corporation, Tampa, Fla.

Cesar Ruiz is the president and CEO of Learning Alliance, which provides nano-learning diplomas that articulate into national apprenticeship programs in high-skilled/high-wage targeted occupations in telecommunication, renewable energy (wind/solar), IT and manufacturing.

Ruiz’s leadership has focused on two dynamic issues that have led to the fast-paced national growth of Learning Alliance. First is a focus on the importance of bridging the gap between academic learning and Registered Apprenticeship Programs (RAP) to create a student/employer learning plan that is cost-effective and can be achieved in under seven weeks. Via Florida Department of Education approved programs, students earn front-loaded preapprenticeship Learning Alliance credentials that articulate toward a Department of Education approved diploma and paid apprenticeship placement. Currently more than 1,200 students have completed the LAC preapprenticeship diplomas with an opportunity to articulate to paid apprenticeship solutions that align to credits toward a college degree.

Ruiz is a firm believer that access to middle class wages can be achieved if students are provided training that mimics the daily world of work, and where the cost-benefit is clear to students. Out of this belief, he has created the NextTech Diversity Program with T-Mobile to provide scholarships to low-income students and is proud of the 146 students that have graduated with no debt and are currently working as technicians earning a middle-income salary. With an estimated 800 graduates each year, Ruiz believes that a new age of education is required to fill the massive amounts of blue-collar careers that exist that do not require four years of academic learning and debt. To support this mission, he focuses on innovative learning, nano based diplomas, apprenticeships and earn while you learn solutions that align to A.S. degrees. He has also overseen the funding and creation of Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) systems that mimic daily world of work and empower apprentices to learn anywhere at any time to support today’s learner with muscle memory exploratory repetition.

Ruiz’s very passion for diversity has been rewarded with a five-year, $2 million contract from T-Mobile and other telecommunication industry leaders to bring further diversity, equity and career laddering within the industry. The purpose of this initiative is to bring 150 additional diverse technicians per year into the industry to address the massive workforce shortage while engaging in providing a diverse workforce for the future. “There's not a lot of people that know we have a 20,000 job void and we can fill people almost immediately and we need to make sure there's the support structure, that there are loan programs, apprenticeship programs. So, I'm really proud of the work that teachers are doing here and of the LAC organization,” said FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr.

Ruiz currently sits on the Small Cell & DAS Committee and Workforce Development Committee with the National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) and the Wind Workforce Standards Committee with the American Clean Power Association. He was also awarded 2022 Veterans Champion of the Year by G.I. Jobs Magazine.