NH startup in career pathway partnership with state Education Department

Matthew Guruge, CEO and co-founder of Awato.

Awato LLC, a developer of personalized career pathfinding software, is partnering with the New Hampshire Bureau of Career Development to provide a statewide career pathways platform for all middle school and high school students.

Under the 4½-year, $1.1 million contract, all New Hampshire students will receive a personalized career plan and direct connections to local employers.

According to Matthew Guruge, CEO and co-founder of the Manchester-based firm, the process for businesses to connect to K-12 schools is cumbersome, creating a lack of local opportunities for high school students. The statewide platform will enable employers to connect with local students, bring them into their organizations and provide hands on experience,” he said.

“New Hampshire is home to numerous resources and education opportunities that often are underutilized because students aren’t aware of them. This partnership will solve these inefficiencies by creating a seamless platform for students to be matched based on their goals with local resources like career technical education programs, the New Hampshire Career Academy and apprenticeships,” Guruge said.

The platform, offered at no cost to all middle and high schools in New Hampshire, is aimed at increasing access and participation in work-based learning opportunities, enabling schools to gather more data on their students goals and engage more students in their career and education pathways.