An additional $1.85 million will expand programs

Metallica’s foundation, All Within My Hands (AWMH), launches year five of the Metallica Scholars Initiative with an additional $1.85 million to expand programs across colleges throughout the country.

“The Metallica Scholars Initiative is so important to us because we are seeing results,” drummer Lars Ulrich shares. “Five years in, with the help of community colleges across the country, we are helping people fill these essential jobs which require skills and training. We are so proud and grateful that we can facilitate this program.”

The major workforce education initiative that the AWMH foundation launched in 2019 in partnership with the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), is marking its fifth year with the addition of 11 new colleges to its existing 31-college roster, and an ambitious expansion into new programs. Metallica Scholars Initiative now directly supports 42 community colleges across 33 states in the US to enhance their career and technical education programs. To date, Metallica and their foundation have invested over $6 million in the American workforce.

“Reaffirming a commitment to career and technical education at the local level, each new school brings incredible opportunities to a thriving and growing community,” says All Within My Hands Executive Director Peter Delgrosso.

He continues, “With the launch of the fifth year of the program, we will now have supported well over 5,000 Metallica Scholars across workforce education. The Metallica Scholars Initiative is a strong and cooperative community of the nation’s best community colleges creating a supportive climate for participants to communicate directly and share best practices. As a result, our Metallica Scholars leave the program well-trained and confident. Ultimately the impact is felt in their local communities, and on the national scale, as Metallica Scholars enter the workforce and fill, or create, much needed workforce and technical positions.”

The new schools will each receive $100,000 to enhance the student experience as they receive career training for economic development.

What began with ten colleges and mostly manufacturing programs in its first round in 2019 has developed into a diverse list of workforce opportunities for students who are interested in gaining the skills and training necessary to find meaningful and well-paying careers in fields and positions including agriculture, carpentry, EMT, healthcare, hospitality, manufacturing and others.