 From the Amazon Meeting Center in downtown Seattle, it's theCUBE, covering Imagine a Better World, a global education conference sponsored by Amazon Web Services. Hey, welcome back everybody. Jeff Frick here with theCUBE. We're in downtown Seattle, Washington at the AWS Imagine Education Conference. First one they've ever done, about 900 registrants. People from over 20 countries are here. Theresa Carlson gave the kickoff and it's a pretty exciting event. We've seen this movie before with Amazon. They get involved in a project and it grows and grows and grows. So this is all about education. It's about education institutions. It's about students, obviously, which are the core of education. And we're really excited to have our next guest who's a big announcement that happened today. He's Marvin Martinez, the president of East Los Angeles College. Marvin, great to see you. Thank you. Pleasure to be here. So you're getting ready to go up on stage. It's a big announcement. So tell about what it is. It's called the California Cloud Computing Initiative. So this is what we've done. We've been developing for the last year a certificate where students can take a number of classes, which is basically a total of 15 units and they're able to earn at the end of 15 units a certificate in cloud computing. And the goal is to get them trained quickly to get them out to work quickly. Eventually we hope that the certificate evolves into a degree program. So then we're hoping that the students come back and they get their associate of our certificate and they're able to get even a better job, which is really the goal of this program is we want to get them started, want to get them excited, get them into an entry level type of job. Then they will know they like it, they're going to come back, they'll get that degree, you know, do even better. Right. So let me, I just want to make sure I get this. It's a California Cloud workforce project. So it's really about the workforce and giving these kids a skill. So it's funny though, Marvin, everybody says technology's taking away jobs. They forget, yeah, they take away some jobs, but there's new jobs created all the time. There's a ton of openings, especially in the engineering field and in the cloud. But so what are some of the cloud skills specifically that kids are taking to get the certificate? Well, you know, the skills that they're taking specifically is so they could eventually work with some of the major industries in our area. Obviously from Amazon and other similar industries and similar businesses. And there's many of them. You know, Los Angeles, you know, quickly is becoming the new Silicon Valley. You know, and so a lot of industries are moving. They call us all the time, they call me all the time and say, do you have trained students? We will hire them right now and we'll pay them a good salary. So no doubt it was a motivation for us because that's who we are as community colleges. We are here to serve students. We're here to get them trained, get them out there quickly and respond to the needs of industry in our area. So it's a really interesting play. I think that it's the community colleges that you guys have all come together. I think that the number's 19 as part of this. So A, that you're doing it as a unified effort so kids at a broad area can take advantage. And also you're also partnering with individual high schools. Each community college just partners with an individual high school. So how does that work? How does that kind of come into fruition? Well, you know, one of the things we want to do is that, you know, as we work with high schools, you know, high schools today are also under pressure to ensure that their students are being trained well and that if they just get a high school diploma, they can go out and work somewhere. But also today, high schools are getting smart. They're saying, hey, how do we work with a local college so that when students graduate, they graduate with a high school diploma and they degree from a college? So, and why are they doing that? Because they know in order to be competitive, a young person needs to have these degrees. Today, you know, if you want to be competitive, a high school diploma may not be enough. So we know that's that motivation there. Secondly, you know, we're able to get students on a college campus, get them developed, get them, they're mature, get them to take a college level course, and then they're able to go out and obviously and work once they complete this program. So the relationship is a natural one. It's one that high schools are seeking from us, which is great. That has not been the case all the time. Usually we've gone to them, but now they're coming to us and saying, we need you, help us out. Right. The part I like about it too is the kids are smart, right? And they're like, why am I taking philosophy? How am I going to use philosophy in my job dad? Or why am I taking this or why am I taking that? These are really concrete skills that, A, they can go look in the newspaper today, or I guess I don't know if we look in the newspaper for jobs because couldn't find a newspaper if you threw it at them, but they can go see the job listings at the Amazon sites. And also they're working with this technology. They live in this technology. So it's not something foreign or something new. It's something they experience every day. So it's got to be a pretty easy sell, I would imagine. It's an easy sell. You know, young people today are different than the way that we grew up. I grew up at a time where there was no cell phones, there was no bottled water. There was, I mean, it was a whole different time. Right. Young people today, as you're saying, grew up with these technologies. It's part of who they are. They more than just embraced it. So they welcome to use it in any way they can. So when we propose programs like these, because what happens, they enroll in mass. And that's because they understand it. They identify with it. Will they be willing to enroll in a Shakespeare class? And they might, but not as much as a class like this one. So no doubt, the population today has changed. So part of my job is to introduce programs on the campus that I know will generate that kind of enrollment and interest. So we know that a program like this will do that. And we just need to recognize the fact that the world has changed. Let me just add that, you know, we don't do that well as education institutions. As institutions, we're some of the most conservative institutions in the history of this country. So for us to change, it takes quite a lot. You know, so what's forcing us to change? Well, what's forcing us to change is that enrollment's down. And not just in many of our colleges in LA, but throughout the country. Enrollment is- In community colleges? Oh yeah. Community colleges throughout the nation, enrollment is down. And enrollment is down for a number of reasons. You know, there's more jobs out there, so students are looking to go out and work. But also enrollment is down because the curriculum and the courses that we have are just not interesting to them. Right, right. You know, so I think a program like this will help the campus. A program like this will get more students to come and take advantage of an incredible education that they can get at our campuses. I'm just curious kind of what, you know, what were the drivers of enrollment before that have kind of fallen away? Was it a particular type of skill set? Was it just that they don't want to generic anymore? They got to go get a job? I'm just curious if there was something that you had before that was appealing that you have now that's just not appealing anymore. Good questions. So the last time our economy was in bad shape when the employment was down. That was back around 2008, 2009. Well, guess what happened in our campuses? Enrollment was up. So when the economy is in bad shape, people come back to school. When the economy is in great shape like it is today where there is a lot of jobs, enrollment is down. So we don't see the economy going down right all in a number of years. So we have to develop programs that we think will be of interest to students. First, secondly, we have to respond to the needs of the new economy. The new economy is now being dominated by these new technologies. We know about it, young people know about it. So when we develop a program like this and we know that it will generate interest, it will generate enrollment. And in many ways that's what drives the funding for college. We're funded on the basis of how many people will enroll. So if we don't enroll a lot of people, we have less money. So no doubt there's a motivation for us, a motivation for the entire system to really partner with Amazon and figure out a way for us to really get students trained and to hopefully get them a good job. So you segwayed perfectly. My last question was going to be kind of the role of Amazon and AWS in terms of being a partner. I mean, they obviously are thinking about things. Theresa's fantastic. She just talked about being from an education family. But at the same time, they have their own reasons to do it. They need workers, right? People to fill these jobs, to fulfill Amazon's own growth beyond their ecosystem, their partners and customers, et cetera. So what does it mean for you as an educator and part of this consortium of community colleges to have somebody like AWS come in and really help you co-develop and drive these types of new programs? Well, it means everything. Number one, we know that Amazon is a major employer. We know that the jobs that they have available are good paying jobs. They have a career path. And so we know it's a good direction for young people to take. So, you know, part of my job as an educator is many ways it's like a parent, right? You want to take care of your family. You want to take care of the kids and put them in the right path so they have the most success possible. Amazon offers that kind of path, you know? So for us to partner with someone like Amazon is great. Secondly, students know who Amazon is. I don't have to sell them. You know, they know who they are. They know what Amazon can do and they know that it's a great career path for them. So no doubt, I think it could be a great partnership for us but also it's an opportunity for Amazon to even continue further developing that workforce in Los Angeles and California. Right, all right Marvin. Well, thank you so much for spending a few minutes and I wish you nothing but the best with this California cloud workforce project. Make sure I get it right. That's right. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. All right, he's Marvin, I'm Jeff. Thanks for watching theCUBE. We're in Seattle at the Amazon Imagine education event. First time ever, keep watching. It's going to grow and grow and grow. Thanks for watching.