i.c.stars: Shaping Future Tech Talent

As a black woman and educator, my worldview has come from my observations in the classroom, diversity training, curriculum design and eventually social entrepreneurship. The through line has been an effort to change the narrative on underserved talent, from deficit, charity-based thinking, to asset and opportunity. 

I co-founded i.c.stars, an innovative nonprofit leadership and technology training program, to prepare inner-city young adults for technology careers and community leadership. My approach at i.c.stars has been informed by my passion for teaching and wanting to instill a love of learning; the power that comes from solution-building; and a belief in the profound potential of young people who have overcome adversity. 

Prior to i.c.stars, I designed interactive programs for GED students at Jobs for Youth, implemented a professional development program with Harold Washington College Career Center, and developed experiential learning modules for over 70 schools.

An Economic Policy Institute study from 2019 found that African American unemployment was at least twice as high as white unemployment at the national level. Meanwhile, nationally, more than 40 million people have filed for unemployment during the pandemic (New York Times, May 28, 2020). In Chicago, the pandemic is heightening racial and economic disparities, as more than 70% of the city's first coronavirus deaths were among African Americans, who make up only 30% of the city’s total population (NPR, June 9, 2020).

Amidst the economic crisis and changing work landscape, the software development industry remains strong. In 2019, Chicago’s Mayor wrote that tech was the fastest-growing sector in the city. i.c.stars was started to bridge technology employers with underrepresented and underserved adults who need opportunity. Participants learn by doing; they build web-based applications to solve client challenges and gain the professional network needed to jumpstart their careers.

According to UIC’s Great Cities Institute report, in Chicago 59% of black young adults (ages 20-24) are out of work - a rate six times higher than for white young adults. In Chicago, the end of industrialization produced a dramatic departure of jobs from large sections of the city along with the rise in chronic and concentrated joblessness. Similarly, in Milwaukee, the decline of manufacturing has led to chronic unemployment, growing concentrated poverty and racial segregation. COVID-19 has heightened the challenges of unemployment and inequity. 

Amidst the economic crisis and changing work landscape, the software development industry remains strong. In 2019, Chicago’s Mayor wrote that tech was the fastest-growing sector in the city. According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2019), employment of software developers is projected to grow 21% from 2018 to 2028, while projected employment growth is 13% for developers, far outpacing growth in the overall job market. 

i.c.stars creates equitable access to opportunity through connecting technology employers to underserved talent. Our mission is to provide opportunities for inner-city young adults to harness the strength of technology for social and economic leadership.

i.c.stars offers a unique two-year job training program that provides an opportunity for talented, low-income young adults in Chicago and Milwaukee to develop advanced technical and leadership skills. The program begins with a four-month immersion, where participants respond to an RFP from a corporate employer partner, with employer needs complementing the coding skills - HTML, CSS, JQuery, JavaScript, Python, and SQL - and methodologies like agile and scrum. Participants develop employer-facing skills and soft skills through leadership workshops. They also receive a stipend and wraparound support. Following the bootcamp, support continues for 20-months as career assistance, professional development, higher education support, and case management. 

Twenty years of data supports our approach: the average initial placement rate is 90%, earnings increase is approximately 300%, and industry retention is 80% at 12 months. Since our founding twenty years ago, we have launched the technology careers of more than 575 motivated, underserved young adults. i.c.stars’ model has been recognized by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation in reports including Talent Orchestrators: Scaling Youth Employment Through Business-Facing Intermediaries, and by the Brookings Institution and a Strada Institute for the Future of Work report. 

i.c.stars identifies non-traditional talent, trains them for higher paying, technology-based jobs, mentors them for success in the corporate world, and connects them to high-level careers and a network of successful entrepreneurs. i.c.stars is highly selective in identifying individuals who have overcome significant adversity and have developed the highest levels of resilience, problem solving aptitude, and motivation to help others. Annually, we serve 60 participants in our Chicago bootcamp and 60 in our Milwaukee bootcamp.

The majority of i.c.stars participants are between 18-30 and more than 90% are people of color or other groups facing high barriers. At least 48% receive Federal Benefits, approximately 15% have experienced homelessness, 16% had a felony, and 35% have children. All of the young adults i.c.stars serves are from low-income communities, and 100% are unemployed or extremely underemployed. The economic empowerment of i.c.stars ensures that graduates and their families’ basic needs are met, and a cycle of poverty is broken. 

i.c.stars’ alumni feedback is solicited on an ongoing basis and incorporated into program design. Feedback from our post-cohort survey of program graduates informs our decisions about curriculum content, outside instructors, and program timing.

The Strada Institute for the Future of Work report On-ramps to Good Jobs features i.c.stars as a case study of "innovative programs that serve as an engine of upward mobility". i.c.stars graduates gain technology, business, and leadership skills and a strong network of industry supporters. Graduates see their salaries increase by 300% on average, and have secured technology or IT roles at organizations including Microsoft, Accenture, Discover, US Foods, United Airlines, Deloitte, Northwestern Mutual, Salesforce, Thoughtworks, Paylocity, Relativity, and JPMorgan Chase among others. 52 graduates have started for profits or nonprofits, and 70 graduates have become homeowners.

I created the concept for i.c.stars in 1998 with Leslie Beller, after having seen one of my most talented students from my teaching years working for minimum wage as a housekeeper in a Chicago hotel. This chance encounter made me wonder what I could do to make sure underprivileged workers could meet their fullest potential. Leslie and I knew that the IT industry offered a lot of employment opportunities with the continued rise of dotcoms. Together, we spent the next 18 months researching technology training programs, traveling across the United States, and looking at other non-for-profit organizations. 

Today, i.c.stars is in Chicago and Milwaukee and continues its growth trajectory of developing technology and community leaders from a diversity launch pad. What is most innovative about i.c.stars is the agility built into our project-based model: employers pay to engage in the training, because they understand the value of a program that incorporates attributes specific to their organization. This keeps the technology curriculum market-facing and fluid. 

i.c.stars’ longer term impact on participants includes pursuit of higher education, homeownership, and entrepreneurship, with program graduates having started both for profits and nonprofits.

I believe that we are all minimum wage from the neck down and that when economic circumstances disadvantage large segments of the population, everyone loses out. i.c.stars has a number of practices that seek to disrupt power imbalances in the tech industry in particular. The daily High Tea speaker series brings a senior executive into the studio to share their career journey with each cycle. This serves as a public speaking exercise while changing participants’ perceptions about the relatability of those in high-level technical roles- even those who come from very different backgrounds than they do.

i.c.stars provides an environment of acceptance and authenticity that supports participants through a life-changing training. Workshops are designed to build empathy and confidence -  understanding first impressions, stereotypes, and biases while emphasizing the importance of changing perceptions and being non-judgmental in the workplace. 

Graduates transition from receiving benefits to paying into the system. With i.c.stars, the estimated lifetime earnings of one graduate grows from $540,343 to $2,161,370 (based on $10,000 average pre program wage, assuming conservative annual cost of living raises of 2%, and based on average initial post i.c.stars salary of $40,000).

Over my 20 years at i.c.stars, I have found inspiration in the resilient young people who are the next generation of technology leaders. In first developing i.c.stars, I saw that IT was inherently about solving problems and building solutions and asked the question, "what if we taught programming, solutions building AND leadership development in the same frame?” The outcome was the first technology and leadership bootcamp in Chicago. Today, i.c.stars continues its growth trajectory of developing technology and community leaders from a diversity launchpad. 

Through my work leading i.c.stars, I have been recognized by the Chicago Community Trust Fellowship (2015), as Racial Equity Fellow by Chicago United for Equity (2017), for Outstanding Leadership in STEM education and by the Rainbow PUSH Coalition (2017), and as part of the Stand+Together Foundation’s Catalyst cohort for outstanding nonprofits (2018).

i.c.stars has developed a repeatable process and an ability to build deep employer relationships, as well as to meet a need for employers and the community. This year, i.c.stars is building capacity and infrastructure - including performance quality and learning management systems, and new financial software - that will help the organization grow faster. This work is supported by the Dohmen Company, i.c.stars’ largest investor, and a private life sciences company turned Benefit Corporation.

Due to COVID-19, we have experienced challenges but have persevered and adapted our nimble model to meet the difficulties head on. i.c.stars has transitioned its entire training program to a remote platform. Program managers take attendance and check assignments virtually. Project teams meet remotely and even High Tea - our daily speaker series in which a senior executive shares their career journey - has gone virtual. Our case managers have been ensuring that program participants have what they need - from access to medical care, to stable housing, internet access and support with cell phone bills, to be able to continue training. 

A number of companies have hiring freezes due to the pandemic and related revenue loss, and several placed program graduates have since had their offers rescinded. Several companies have also informed us that they will be cancelling their summer internship programs. We have addressed these challenges through sustaining and building our strong employer pipeline and continuing our industry events virtually, introducing high-level executives and hiring managers to i.c.stars talent. 

We have secured PPP and SBA loans, as well as COVID-related funding and bridge funding from our foundation partners, helping us to weather the storm created by the pandemic.

When I was a high school math and science teacher, I had a rule that if you were in my chemistry class, you had to come back for lunch. I would start the lunch by saying, what is your truth, what are you doing with science? One of the most profoundly bright students I had ever taught answered, “I’m working with chemicals. I’m working in cleaning services for a hotel downtown and you’d be surprised about what people don’t know about the basic properties of ammonia.” I looked at him surprised and he said, “Sandee, you’ve always taught me that leadership is making opportunities for others. So it doesn’t matter whether I’m in a lab coat or a lecture hall or cleaning toilets; I’m teaching, just like you taught us.”

Earlier that week, I had given a lecture to a room full of hundreds of teachers. The focus was that every lesson that we teach is one that we need to learn. Days later, talking to my student, I got taken to school. I knew that day that my life would never be the same. That was the day that my co-founder and I developed the concept for i.c.stars.

What is most innovative about i.c.stars is the agility built into our project-based model: employers pay to engage in the training, because they understand the value of a program that incorporates attributes specific to their organization. This keeps the technology curriculum market-facing and fluid. 

Another great strength of i.c.stars is our holistic model, which includes building a thriving tech ecosystem through employer partnerships. This happens through daily High Tea - an i.c.stars ritual that brings a business leader to share their story with the cohort; the tea guest usually leaves with an interest in wanting to hire from i.c.stars. i.c.stars also engages employers through roundtables, focused on bias free recruitment among other topics, as well as through quarterly technology industry convenings, which annually reach about 1,000 employers. As a talent provider, i.c.stars serves as a platform for employers to learn about non-traditional talent and to develop pilot programs they can institutionalize over time. Events in particular are a critical point to keep at the forefront for our network and social capital building.

i.c.stars’ social justice, civics and leadership components result in alumni who volunteer and give to charities at rates of 80 - 90 percent. Finally, i.c.stars sets itself apart by promoting debt-free education: participants are provided with a stipend and laptop to work closely with the corporate clients with whom they partner. 

i.c.stars offers a two-year job training program for talented, low-income young adults. The program begins with a four-month immersion, where participants work in teams to solve a real business problem from a corporate employer partner, while learning HTML, CSS, JQuery, JavaScript, Python, and SQL - and methodologies like agile and scrum. The bootcamp is divided into three Sprints - each dedicated to an element of the client project: requirements gathering, marketing, and technology build. Support and skill development continue during the 20-month residency period following the bootcamp, when program graduates receive job placement assistance, mentorship, higher education support, and counseling and case management as needed. 

In a four-month bootcamp based on performance in real world projects, i.c.stars is interested in a quantitative assessment and mastery in three key training areas: Business, Leadership, and Technology. Performance in the bootcamp is measured through individual and group assessments, project work, individual activities, and completion of modules. After the bootcamp, we follow up with graduates to check placement status, identify obstacles, and develop plans to address barriers to success. 

Key success metrics include program completion; our goal is 80% and we have a strict absence and tardiness policy. Program completion in the bootcamp is also contingent on performance. Technical skill mastery is assessed by Geek Week, project work and completion of modules. Leadership activities are scored for integrity, making opportunities for others, and community. Success in the internship also relies on 360-degree performance reviews after each Sprint. 

A second key success metric is job placement. Our goal is 85% placement in a training related role at six months. The average time to placement is 3.3 months and the most common roles are Software Developer, QA Tester, Business Analyst, or Help Desk Support. 

A third success metric is earnings increase - currently 300% on average at 12 months post-program. i.c.stars graduates have secured technology or IT roles at organizations including Microsoft, Accenture, Discover, US Foods, United Airlines, Deloitte, Salesforce, and Paylocity among others. We track alumni entrepreneurs and homeownership. Lastly, we measure alumni volunteerism, charitable contributions, and nonprofit creation - through an annual survey. 

i.c.stars provides our technology bootcamp to three consecutive cohorts of 20 (or 60 individuals) in our Chicago program each year, and to the same number in our Milwaukee program. In addition, we serve 40 program graduates in Chicago and 40 in Milwaukee in our residency program. In total, we serve 200 individuals each year. 

In 2019, we began using an agile new platform for recruitment, Breezy, which allowed for process automation and scaling, supporting recruitment. Through our partnership with TechReady Illinois and our inclusion on their recently launched upskilling aggregator geared towards underserved individuals as well as those seeking a career change, i.c.stars expects to increase our top of funnel. With TechReady Illinois, we are targeting candidates with the same demographics as current i.c.stars participants. This channel - in addition to other digital marketing, referrals, and additional channels - will help us double our recruitment pipeline from 500 to 1,000. 

We also recruit using digital marketing, GED program referrals, high school teachers, job fairs, and referrals from parents of alumni. In addition, we recruit from community based organizations including Metropolitan Family Services, CPS - Office of Alternative Education, Austin Coming Together, Goodwill Englewood, and the Juvenile Justice Center.  

Given our increased pipeline and the possibilities for accommodating more program participants due our model for fully remote or hybrid remote/in person learning going forward, we anticipate increasing the number served every year, and conservatively estimate an additional 10 to 20 participants served in each city every year.

Our goals include increasing our impact to reach related markets, formalizing our curriculum, and adding external evidence to our model. This year, i.c.stars is building capacity and infrastructure - including performance quality and learning management systems, and new financial software - that will help the organization grow faster. We have begun creating a “playbook” to capture the full i.c.stars training program in order to ensure program team success and role coordination, including previously “unwritten” pedagogy and curriculum, Geek Week, career coaching, workshops, events, case management, and counseling. Through the creation of the “playbook” we seek to institutionalize our curriculum materials and facilitator guides to ensure replicability of the program in related markets. 

Since completing our feasibility study in Kansas City, we have been focused on building local partnerships and meeting with potential funders. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, we were meeting with a core group of potential anchor sponsors, and the program launch timing depends on such sponsorship, which has been slowed due to the pandemic.

Over the next two years, i.c.stars will participate in a randomized control trial in partnership with Notre Dame’s Lab for Economic Opportunities, the College of William and Mary, and the University of Illinois. By conducting this RCT, researchers will add external evidence to the impact of i.c.stars on employment and earnings.

Philanthropy is needed to accompany our social enterprise revenue, as we demonstrate how we scale in the midwest, and how market-specific issues impact our expansion. 

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have experienced multiple funding delays and losses. In addition, we have seen a cancellation from a speaking engagement for our president, which had revenue dollars attached. Our social staffing enterprise is a source of revenue, and the economic downturn (hiring freezes and layoffs in some cases) is also impacting our earned income. Unfortunately, several placed graduates had their role rescinded due to company-wide cut backs as a result of COVID-19. Safety concerns and social distancing has also presented a challenge to our in-person technology program.

One of the biggest risks to our planned growth is scaling i.c.stars’ culture and values, both in how we deliver training and leadership and in how we perceive our students. Technology and systems infrastructure scaling is another risk. Finally, an additional risk is growing too fast, as there are not enough staff resources at the national level for i.c.stars to launch more than one city at a time. 

To combat the effects of COVID-19, we have pursued and secured funding through PPP and SBA loans, as well as COVID-related and bridge funding from our foundation partners. We are staying ahead of the economic downturn through sustaining and building our strong employer pipeline and continuing our convening and industry events to keep our partners engaged, grow our relationships, and introduce high-level executives and hiring managers to i.c.stars talent. Finally, we have transitioned our technology training program to a fully remote framework and for the next cohort will have participants attend the beginning of the program in an outdoor setting, and then have them shift to fully remote instruction. 

In order to address the challenge of maintaining our culture and values as we grow, we plan to have an i.c.stars ambassador / leader for the first year of operations in a new city and to incorporate alumni as brand ambassadors and keepers of culture who can help preserve the culture in new markets. We plan to address technology and infrastructure scaling through our infrastructure investment. 

Finally, we plan to address the risk of growing too fast by considering pacing and space, while building out our staff. We are also leveraging our employer network in our expansion, and existing employer partnerships can create opportunities for i.c.stars graduates in new markets. 

In early 2019, i.c.stars formalized a partnership with Indiana Wesleyan University, which recognizes our bootcamp for 24 prior learning credit hours. Through a partnership with Microsoft, we have enhanced the program by adding industry certifications ranging from data analytics to software development and coding to cyber security. 

i.c.stars recruits from community organizations such as Chicago Housing Authority, Goodwill, UCAN, One Summer Chicago, Catholic Charities and Austin Coming Together. i.c.stars created a pilot bridge program for Chicago CRED, whose participants are most at risk of gun violence, and CRED is now a recruitment partner. i.c.stars is a member of the Thrive Chicago - Reconnection Hub Action Team, which connects opportunity youth to employment.

i.c.stars’ case manager and counselor refers participants and alumni to the Chicago Department of Family Services, South Chicago Community Service Center, and the YWCA rental assistance program. The case manager also makes referrals to ABC Dental, which often provides free treatment to program participants. She assists participants in applying to medical cards through the Department of Human Services. Through CountyCare, she makes referrals to a no-cost managed care health plan. i.c.stars also has a partnership with LensCrafters, through which free and sliding scale screenings and glasses are provided. 

i.c.stars is a talent sourcing partner of the Chicago Apprentice Network. Salesforce provides mentoring to recent graduates as well as pro bono platform support to i.c.stars as an organization. 

According to the 2019 Strada Institute for the Future of Work’s On-ramps to Good Jobs report, “our current education and training system is already lagging and failing too many unemployed and underemployed Americans.” This same report highlights i.c.stars as a “highly successful model at moving working-class adults from underemployment into promising career pathways”. 

The need for investment in organizations like i.c.stars is underscored not only by the Strada report, but by “demand-side factors”. In a recent webinar from the ECMC Foundation and Entangled Solutions, “employer demand for digital fluency, structural skills gap, and the increase in skilled service jobs” illustrate a growing need for career pathways programs, like i.c.stars.

i.c.stars is the bridge that links talented, underserved applicants to skills training, a diverse corporate network, and high growth jobs. i.c.stars participants are young adults and more than 90% are people of color or other groups facing high barriers. At least 48% receive Federal Benefits, approximately 15% have experienced homelessness, 16% had a felony and 35% have children. Additionally, all of the young adults i.c.stars serves are from low-income communities, and 100% are unemployed or extremely underemployed. 

i.c.stars identifies non-traditional talent, trains them for higher paying technology roles, mentors them for success, and connects them to careers opportunities and a network of successful entrepreneurs. Our program prepares participants to be successful in technology and business roles, and to be leaders who bring social and economic change to their communities.

i.c.stars’ financial model is based on diversified revenue channels that include earned income from our social staffing enterprise; corporate donations from organizations like Abbvie, Accenture, and PwC; and foundation support from the William G. McGowan Charitable Fund, Stand + Together Foundation, and the Workday Foundation among others. Events that showcase our program and convene employers also generate revenue for the organization and are part of our expansion model. Finally, robust financial oversight - led by the board Finance Committee and our external auditing firm has helped the organization weather recessions. 

We are exploring new ways to further diversify our revenue streams, including increasing earned income as a percentage of total revenue. As i.c.stars grows, sustaining our Chicago program is critical, especially in light of the unique challenges that we are facing due to the COVID-19 pandemic and economic downturn.

Current Fiscal Year Donors

Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Foundation: $112,500

Workday Foundation: $100,000

New Profit, Inc.: $100,000

Motorola Solutions: $70,000

Stand Together Foundation: $60,000  

Yelp Foundation: $60,000

Kohl's: $50,000 

Dohmen: $45,000 

Anonymous: $40,000

Accenture LLP $35,000

Brinson Foundation: $30,000

Adtalem Global Education $25,000

Collabera $25,000

Irvin Stern Foundation: $20,000

American Family Insurance Dreams Foundation: $40,000

PWC: $25,000

Northwestern Mutual: $15,000

The Dohmen Company $15,000

ServiceNow $15,000

Wintrust Financial Corporation $15,000

Brilliant $12,000

Molex Incorporated $11,000

Robert Half $10,000

Flexential $10,000

Northern Trust Company: $10,000

Kohl’s $10,000

Children's Care Foundation: $10,000

Antioch Foundation: $10,000

Purepoint Financial $10,000

Cloudbakers $10,000

Kohl’s Department Stores - Innovation Center US Foods $10,000

Robert Half $10,000

Grainger: $6,000

Integrys: $5,000

Splunk $5,000

Essendant $5,000

McMaster-Carr Supply Company: $4,000

OCC $4,000

Microsoft $4,000

McCormick Foundation $4,000

McGuire Woods $4,000

Our operating budget for 2020 is $3,856,603.

i.c.stars provides Chicago’s and Milwaukee’s low-income, young adults with the technical skills and business network needed to secure high paying careers in technology and to become community leaders. The Elevate Prize will enable us to continue to provide our rigorous, market-facing workforce development program as we weather the COVID-19 pandemic, pivoting our training and building new ways of delivering skills acquisition, as well as preparing for the post-COVID world. Through supporting i.c.stars, the prize will also help close the employment gap in Chicago and Milwaukee--particularly critical during the pandemic and escalating economic crisis--and connect motivated, underserved young adults to high growth technology careers. In light of COVID-19 and a changing work landscape, we anticipate needing to evolve. The support of The Elevate Prize support would enable us to do so with confidence, allowing us to devote more time and resources to the program itself.

In addition, the mentorship, coaching, advisement, and exposure offered through The Elevate Prize would help us maintain our culture and values and ensure the successful replicability of our proven model as we pivot our instruction in the post-COVID world and expand into new markets.

The mentorship, coaching, advisement, and exposure offered through The Elevate Prize would help us maintain our culture and values and ensure the successful replicability of our proven model as we pivot our instruction in the post-COVID world and expand into new markets. 

We have successfully pivoted our program to a fully remote model (with the introduction to a new cohort being in-person), and would value resources regarding remote instruction. We would also value inclusion in peer learning organizations and mentorship as we plan to scale our organization.

We are exploring new ways to further diversify our revenue streams, including increasing earned income as a percentage of total revenue, and would value counseling in this area.

We are open to a variety of partners, including peer organizations, referral partners, organizations providing educational opportunities and wraparound services, and coaching.