Workplaces as diverse as neighborhoods

re:work training is a non-profit career accelerator program founded in Chicago, Illinois whose mission is to create workplaces as diverse as our neighborhoods. The organization accomplishes this by providing Black and Latinx individuals with a free 8-week career training and placement program that prepares them for full-time sales jobs in tech that take them from average earnings of $7500 to $51,000 per year.

So far, our program has addressed the community side of the opportunity gap by providing candidates with comprehensive training, a robust professional network, as well as post-program support through mentorship, career coaching, and alumni placement services. Going forward, we look to further address the corporate side of the opportunity gap, working with tech companies to support diversity with inclusive climates. We will ensure the continued success of our alumni, as well as our corporate partners, through a spectrum of corporate Diversity and Inclusion programming. 

The specific problem we are solving is lack of high-quality, affordable learning and training opportunities for communities facing chronic unemployment, starting in Chicago, dismantling the notion that higher education is the only path to a meaningful and sustainable career, and matching employers with a high-quality pipeline of job-ready diverse talent. 

For the latter issue, unconscious bias in hiring, inherently discriminatory hiring practices, and non-inclusive environments are large contributors to why diversity remains stagnant in tech.

1. Unprecedented unemployment rates, especially for Black and Latinx populations as of April 2020: 

Blacks (16.7 percent) 

Latinx (18.9 percent) 

Whites (14.2 percent)

2. Degrees are no guarantee for employment, especially for Black graduates (data as of 2013):

Among recent Black graduates ages 22 to 27, the jobless rate in 2013, the last year for which data are available, was 12.4 percent compared with 5.6 percent for whites. 

3. Diversity and representation of Black and Latinx professionals abysmal and remains stagnant despite long-standing acknowledgement of the problem. Refer to source, data compared 2014 to 2020. 

Sources:

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Our 8-week career accelerator program trains and places candidates who come from "non-traditional" backgrounds - i.e. not having 3-5 years of previous work experience or 4-year college degrees that many tech companies require for entry-level roles.[1] 

Our curriculum is trusted by tech companies to develop highly qualified diverse talent because we leverage our volunteer network of over 250 individuals – leaders and professionals within Chicago’s tech sales community – to create, adapt, and teach our courses.

Additionally, we use an AI-based skills assessment tool to determine natural ability related to sales skills and coachability in order to select individuals who will be job ready in only 8 weeks. We also use a sales enablement platform to serve a dual purpose for our candidates. The first purpose of adopting this sales-specific learning management system is to effectively deliver our program and reinforce learning virtually. The second purpose of this technology is to give candidates hands-on experience with a platform they will likely use to train as sales reps on the job, giving them an additional head start and competitive edge.

So far, we have placed 73% of the candidates who have gone through our program in full-time tech sales roles.

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98% of our candidates are Black and Latinx individuals from "non-traditional" backgrounds—many do not have 3-5 years of previous work experience or 4-year college degrees that many tech companies require for entry-level roles. We also aim to reserve 50% of spots in each of our cohorts for individuals age 25 plus to offer an alternative to youth development programs.

Initially, re:work targeted a younger demographic, focused helping candidates get their first professional job and begin a career in technology. However, we realized that there currently exist ample workforce training organizations focused on helping young adults (ages 18-24), but very few for adults 25+ who have either not had the opportunity to start a meaningful career or who want to pivot into a career with higher earning potential.

After four years of serving these communities, we also realized that career training for Black and Latinx candidates entailed much more than teaching job-specific skills. To address the non-monetary, transgenerational opportunity gaps that also keep Black and Latinx candidates from being optimally competitive, our comprehensive program now focuses on the following components: Job-Specific Training, Interviewing Skills, Resume Prep & Personal Branding Skills, Social Capital & Cultural Capital, and Non-Cognitive Ability Training.

re:work has already created a proof-of-concept for our career accelerator program, having placed 103 Black and Latinx individuals in full-time tech sales job to date. We are currently scaling our program offering by expanding our cohort size, the types of jobs we train for, and our corporate partnerships. 

In order to support the diversity we are effectively creating in tech, we are also creating new corporate Diversity & Inclusion programming to offer our corporate partners - because representation is only the beginning. 

The cost of getting that programming off the ground is estimated to be: $51,735 

6, full-time staff 

6, Board Members

3, contractors 

Our organization practices what it preaches and does not have any educational or number of years of previous work experience requirements for our open roles. We believe that potential is worth as much pedigree and use the same AI-based skills assessment that we use for candidates to determine natural ability and coachability of the people we hire for our full-time team. 

If you truly hire for potential instead of based on arbitrary requirements and selecting for "culture fit," you naturally create a representative workforce. 

Also, since we believe in the efficacy of our job training program, we hire from within our alumni community. Two of our full-time team members are former re:work candidates.