i.c.stars

Too often, talented students graduate from high school and find few options beyond dead-end, minimum wage jobs. Schools had not prepared them for the growing number of tech related careers. Life had not prepared them to see themselves as able to succeed in the corporate world or ready to take a seat at that table. They are invisible to the entrepreneurial ecosystem and lack the network that mentors and applauds new business leaders.

Talented youth from inner-city neighborhoods want good jobs that lead to high growth careers, empowerment, and connection to a like-minded network. Companies want and need diversity and high performers in their workforce. At the same time, a growing number of high-paying careers require the use of sophisticated software and for candidates to have programming and advanced technology skills. 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 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-paying careers and a network of successful entrepreneurs in the Chicago and Milwaukee areas.

Participants learn by doing; they build web-based applications to solve client challenges and gain the professional network needed to jumpstart their careers. We also work to change employer perceptions and practices around inner-city and nontraditional talent-- literally changing the face of corporate tech talent. Employer partners advocate for us and help attract new partners into our project-based skill development program. This matters because it brings employers into new communities and changes the way they recruit.

Goals Include:
To deliver a project-based model that will prepare young adults, through training and networking, for technology, business careers & entrepreneurship:
*Increase the number of young adults who have access to tech job skills
*Increase number of young adults with skills and social capital for tech jobs with growth potential
To place participants in positions that are the first steps toward higher level positions in the industry, reducing the unemployment rate in underserved communities:
*Increase in number of underserved young adults working in tech & business
*Increase in participant earnings by 300% (from $10,000 before the program to $44,000 at 12 months post graduation)
To cultivate leaders who drive change in their communities:
*Increase in the number of community leaders
*Increase the number of employers hiring i.c.stars graduates as a result of exposure to i.c.stars’ talent, employer partners and project sponsor segment

i.c.stars participants are young adults - the majority 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. Additionally, all of the young adults i.c.stars serves are from low-income communities, and 100% are unemployed or extremely underemployed.

Each participant experienced twelve hours of assessments from an initial candidate pool of 400-600 before selection into the program. i.c.stars begins with a four-month bootcamp, during which participants receive 1,000 hours of training. During the bootcamp, 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. 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. While participants receive a stipend - and a laptop - during the four month bootcamp, i.c.stars means forgoing a minimum wage in order to invest in skills that lead to a career.

What is most unconventional 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 employs a unique educational model in that it uses responsive pedagogy, not teaching participants how to answer questions, but how to write them. i.c.stars’ daily High Tea speaker series brings a senior executive to the learning studio to share their career journey, building social capital for program participants’ and a talent pipeline for guest speakers. 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.

For program graduates, the average initial placement rate is 90%, earnings increase is approximately 300%, and industry retention is 80% at 12 months. In addition, 52 graduates have started for-profits or nonprofits, and 55 have become homeowners.

i.c.stars’ success is evident in our ability to provide a market-facing technology, leadership, and business training program, industry network, wraparound support, and guidance to connect motivated, underserved young adults with high growth technology careers.

i.c.stars has developed a repeatable process, and an ability to build deep employer relationships and meet community needs. The i.c.stars program is driven by employer demand, and supported by a robust ecosystem of IT and technology organizations. Graduates work in technology at organizations such as Microsoft, Accenture, Discover, US Foods, United Airlines, Deloitte, Northwestern Mutual, Kohl’s, and Salesforce among others. What sets i.c.stars apart is not just the outcomes, however, but the longer term impact, which includes pursuit of higher education, homeownership, and entrepreneurship.

i.c.stars is led by award-winning Black social entrepreneur Sandee Kastrul, who co-founded the organization. Before founding i.c.stars, Sandee 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.

The leadership structure includes a Milwaukee program Executive Director, Chief Operating, Chief Revenue and Chief Financial Officer, supported by a national board and city advisory boards. Board expertise is wide-ranging and targeted to the needs of i.c.stars; it includes senior level executives from healthcare, technology and Artificial Intelligence, financial services, management consulting, and legal.

i.c.stars’ model is proven by twenty years of success. Over the next two years, i.c.stars is participating 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.

Since our inception twenty years ago, our average initial placement rate has been 83%, graduates experience a 300% earnings increase, and employment retention is 90% at one year following graduating. What sets i.c.stars apart is not just the outcomes but the longer term impact, which includes pursuit of higher education (38% of recent graduates obtained a B.A. after i.c.stars), homeownership (70 graduates have become homeowners), and entrepreneurship (63 graduates have started for-profits or nonprofits).

At a systems level, the economic empowerment of i.c.stars ensures that individuals and their families’ basic needs are met, and a cycle of poverty is broken. 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).

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". What is most innovative about i.c.stars is the agility built into the 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.

A graduate said the following about how the program had changed their self-image: “I transformed my view of self. I came in with low self esteem and lower self confidence. I didn’t value myself or feel like my opinion mattered. I was in this constant state of comparison to others but I found out I have my own way of seeing things and understanding. I have a different view of things and that makes me special in my own way.”

Since our founding in 1999, i.c.stars has launched the technology careers of over 680 underserved young adults and has impacted more than 10,000 employers, helping change perceptions and practices around nontraditional talent. Over our twenty year history, we have developed a repeatable process and an ability to build deep employer relationships and meet a need for employers and the community.

Building on our work in Chicago neighborhoods, i.c.stars opened an office in Milwaukee in 2018, with support from the Dohmen Company, and has graduated nine cohorts of interns. Since completing our feasibility study in Kansas City in 2018, we have been focused on building local partnerships and meeting with potential funders. We are working towards an early 2023 start date for the launch of i.c.stars Kansas City.