GOLD2023

MINNESOTA INDEPENDENCE COLLEGE AND COMMUNITY

Learn Skills. Experience Life.

aka MICC, MLC, Minnesota Life College   |   Richfield, MN   |  www.miccommunity.org

Mission

The mission of Minnesota Independence College and Community is to transform the lives of individuals and families affected by the autism spectrum and learning differences.

Ruling year info

1996

Executive Director

Amy Gudmestad

Main address

7501 Logan Ave South # 2A

Richfield, MN 55423 USA

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Formerly known as

Minnesota Life College

EIN

41-1814112

NTEE code info

Specialized Education Institutions/Schools for Visually or Hearing Impaired, Learning Disabled (B28)

IRS filing requirement

This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.

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Communication

Blog

Programs and results

What we aim to solve

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Our programs

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?

College Program

The three-year apartment living College Program encourages each participant's personal growth by offering an immersive and holistic approach to independence. Through independent living skills curricula and social skills instruction, students gain valuable knowledge, skills, and experiences to develop their community in a real-world setting. Essential life skills such as grocery shopping, meal planning, personal hygiene, finances, navigating public transit, and more are taught in a participant's apartment and the surrounding community.

Population(s) Served

The Careers Program emphasizes integrated competitive work for participants by providing high-quality experiential learning opportunities and employment support services designed around personalized employment goals. MICC has partnered with Century College to provide career certificate programs with practicum experiences in Culinary, Hospitality, Retail, and Health Services. Person-centered courses and services are designed to ensure participants are quality employees and employable in their chosen industry. With an annual average participant employment rate of more than 95%, the Careers Program strives to change the perspective and current state of employing individuals with disabilities.

Population(s) Served

The Community Program strives to empower College Program graduates to achieve their highest level of long-term independence in the community. Programming and service options are designed to provide person-centered social and emotional, and problem-solving services, positive health and wellness supports, and continuing independent living skills development.

Population(s) Served

The Social Engagement Program provides structured activities and elective programming for participants to find their passions, develop friendships, and maintain healthy and active lifestyles to enhance their quality of life. Participants develop a sense of belonging and are accepted as their authentic selves while contributing positively to their community.

Population(s) Served

The Summer Program helps to develop valuable introductory independence, vocational, and social skills. Taking the best of what MICC provides and incorporating a dynamic mix of expert staff from MICC's comprehensive College, Careers, and Social Programs ensures an engaging and fun way to get to know MICC over the summer.

Population(s) Served
People with disabilities
Adults
People with disabilities
Adults
People with disabilities
Adults
People with disabilities
Adults
People with disabilities
Adults

Where we work

Awards

Nonprofit of the Year 2023

Richfield Chamber of Commerce

Videos

Our results

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.

Number of clients served

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

People with learning disabilities

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Number of program graduates

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

People with learning disabilities

Related Program

Community Program

Type of Metric

Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues

Direction of Success

Holding steady

Number of participants who gain employment

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Type of Metric

Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues

Direction of Success

Holding steady

Our Sustainable Development Goals

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.

Goals & Strategy

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.

Charting impact

Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.

MICC's vision is a world where individuals on the autism spectrum and with learning differences thrive and are valued.

MICC educate individuals so they may learn skills and experience life. MICC students and graduates achieve sustained, independent living; rewarding employment; financial security; personal growth; and responsible citizenship. MICC adapts, evaluates, and continuously improves their methods, recognizing and valuing each individual’s skills, contributions, and dreams. MICC champions their students and graduates, carry their successes into the world, and collaborate with others in service of their vision.

Through the ever-evolving MICC curriculum, passionate administrative and direct service staff and a wide network of contributors, and a focus on parternships, MICC is capable of meeting its goals.

Since 1996, MICC has been graduating College students and growing the lifelong Community program. As access to financial assistance for students has increased so has the demand for our programs. Over the past five years MICC's staff, students and graduates have grown significantly. MICC will be focusing on building out our infrastructure in order to serve more students and graduates. MICC will be doing this through a senior model curriculum, internal efficiency development and system wide technology enhancements, facility improvements, and an expansion of staffing.

How we listen

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.

done We shared information about our current feedback practices.

  • How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?

    To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals

  • Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?

    We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded

  • What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?

    We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback

Financials

MINNESOTA INDEPENDENCE COLLEGE AND COMMUNITY
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Operations

The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.

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lock

Connect with nonprofit leaders

Subscribe

Build relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.

  • Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
  • Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
  • Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations

Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.

MINNESOTA INDEPENDENCE COLLEGE AND COMMUNITY

Board of directors
as of 03/23/2023
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
Board chair

Katie Kemper

Mayo Clinic

Term: 2020 - 2023

Board leadership practices

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.

  • Board orientation and education
    Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes
  • CEO oversight
    Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes
  • Ethics and transparency
    Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes
  • Board composition
    Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes
  • Board performance
    Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes

Organizational demographics

SOURCE: Self-reported; last updated 3/23/2023
info Candid has made improvements to the race and ethnicity options.

Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.

Leadership

The organization's leader identifies as:

Race & ethnicity
White/Caucasian/European
Gender identity
Female, Not transgender (cisgender)
Sexual orientation
Heterosexual or straight
Disability status
Person without a disability

Race & ethnicity

Gender identity

 

Sexual orientation

Disability

Equity strategies

Last updated: 05/25/2022

GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more

Data
  • We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
  • We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
  • We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
  • We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
  • We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
  • We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
  • We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
Policies and processes
  • We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
  • We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
  • We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
  • We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
  • We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
  • We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
  • We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.