Banking on KC – Shamika Hogan of i.c.stars
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Kelly Scanlon:
Welcome to Banking on KC. I'm your host, Kelly Scanlon. Thank you for joining us. With us on this episode is Shamika Hogan, the executive director of i.c.stars Kansas City. Welcome, Shamika.
Shamika Hogan:
Thank you.
Kelly Scanlon:
Very glad to have you here. I know this is a new organization for Kansas City, but it's actually part of a nationwide approach to employment skills and community impact for low income young adults. So tell us about that approach and the other places that you're located throughout the country.
Shamika Hogan:
i.c.stars was birthed in Chicago over 20 years ago. It's a project-based learning approach to workforce development. It was started by a black educator, by the name of Cindy Castrell, and she had said that what she was noticing during this time when she was teaching, that a lot of her low income, high performance students weren't able to have access to well-paying jobs, and she said it was because of lack of access to technology and their low socioeconomics. She said, "I was going to change that," and she was going to change it by creating this 16 week bootcamp, if you will, this immersive project-based learning, that she would create that for the students. It has been widely successful for over 20 years. It's based in Chicago and they have an office in Milwaukee and Kansas City is the third location. So we have launched our first cohort, that we take 20 young adults through our immersive learning program for 16 weeks, eight to eight. We're really excited about this, has been our inaugural cohort.
Kelly Scanlon:
I assume too, that in addition to picking up these technology skills, they're getting access to a network.
Shamika Hogan:
We have a project-based sponsor, which is Amsted Rail, which have been a sponsor of i.c.stars in Chicago and an employer. They're going to provide the project-based learning. They're going to provide also the staffing to support that learning. So they'll get the social capital through that. We also have a mentor sponsor, which is Tricom, they're a IT staffing company. They're providing 20 folks within their organization to provide mentorship to our 20. So they also get that social capital. We also have a workshop sponsor, which is Lockton, and they're providing these workshops for our interns, which is leadership in technical workshops. Then we have this daily speaker series, which we call High Tea. Every day at four o'clock throughout the 16 weeks, so it'll be 80 folks that'll be there sharing a pot of tea with our interns and sharing their story. That's a way to build their social capital through our program. So at the end of that 16 weeks, they'll have 80 plus new folks to add to their LinkedIn to build relationships with, to be able to grow their social capital.
Kelly Scanlon:
A very well-rounded, holistic approach, not just a complete focus on technical skills. Why was a Kansas City location launched? There's lots of other cities across the country. Why was Kansas City selected and who was behind it?
Shamika Hogan:
Yes, so Kansas City came about in 2018, so prior to COVID. There was a feasibility study that was done that was funded by the Will To Succeed Foundation. Will Shields had learned about the program and he talks about how he flew to Chicago to meet with our CEO Sandy Castrell and to learn more about it. He did the High Tea speaker series and he was bought in and he was very interested in trying to figure out how they could bring this to Kansas City, to really impact through the diverse talent pool here and to give access to opportunity. So he was the driving force behind it, to get i.c.stars here to Kansas City. The feasibility study was able to determine that this was a good opportunity for the community and for employers to really tap into this diverse talent and to give opportunity.
Kelly Scanlon:
What kinds of things are you looking for, in these studies that you do? The feasibility studies.
Shamika Hogan:
We look for the employers. Are they here? Are there talent here? Is there an opportunity to be able to grow the talent? So that is the determinant, and then you have to have a champion, that's going to help usher it through the community, because we need funding to continue to grow. So the feasibility study helps assess the temperature if there are potential corporations or foundations that will be willing to say, yes, this makes sense for our community, and we were able to get that support here in Kansas City.
Kelly Scanlon:
Who can apply to this program? You've mentioned underserved youth or young adults. So who can apply? Is that the specific group that you're looking for and how would they do that?
Shamika Hogan:
Yeah, so our target audience is 18 years of age. Minimal of 18 years of age, a GED, high school diploma. They have to demonstrate a financial need. They also have to have six months of work experience. Some college is welcome, but they cannot have a bachelor's degree and they have to be willing to commit to the 16 week 12 hour days with no absence, no tardy. So they have a very high standard that they require for their applicants. We find that the age that tend to be our audience is mid-twenties or folks that are looking for a change in their career. Those are the folks that we tend to gravitate towards. So we leverage a lot of community partners to help us in recruitment efforts. Those are our audience, so they can apply on our website, icstars.org, select Kansas City and go through the process that way.
Kelly Scanlon:
The letter I, the letter C, and then stars, icstars, and like you said, select the Kansas City location. Walk us through the program. You've been talking about this multi-week program. Walk us through it and tell us what's included and what it's like.
Shamika Hogan:
The way our program is set up, we recruit, we train, and we place young adults in technology or within technology. It's 16 weeks, eight hour days, eight to eight, 12 hours, no tardies, no late, no absence, very rigorous for sure. We take them through this program where we have a project-based learning. Amsted Rail is providing the RFP. They identify a need within their business, that they need for us to solve for it, and they assign folks from their organization to help the teams. Our interns are divided into teams and Amsted is going to provide their support from their team that's going to help them to solve for this business case within the organization. So it's a fun way for the companies to engage as well. There's a friendly competition internally.
Kelly Scanlon:
Sure. How many students are in each cohort?
Shamika Hogan:
There are 20 in each cohort, 20 every cycle. There's three cycles a year, 20 per cohort. We take them through the 16-week learning project-based learning. Throughout those 16 weeks, not only are they doing this project based learning with this corporate sponsor, but they're also doing this business, leadership, and technology. We call it like BLT, so not the bacon, lettuce, tomato, but the business, leadership, and technology.
They have the opportunity to do all the things that they may not have had access to, when we think of about professional development. Many of them have never worked in corporate America. We know that's a new culture in itself and we're helping to get them ready for that environment. We're helping with something such as your LinkedIn profile and helping them to be able to set that up and headshot, what's your disc and all the things that they may not have had, but we want to provide that so that when they're commenced from our program, they're ready to start working. So that's how it's set up in that 16 week program.
Kelly Scanlon:
After the 16 weeks, what happens with the participants?
Shamika Hogan:
the goal is to place them in a role in technology. So we have this vision for Kansas City, this 2020 vision, and you may wonder, what is that? We have 20 interns, we need 20 employers to say yes to hiring one from our cohort. After they complete our program, we have what we call residency, which is continuous support. Our program is set up to alleviate any challenges that the interns may experience. So we have a case manager on staff that help them work through whatever challenges they may have. Maybe it'll be rental assistance, maybe they need financial education, maybe it's childcare assistance. We want to alleviate those barriers, so that they can complete the program and be able to be placed with a company. Because we have that set up, we can continue to work harder or smarter.
Kelly Scanlon:
How long does that internship last? Did you say two years?
Shamika Hogan:
Two years. Residency, so the internships... our program is 16 weeks, so four months. Then after they complete our program, they go into what we call residency, which is 20 months of ongoing support through case management. So they can have access to our workshops, they can continue to come in and attend some of our business development programs. they continue to have access to our program, so that once we place them, we don't just say goodbye, we say we want to continue to be a support system for you.
Kelly Scanlon:
And continue to build on that foundation so that they can have the best chance of success. You have an extension, I guess, of i.c.stars. It's called i.c.stars Staffing, LLC. What is that?
Shamika Hogan:
We are a social enterprise staffing agency, so there's a way for us to continue to earn income and it alleviates risk for their employers. They can do contract to hire with our interns. They may say, "We're not exactly sure that we want to commit to a full FTE on our staff." They can hire our interns as contractors and be able to determine if it's a good fit. If it's not, then we say it's okay. But hopefully it was with the goal that we place them with the companies that they'll hire them on as a full FTE.
Kelly Scanlon:
When you speak about the companies that you're working with, what is expected of the companies? Is it anything other than hiring the participants? Is there more than that expected?
Shamika Hogan:
Besides hiring, professional development, to really make sure they're putting our interns in an environment where they continue to grow within the company and doing that professional development, so...
Kelly Scanlon:
When you talk about technology roles within companies, describe some of the different kinds of roles that they've been trained for. Technology is very broad. So what sorts of roles would they be qualified to fill within technology, after completing your 16-week program?
Shamika Hogan:
Like business analysts, quality assurance, entry-level software developer, help desk, or some of the roles that they continue to go into upon completion of graduation.
Kelly Scanlon:
Give us some of the examples of the program's impact. I realize that, for Kansas City, you've just started your first 16-week cohort. Prior to that, you were doing the feasibility studies and so forth. What are some of the examples of the program's impact where it has launched in other places? I know it has a 20-year history and not just in job acquisition necessarily, but also there's a community impact and advocacy arm of this that we haven't even talked about, so...
Shamika Hogan:
Yeah, I think the one that continues to stick out that's really important to mention is the reducing unemployment rate in low income areas, because we're giving the participants access to these jobs and awareness of an industry that they may not have had access to. Then I think about how we're cultivating leaders in their community, because not only are we taking people from these low-income communities, we're giving them access to technology and with the hope they'll go back and change their community. So they'll become change agents in their communities. Then I think about changing the perception of the business around their practices and around how they view diverse talent and hoping that it changes their practices around employment and hiring.
Kelly Scanlon:
In any program that does more than some sort of an immediate change or an immediate help to an individual, but can actually have a generational impact, those are the ones that are really impactful. That you're talking about changing generations that we don't even know about.
Shamika Hogan:
Yeah, I think of our program as like change agents. We're looking at companies to come alongside and partner us. So this is a different type of philanthropy, because this impacts the workforce as well. To come behind and partner with us financially to support these cohorts, but we're also asking them to be the change you want to see. We know that there are not enough employees to fill the job vacancy within IT, and we're saying, "Hey, we found the talent, we're training the talent. Will you be willing to partner with us to hire the talent?" So it makes for continuous change in that ecosystem, right?
Kelly Scanlon:
It absolutely does. In addition to the corporations, do you work with other community partners or social agencies?
Shamika Hogan:
Yes. So some of the most notable organizations we have been partnering with since we've come to Kansas City, KC Scholars is one, they're doing workforce development. They're partnering with us to support the interns in our program for being a referral agency into our program, but also providing funding. We signed an MOU, so they're really excited about them coming behind and saying, "This makes sense for Kansas City and for us." The Goodwill has been one of the partners that we've worked with, because they have a similar tech program focus. The YMCA has been amazing and providing support for space for us.
The Kansas City Public Library has also been... We have what we call application workshop support for our program, for people helping them get through our application program. We've been partnering with the library to do some of those work, but we also have been meeting with the school districts, to be able to raise awareness that we're an alternative for some of the young people that are going to be graduating, who are looking for opportunities. We want them to know that we're available and we're here.
Kelly Scanlon:
Where do you find some of the speakers? You mentioned the speakers who come to the High Teas.
Shamika Hogan:
We just want industry professionals, people that have a story. Everyone has a story. So anyone can volunteer to be a High Tea guest. They can go out to our website that you go and apply and you can do volunteer opportunities and it's called High Tea and you select Kansas City. But we really want people who have stories, that have interesting backgrounds and to come and share a pot of tea with our interns and to tell them about how they got to where they are.
Kelly Scanlon:
So inspirational and aspirational.
Shamika Hogan:
Absolutely. You got it.
Kelly Scanlon:
How is KC Stars supported?
Shamika Hogan:
Yeah, so we are supported... So the way we came to Kansas City is amazing. We have anchor funding through Mariner Wealth Advisors. They were part of our anchor funding along with the Hall family, the Kaufman Foundation, the Hunt family, and the Will To Succeed Foundation. They were our anchor funding to say, yes, this makes sense for Kansas City and we want to be at the hem of it. So they were our supporters. We also are supported through corporate sponsorships. For this inaugural cycle that's taking place right now, we have Amsted Rail, Tricom, and Lockton. The next cycle, we just learned that Children's Mercy is going to be the project sponsor-
Kelly Scanlon:
Oh, great.
Shamika Hogan:
For the second cohort. I'm actively recruiting for the next tiers of our cycle sponsorship that include our mentorship, the residency program that I talked about is an ongoing support and the workshop and mentor. Every cycle, once it's complete, we're looking for the next cycle of support.
Kelly Scanlon:
Yeah, it's a continuous effort. How can our listeners and the community get engaged? You've mentioned the High Teas, you've mentioned the funding support, the sponsorship support. Are there other ways that our listeners could get involved?
Shamika Hogan:
Yeah, they can go out... Our workshop support clinics that are happening. So for every cycle, we're going to be recruiting 20 applicants to be a part of our cohort. We need the workshop support clinic. Our process is pretty robust. To be able to get into our program, there's a lot of different steps. So we created this workshop support clinics where there's different stages and we need community partners to help move the interns through the process, to be able to get to the final stages of our program. it's a good volunteer opportunity for groups to do it collectively.
But also the High Teas. We need 80 people every 16 weeks, still every day, Monday through Friday to come in and give an hour of their time. So we definitely need High Tea guests to come in and share their story with our interns. Then we need the employers. We need 20 employers every cycle that say, yes, this makes sense for our business. We want to be a part of the change that's happening in Kansas City. We want to get young diverse talent into tech. I think it's important to mention, this isn't charity. We're recruiting highly talented, capable young adults to do jobs within the organization. We need people to say yes.
Kelly Scanlon:
Absolutely. I don't remember the numbers off the top of my head, but when I was looking at your website, the retention rate is very high.
Shamika Hogan:
We have 85% placement rate for our interns, and then after a year of an appointment, we have about 80% retention. So they're staying after they've been placed within companies across the country. we need 20 folks that say yes to hiring one of our 20, this 2020 vision for Kansas City.
Kelly Scanlon:
Shamika, I know that the program itself is new to Kansas City. You're new to the program, you started in March. What attracted you to it?
Shamika Hogan:
Everything about the program. The opportunity to be of service to a program so much bigger than myself, an opportunity to change generations. You give an opportunity to a young adult, who may not have known about technology or known that there was an avenue into it, to give them that opportunity to change not only their life, but their family's life, to change their community life. How can I say no? To be able to lead this organization, to create opportunity, it's all about opportunity. You give someone an opportunity, they can change their lives.
Kelly Scanlon:
What's your long-term vision, yours personally and the organization's?
Shamika Hogan:
For the organization, long-term is to change employment, to change the way we view employment in Kansas City, to change the employment practices around diverse talent. To give access, but also to change lives, right? To change the trajectory of talented young adults. I think that to continue to give them access, and I think my long-term vision personally is to continue to be a part of the conversation around change and opportunity for young adults, particularly a diverse talent. Seeing is believing, and I think being in this role, having the young people that come through our organization to see me leading this organization and showing up as my authentic self, I think that's so important for the next generation.
Kelly Scanlon:
It very much is. Thank you for doing that. Thank you for being with us on this episode of Banking on KC.
Shamika Hogan:
Thank you.
Joe Close:
This is Joe Close, president of Country Club Bank. Thank you to Shamika Hogan for being our guest. On this episode of Banking on KC. You can only achieve what you can see yourself doing. Shamika, Will Shields and others behind i.c.stars are taking that old adage to heart. They are building a program in Kansas City that gives underserved young adults access to training and the support network that introduces them to high-tech careers. Through their training, mentorships and residencies, these young people are immersed in an ecosystem that enables them to see themselves working on business and social challenges, using pioneering technology, and even making boardroom decisions. The i.c.stars program delivers multifaceted benefits. It transforms the lives of the participants and their families. It elevates the program's partner companies who benefit from a diverse talent pool. It strengthens our communities, when talented young people have the opportunity to reach their full potential. Thanks for tuning in this week. We're banking on you, Kansas City. Country Club Bank, member FDIC.