Healthcare and Nonprofit

i.c. stars Comes to Table XI

Posted on: May 16th, 2012 by Kathryn Achenbach No Comments

Last Friday we got a visit from our friends at i.c. stars, a technology and leadership training program for low-income adults. Our COO Mark Rickmeier gave a lunchtime presentation to nine students from the organization’s 25th graduating class. Mark covered several topics relating to pursuing and succeeding in a career in technology, including how to define a career objective and strategy, how to research jobs and hiring companies, and how to impress in an interview and beyond.

“We work 60 hours a week for four months to complete the i.c.stars internship,” says Training Program Manager Deborah Cane. “We work with Fortune 500 companies to understand what it means to be a consultant. We work with local venture capitalists to understand what it means to put together a business pitch. We worked with coaches from across the tech spectrum to work on coding from HTML5 to SQL. And at the end of this crazy rollercoaster of learning, Table XI swooped in! Just talking about where your career can go in an atmosphere like this, sitting at the table with people who dream big for a living, gave us the extra boost we need to go out and conquer that job market.”

We were so excited to be able to arm these students with these kinds of tactics as they head into the Chicago workforce, where there are lots of developer jobs to be had. We’re hoping to do more of these types of sessions in the future; in the meantime, keep your eye out for i.c. stars talent.

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Mark + i.c. stars Graduates

The New Face of Facing Disability

Posted on: July 25th, 2011 by Kathryn Achenbach

We’re excited to announce the launch of a new partner site that will be an important addition to the medical community. Over the past eighteen months we’ve been working with Facing Disability, a Chicago-based nonprofit, to design and build a web resource that serves paraplegics, quadriplegics, and their families.

Facing Disability is the brainchild of Robert Hill and public television veteran Thea Flaum. When Robert’s daughter Vicki suffered a debilitating neck injury in 1986, the couple discovered that, while Vicki was thankfully able to find guidance and comfort through peer counseling, the same kind of programs were not available to family members. Seeing a need, they wanted to launch an online hub that could feature video interviews with people living with spinal cord injuries, information from the medical community, and access to community support groups.

When Thea first explained her personal connection to spinal cord injuries and her vision for Facing Disability, we were excited to get involved. We worked closely with the group to build a framework that could most effectively present its greatest assets, including its library of more than 1,000 video interviews. The end result is a clean, navigable site that allows users to search through and view this extensive video collection, as well as connect with a peer counseling program. Additionally, a community-driven forum gives members the opportunity to ask questions or publish their own tips or advice.

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