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We are proud of our 20-year history of being a launchpad for small and emerging businesses across the globe to make a mark and achieve. The Marcy Lab School is a nonprofit organization located within Brooklyn, New York, that aims to provide the best postsecondary educational experiences to help youngsters into rewarding and purpose-driven careers in the tech sector.

That's why the donation of $100,000 was made to The Marcy Lab School as a part of our 2020 pledge to support organizations working toward eliminating racial disparities.

We spoke with The Marcy Lab School's executive director, Reuben Ogbonna II, about how The Marcy Lab School is helping to create opportunities for Fellows to discover their talents and find careers in technology and other fields, with or without a diploma.

: Marcy Lab is a fairly new organization, why did you decide to start this non-profit?

Reuben Ogbonna II: After spending 14 years serving students of color--along with my co-founder Maya Bhattacharjee-Marcantonio--in the charter and public school systems, we repeatedly watched as our former students with limitless potential slipped through the cracks of higher education. What doesn't be told about colleges in the United States is that every single year, a ton of hard-working, highly promising students will get into the school that they've always dreamed of but won't have the money the tuition or stay in school until graduation. We were shocked at the widespread failure of "college promises" that left our students as well as their families with life-altering debt and other seemingly unsolvable challenges.

We formed and manage Marcy Lab out of the belief that our young people of color, and frankly all young adults, should have an equitable, better way to access the rights and opportunities once only afforded for those who had attended a four-year school. The Marcy Lab School offers a alternative to postsecondary education that has been reimagined and founded on our original goal of ensuring that there is always opportunities and mobility for youngsters who want to pursue the life-changing professions of tech.

SQSP: The program is described as an alternative to a college education for the students. Why is it crucial to you that The Marcy Lab offers this route to a job?

RO:The difficulties I saw my pupils encounter firsthand are one of the biggest obstacles for students of different ethnicities. We realized that our system of postsecondary education was failing to deliver on the college promise that the majority of young people are looking for in terms of community, encouragement in academics, and alignment with not just the prospect of a job, but for a successful career. It's the conscious mixture of these components that form the foundation of Marcy Lab and are some of the most important elements that give young adults confidence in choosing a non-traditional path.

In order to fulfill our fresh promise, we guarantee that the Fellows have the skills to enter the workforce after the 12-month course, and are equipped with the necessary skills to integrate themselves in fast-paced teams and contribute value from the very first day. The Fellows acquire technical expertise from an industry-aligned and informed program that is flexible and responsive to the constantly changing requirements of the technology industry. And alongside building a strong technical background, our fellows are engaged in their Leadership & Development curriculum, which explores racial identity development gender equity, career preparation, and the importance of financial literacy. This is done through readings by esteemed authors like James Baldwin, Michelle Alexander, Safiya Umoja Noble, and the late Dr. Beverly Tatum.

We're extremely proud to announce that the Marcy Lab School graduates are seeking and landing lucrative jobs that are typically only available to graduates from competitive four-year colleges. This has two implications It's not just that our fellows as well as their families thrust to positions that offer secure financial stability, but it shows the way businesses are drastically shifting hiring practices to welcome as well as retain the non-traditional workforce.

SQSP: Tell us a bit more about the impact that you've observed The Marcy Lab School have on the students who attend the program?

RO:Even even after 5 years working on this project and observing the results, it's not lost on me just how revolutionary it is watching our young people step into roles which pay an average of $108,000 per year in earnings between 19 and 20 at some of the most highly competitive corporations in the world, with zero debt. These young people are working with teams of companies like The New York Times, JPMorgan, Cockroach Labs, Spotify and many more, increasing their earning potential on average by nearly $75,000 over the course of a year. They are also able to give back to their local communities by buying homes, assisting their families' enterprises, and even supporting their families.

But even before our Fellows begin their journey into the business and enter the workforce, we observe them grow, change and grow as individuals, striving more than they have ever been to reach their dreams and developing the confidence to believe that they are a valuable asset to every room they walk into. Each day, they are more curious and more eager to make change beyond the walls of Marcy and eventually their workplaces. They work alongside their instructors and with each other that they are continuously maintained in the knowledge that their abilities, knowledge, and capabilities will empower individuals to break down the systems that have been a source of inequality for centuries through their experience and their education to design tools for the social good as well as for the social transformation.

SQSP: What role does tech play in the achievement of the Marcy Lab program and its co-participants, both as subjects and also in directing the program?

ROOur technical curriculum's success depends on our close relationship with our partners from the employer side for establishing a continuous feedback loop around our Fellows' technical and professional skills. Relevant areas for improvement go right back to our instruction team so that our curriculum are able to evolve and adapt as needed to meet the demands of employers and on-the-job performance.

This alignment in the curriculum and performance of students is resulting in the creation of the establishment of new partnerships for hiring with businesses which recognize the fact that close connections can result in equal or stronger hiring outcomes. Some highlights include:

Directly working with established firms in order to reduce the requirements of degrees to hire software engineers. These include the New York Times and . These companies have since hired our Fellows as well as other talent that isn't traditional.

Building a new Capstone project curriculum with J.P. Morgan Chase Asset and Wealth Management who specialized in backend data engineering the curriculum we use for our capstone time to address their requirements and help prepare our Fellows to take on the ever-growing growth in the field of analytics based on data.

SQSP: What are your hopes for the future of Marcy Lab School?

ROWhat is making me feel optimistic about Marcy Lab's future and the future of the places we occupy are the evolutions occurring within the business community with companies shifting away from degree requirements and toward skills-based hiring, that has opened the door of organizations such as Marcy Lab to even exist.

I have noticed major employers throughout the country, from IBM and Barclays to partners like  the one I work for, with a significant number of young professionals, mid-level and senior executives who are graduates of The Marcy Lab School, similar the Stanford University pipeline that connects businesses in the San Francisco Bay Area. After gaining experience and expertise at these elite companies, I see our students eventually launching their own businesses to start their own businesses as well as transferring the wealth through hiring teams that have similar experiences as the ones they did.

Finally, I view Marcy Lab as a part of an expanded ecosystem of equitable pathways built expressly to propel thousands of highly-achieving students who are of colour into jobs that will break cycles of poverty within a single generation.

SQSP: How can individuals who are interested in the Marcy Lab School's mission get involved?

ROIf the mission of this organization and activities resonate with your, we encourage that you become part of our community that is growing. It's our hope that we can help others be inspired as they join in with us in this movement! We often share three ways for new folks to get involved:

Explore Our Brooklyn campus in Industry City and meet first-hand the young adults who are working tirelessly towards their goals and the amazing team who pushes the entire process ahead.

You can volunteer your time and share your knowledge to our Fellows as they navigate the challenges of our program for one year and prepare for job searches and go on to other. Our volunteer community serves as curriculum advisors, mentors guests lecturers, as well as recruitment partners and is an essential part of the program. It helps to ensure that we have a curriculum aligned with industry standards and helping to ensure the satisfaction of all fellow.

Finally, donating to our cause will allow us to continue this program cost-free for our fellows.