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We are proud of our 20-year history of being a launchpad for startups and small companies all over the world to be noticed and achieve. Marcy Lab School Marcy Lab School is a private, non-profit institution located within Brooklyn, New York, with the goal of providing students with an outstanding post-secondary experience to propel underestimated young adults into financially rewarding and meaningful careers in the tech sector.

This is why we gave $100,000 to the Marcy Lab School as a part of our 2020 promise to help organizations that work towards eliminating racial disparities.

We talked to The Marcy Lab School's Executive Director, Reuben Ogbonna II, about how The Marcy Lab School is helping to create opportunities for Fellows to unlock their potential and land careers in tech and other fields, with or without a education.

: Marcy Lab is a very new and exciting organization. Why have you decided to establish 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. One of the stories that don't hear about the college experience in this country is that each year, a ton of really promising, hardworking students get accepted to the university of their dreams but not have the money to attend or persist to the point of. We were alarmed by the pervasive failing "college promises" that left our students as well as their families with life-altering debt and other seemingly insurmountable obstacles.

We formed and run Marcy Lab out of the conviction that the children of our society of color, as well as every youngsters, need the opportunity to have a more fair, equitable access to the opportunities and opportunities once only afforded to those who graduated from a 4-year institution. Marcy Lab School Marcy Lab School offers a new post-secondary program that is rooted in our founding mission of creating lifelong economic flexibility and choices for the young adults interested in pursuing life-changing careers in tech.

SQSP: The program can be described as a viable alternative to a four-year college degree for fellow students. Why is it vital for you to know that The Marcy Lab offers this path to employment?

RO:The difficulties I saw my pupils encounter firsthand are among the most prevalent obstacles for students of color. The reality was that the postsecondary system in our country failed to fulfill the promise of college that many young people want such as community, support, academic relevance, and alignment with not just the prospect of a job, but for a successful career. It's the conscious combination of these elements that form the foundation of Marcy Lab and are some of the defining factors that give young adults the courage to pursue the path that isn't traditional.

In order to fulfill our brand new promise, we make sure that our Fellows will be ready for work following the 12-month course, and are equipped with the skills to embed themselves in fast-paced teams that add value on the first day. The Fellows acquire technical expertise through an industry-aligned, well-informed curriculum that's flexible and responsive to the constantly changing demands of the tech industry. And alongside building a strong technical skillset, our Fellows are engaged in our Leadership & Development curriculum, which focuses on the development of racial identities gender equity, career preparation, and financial literacy. The curriculum includes the works of renowned authors such as James Baldwin, Michelle Alexander, Safiya Umoja Noble, and the late Dr. Beverly Tatum.

We're incredibly proud to say that The Marcy Lab School graduates are seeking and landing positions with high salaries that were previously reserved for graduates from competitive four-year colleges. This has two implications The first is that our fellows as well as their families thrust into positions that provide financial security, but it shows the way in which companies are radically shifting hiring practices to welcome, encourage, and keep non-traditional talent.

SQSP: Can you tell us more about the impact that you've observed the Marcy Lab School have on its fellows during and after the course?

RO:Even after five years in the field, it is not lost on me just how radical it can be to see our amazing youngsters take up positions with an average annual pay at 19 and 20 in one of the top successful companies around the globe without debt. They're contributing to teams in companies such as The New York Times, JPMorgan, Cockroach Labs, Spotify, , and others which is increasing their potential earnings at a rate of nearly $75,000 over the course of a year and enabling them to contribute back to their local communities by buying homes, assisting their families' companies, and helping their families.

But even before our Fellows begin their journey into the business, we watch as they learn, transform, and blossom as individuals, working further than ever before in order to realize their ambitions and building the confidence that they add value to every room they walk into. Every day they become more curious and more determined to bring change outside the confines of Marcy and, eventually, their work environments. Through their work with instructors as well as with their fellow classmates that they remain grounded in the reality that their skills, talents, and capabilities will empower the ability to eliminate the systems that have been a source of inequality for centuries through their experience as well as their training to create tools for the social good and for the social transformation.

SQSP: What is the role that technology play in the overall achievement of the Marcy Lab program and its colleagues, both as subject matter experts as well as in the running of the program?

RO:Our technical curriculum's success depends on our close relationship with our employers partners in order to create consistent feedback loops around our Fellows' technical and professional readiness. Relevant areas for improvement go right back to our instruction team so that our curriculum can evolve and change as needed to meet the demands of employers as well as on-the-job performance.

The alignment of academics and student performance is resulting in the creation of the establishment of new partnerships for hiring with businesses which recognize the fact that intimate connections could lead to equal or stronger hiring outcomes. Some highlights include:

Working directly with established companies in order to reduce the requirements of degrees for software engineers. This includes the New York Times and . They have also hired our Fellows and other non-traditional talent.

We are developing a new Capstone course of study with J.P. Morgan Chase Asset and Wealth Management, which specialized in backend data engineering course for our capstone phase to address their requirements as well as prepare our Fellows for the industry's ever-growing growth in the field of analytics based on data.

SQSP: What are your hopes for Marcy Lab School's future?

ROWhat makes me optimistic about the future of Marcy Lab as well as the future of the places we occupy are the evolutions taking place within the business world 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 see major employers across the country including IBM and Barclays to partners like  that, which have a substantial number of young professionals, mid-level, and senior leaders that have come from The Marcy Lab School, similar to Stanford University's pipeline to businesses in the San Francisco Bay Area. After gaining experience and working experience in these top companies, I see our graduates eventually branching off to create their own companies and paying it forward through hiring teams that have similar background as those they worked with.

Lastly, I see Marcy Lab as a part in a broader system of fair pathways that was created expressly to propel thousands of high-achieving students of color into careers that will break cycles of poverty in just a single generation.

SQSP: What can people who are interested in Marcy Lab School's mission get involved?

ROIf our mission, vision and the work you do resonate with you, we encourage you to become a part of our growing community. We hope we will keep inspiring others when we join this cause! There are three main ways for new folks to get involved:

Visit our Brooklyn campus in Industry City and meet first-hand the children and teens who work tirelessly to achieve their ambitions and the impressive team of professionals who move it all forward.

Volunteer your time and impart your experience with our Fellows while they go through the rigorous requirements of our program for one year, prepare for job searches as well as beyond. Our community of volunteers serve as curriculum advisors, mentors as well as guest lecturers and recruiters and are a critical component of our program. They help to ensure that we have a curriculum aligned with industry standards and ensuring the satisfaction of all member of our fellows.

In the end, donating to our cause means we are able to continue this program free of tuition for our fellows.