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is proud of our 20-year tradition of providing a platform for small and emerging businesses all over the world to be noticed and achieve. Marcy Lab School Marcy Lab School is a private, non-profit institution located in Brooklyn, New York, with the goal of providing the best postsecondary educational experiences to help youngsters into rewarding and purpose-driven jobs in the tech industry.

This is why we donated $100,000 to The Marcy Lab School as a part of our 2020 promise to help organizations that work towards the reduction of racial inequality.

We spoke with The Marcy Lab School's Executive Director Reuben Ogbonna II, about how the organization is creating possibilities for Fellows to discover their talents and find careers in technology, without a four-year diploma.

: Marcy Lab is a fairly new organization, why did you choose to create the 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 hear about the college experience in this country is that each year, thousands of really promising, hardworking students get accepted to the school they've always wanted to attend but will not be able to the tuition or stay in school until graduation. We were astonished by the abysmal failure rate of "college promise" that left our students and their families in the grip of life-changing debt, as well as other unsolvable challenges.

In 2019, we formed and manage Marcy Lab out of the belief that our young people who are of color, and in fact all young adults, deserve a better, more equitable access to the opportunities and possibilities that were previously only available only to students who have attended a four-year school. Marcy Lab School Marcy Lab School offers a alternative to postsecondary education that has been reimagined and that is based on our purpose of providing lifelong economic opportunities and mobility for young adults interested in pursuing life-changing careers in tech.

SQSP can be described as a viable alternative to a four-year college degree for fellow students. What is the reason it's important for you to know to know that The Marcy Lab offers this path to employment?

ROThe challenges I witnessed my students confront firsthand were one of the biggest barriers for children who are of different ethnicities. We realized that our system of postsecondary education was failing to deliver on the college promise that most young people seek in terms of community, encouragement, academic relevance, and the ability to align with not just an occupation but also a future. It's the conscious mix of these factors which form the basis of Marcy Lab and are some of the most important elements that give young adults confidence in choosing an alternative path.

To fulfill a new promise, we ensure our Fellows will be ready to enter the workforce after the 12-month course, and are equipped with the necessary skills to integrate their skills into fast-paced teams and contribute value from the first day. The Fellows acquire technical expertise from an industry-aligned and informed curriculum that is adaptive and responsive to the ever-changing technological demands. And alongside building a strong technical skillset, our Fellows are engaged in the Leadership & Development curriculum, which focuses on the development of racial identities gender equity, career preparation, and financial literacy. The curriculum includes readings by esteemed authors such as James Baldwin, Michelle Alexander, Safiya Umoja Noble, and Dr. Beverly Tatum.

We're extremely proud to announce that The Marcy Lab School graduates are seeking and landing positions with high salaries that were previously reserved for college graduates who have attended competitive four-year universities. It's a double win: Not only are our fellows and their families pushed into positions of secure financial stability, but it signals the ways in which companies are radically changing their hiring policies to accept, encourage, and keep the non-traditional workforce.

SQSP: Could you tell us a bit more about the impact that you've observed Marcy Lab School's impact Marcy Lab School have on participants during and following the course?

ROEven after five years in the field and observing the results, it's obvious to me how revolutionary it is watching our youngsters take up positions that average $108,000 in annual salary at the ages of 19 and 20 at one of the top highly competitive corporations in the world and with no loans. These young people are working with teams in companies such as The New York Times, JPMorgan, Cockroach Labs, Spotify as well as others and increasing their earnings on average by nearly $75,000 in just one year, and also allowing them to give back to the local community by purchasing homes, assisting their families' companies, and helping their families.

However, even before our Fellows enter the workforce We watch them learn, transform, and develop as individuals pushing themselves more than they have ever been to realize their ambitions and developing the confidence to know that they are a valuable asset to each room they step into. Every day they become more curious and more determined to bring change outside the walls of Marcy and eventually their workplaces. It's through work with their instructors as well as with their fellow classmates that they are continuously maintained in the knowledge that their skills, talents and capacities will allow the ability to eliminate old systems of injustice through their experience and their education to design instruments for social justice as well as for social change.

SQSP: What is the role that technology play in the overall success of the Marcy Lab program and its fellows--both as subject matter and also in directing the program?

RO:Our technical curriculum's success depends on our close relationship with our employer partners for establishing a continuous feedback loop about our Fellows' technical and professional readiness. Relevant areas for improvement go straight back to our instructional teams to ensure that our content will evolve and be modified in response to hiring needs and performance on the job.

The alignment of curriculum and student performance is resulting in the creation of the establishment of new partnerships for hiring with businesses who recognize that these close connections can result in equal or stronger hiring outcomes. A few highlights are:

Directly working with established firms to remove degree requirements for software engineers. This includes the New York Times and . These companies have since hired our Fellows and other non-traditional talent.

Building a new Capstone course of study together with J.P. Morgan Chase Asset and Wealth Management that is a specialist in backend data engineering the curriculum we use for our capstone time to satisfy their needs and prepare our Fellows for the constantly growing increase in analytics based on data.

SQSP How do you see your goals for Marcy Lab School's future?

ROWhat makes me optimistic about the future of Marcy Lab as well as the future of the spaces that we are in is the change taking place within the business world with companies shifting away from degrees requirements and towards hiring based on skills, that has opened the door for companies like Marcy Lab to even exist.

I am seeing major employers all over the country including IBM and Barclays and even partners like  that, which have a substantial number of mid-career, early career and senior executives who came from the Marcy Lab School, similar to Stanford's pipeline for companies in San Francisco's Bay Area. After gaining experience and working experience in these top businesses, I am seeing the graduates eventually leaving to create their own companies and paying it forward by recruiting teams with the same experiences as the ones they did.

In the end, I consider Marcy Lab as a part of an expanded ecosystem of equitable pathways built specifically to help propel hundreds of students who excel in school of color into careers which break the cycle of poverty in one generation.

SQSP: How do people who are interested in Marcy Lab School's mission be involved?

ROIf this mission and the work you do resonate with you, we encourage that you become part of our community that is growing. We hope we will continue to inspire others as we join the movement! There are three main ways that new people can get involved:

Go to our Brooklyn campus located in Industry City and meet first-hand the young adults who are working tirelessly towards their goals and the amazing team of professionals who move it all forward.

Volunteer the time of your life and share your expertise to our Fellows who are navigating the rigor of our one-year course to prepare them for their job search as well as beyond. The community of volunteers serves as curriculum advisors, mentors guests lecturers, as well as recruiters and are an essential part of the program. It helps to ensure that we have a curriculum aligned with industry standards and ensuring the success of each of our Fellows.

Additionally, donating to our cause allows us to keep this program completely free of tuition for our Fellows.