Mission and Vision

Mission and Vision
Many low-income communities face major challenges such as low academic achievement, low graduation rates, massive incarceration, unplanned prisoner reentry, uninsured families, unmet housing needs, and other social challenges. Often residents of these communities are single parents and working poor who are unable to make ends meet or contribute in a meaningful way to the economic development of their communities.

The current situation is part of a vicious cycle that reduces the ambitions and opportunities afforded to each successive generation. In addition, policy responses continue to be informed by individuals from outside the community, who often times exacerbate the lack of opportunities.

i.c.stars mission is to provide opportunities for inner-city young adults to harness the strength of business for social and economic leadership. By integrating business training and leadership development, i.c.stars is shaping the next generation of community leaders.

To break the vicious cycle, our program develops three types of leaders: Civic, Business, and Service Leaders. Civic Leaders engage directly in the policy arena through volunteer participation in local school councils, chambers of commerce, advocacy-focused non profits, and electoral politics. They break the “bad policy” part of the cycle through the ability to organize and mobilize a base of people.

Business Leaders directly create economic opportunities by achieving levels of managerial responsibility where they make hiring decisions and/or own their own businesses that employ community members and break the opportunity gap through the creation of local GDP.

And lastly, Service Leaders focus on developing the ambitions of the youth in our communities through writing, teaching, being role models, and mentoring.

A critical mass of what we call “Level 5 Leaders” within a geographic region creates a force-multiplier that is capable of reversing the vicious cycle. As policy responses become better informed, and as more job opportunities exist, and as ambitions begin to rise, the vicious cycle turns into a virtuous cycle. Change happens only with a coordinated effort that focuses on leadership at every level and across all three areas. Traditional workforce programs that address the basic economic needs of the individual fail impact the system because they only focus on the ambition and opportunity side of the problem and because they only focus on the individual.

i.c.stars measures leadership by the opportunities each participant makes in their community, either through civic, business, or service leadership actions. The impact of each opportunity is a function of the social, financial, and intellectual capital a leader brings to each situation.

We provide direct service programs that enable individuals to accumulate the social, financial, and intellectual capital necessary for effective leadership and systematic change in our communities.