Our Core Program: IT-Ready

Through its IT-Ready Apprentice Program, the Creating IT Futures Foundation — in partnership with local employers and training companies — screens, trains, places, and mentors veterans, displaced workers and under-represented populations in six-month paid apprenticeships that can lead to full-time employment with family-sustaining wages as a skilled IT worker.

Who We Serve:

  • Veterans, spouses, and caregivers of wounded warriors.
  • Individuals living below the poverty line or at risk of falling into poverty due to recent unemployment.
  • Displaced workers whose skill sets are no longer in high demand.
  • Groups under-represented in the ranks of IT workers such as women, African-Americans and Latinos.
How It Works:


Step 1. Our Foundation assesses a participating employer’s needs in terms of job roles and duties, ideal employee profile and required training for the IT jobs in that company.

Step 2. The Foundation uses a rigorous assessment and screening process to identify deserving and capable individuals and provides them with the IT training and certifications necessary to do the job, along with access to a technical tutor during training.

Step 3. An employer provides the candidate with a six-month apprenticeship in an IT-related role. To provide the candidate with the best chance at success, the employer also provides an in-company mentor to the apprentice to help that individual acclimate to the culture of the organization. The Foundation will also supply an outside mentor for additional guidance.

Step 4. At the end of the program, "alumni" will remain connected to the Foundation and will be expected to pay it forward in the future, either by hiring an apprentice, mentoring an apprentice, building awareness of the Foundation or donating time or money to our cause.

Where We Work:

In 2012, the IT-Ready Apprentice Program will be operating in Minneapolis / St. Paul and Cincinnati. Once we have perfected the apprenticeship process, we’ll begin to branch out to other locations around the U.S. and eventually across the globe.