Our Purpose

Why don’t our workplaces look like our neighborhoods? That’s the question that sparked re:work training’s formation in 2016. Since then, our mission has been two-fold: improve employment outcomes for Chicago’s untapped communities and combat the lack of diversity in tech’s workforce in the process.

A MESSAGE FROM OUR CEO:

In my neighborhood, there aren’t a plethora of career paths to discover, opportunities to capitalize on or an abundance of role models to emulate. Because of that, we see our future as a predestined march toward exactly what is outside our windows: poverty, poor education and violence. That experience destroys ambition and the ability to dream. But change is possible. We can all be part of that change. It just takes work.

The first step of that work is to simply acknowledge that the opportunities and resources are not balanced among all of Chicago’s communities. As a result, these communities are filled with untapped Black and Latinx talent that must overcome historic wage imbalances, undervalued housing markets and poorer quality schools.

re:work tips the scales for those individuals by creating educational and career opportunities that lead to safe futures and financial success. On the other end, we work with technology companies across the city to provide them with ambitious, resourceful and qualified candidates with diverse backgrounds.

By empowering our candidates and companies we not only make their dreams a reality, we create a path for future generations to dream.