I-LEAD’s ACE Program Brings College Education into Communities

Over a decade ago, District Attorney Lynne Abraham and Assistant D.A. David Castro were working in some of Philadelphia’s most distressed neighborhoods to resolve community problems. In 1995, the two decided to create a nonprofit, I-LEAD, to promote grassroots community leadership efforts by delivering leadership training and technical assistance in 16 cities across the state.

“I became convinced that a lot of the problems that were afflicting communities that I was working with had to do with not having enough leadership capacity at the grassroots level. We founded the organization [I-Lead] back then as a way of addressing that need,” Castro said.

From 1995-2005, it served as the lead training partner for Urban Genesis, Inc., which focused primarily on the development of community leaders in Philadelphia. Then, from 2001 through 2005, I-LEAD served as the lead training partner for the Pennsylvania Weed and Seed Initiative, a program that helps struggling communities combat crime and poverty by combining law enforcement and community development strategies. Read about the complete history of I-LEAD here.

Since its inception, I-LEAD’s focus has been on bringing leadership training and education into underserved communities. The program eventually grew into bringing college degrees directly into those communities by offering classes through community partners.

Bringing college education directly into communities

As I-LEAD grew, those participating in the program were interested in getting college credit.

“What happened was people began asking us for college credit,” Castro said.

So in 2005, I-LEAD partnered with Harcum College to create an accredited two year college program: the ACE (Achieve College Educaition) program, which works with local community partners to offer evening classes in the neighborhoods where the students live. The ACE program serves all ages of students and targets the adult working learner, and the average age of a student in the program is 40. Students participating in the program are fully-matriculated students of Harcum College and their degree is awarded by Harcum College.

“What we do is we forge partnerships, between us, Harcum and the community-based organizations that are involved, where our community-based partners open up their program locations so that these students can be served right in their own neighborhoods,” Castro said.

The program was piloted at the Chester Education Foundation in Chester, and now it operates cohorts in Philadelphia, Upper Darby, Coatesville, and Reading.

The program’s community-based partners include large social service agencies: Congreso de Latinos Unidos, Chester Education Foundation; faith based institutions: Calvary Baptist Church, Deliverance Evangelistic Church, Life Transforming Ministries, Lombard Presbyterian, Upper Darby Community Outreach; and secondary schools: I-LEAD Charter School, One Bright Ray, Universal Audenried Charter High School.

“What we do is we bring that program right into the neighborhood, right into their backyard through these community partnerships. That really allows people to overcome the barriers of time, inconvenience, travel costs,” Castro said.

More than just leadership training

The program now also offers more than just leadership training — graduates can receive a degree in Human Services, Early Childhood Education, and Law and Justice.

Students in an ACE classroom. See more photos of the ACE program in I-LEAD’s Flickr Stream.

Celeste Palmer, the site coordinator for the ACE program at Deliverance Evangelistic Church, said that bringing education into the community allows more people to receive a college education.

“More people are achieving their goal of getting a college degree, because education has been placed in their communities,” she said in an email. “The ACE program is attracting professionals, retirees, housewives, unemployed, and entrepreneurs. The organizations that made up the ACE program are social change agents.”

Palmer added that the program gives the Deliverance Evangelistic Church the ability to provide a service that improves lives, families, and communities.

Almost 400 adult learners had graduated with an Associate’s Degree since the program’s inception in 2005, and this fall the ACE program has enrolled over 500 students. Many of the participants have gone on to get Bachelor’s degrees at other institutions, including Temple University, St. Joeseph’s University, and more.

The goal, eventually, is to have the program be replicated across the country.

“We’re working on that now [expanding the program],” said Castro. “We’re still early in that process–but we’re actively seeking partners who may be interested in taking this program model to other parts of the country, because we think that the model itself is highly replicable.”

For more information about the I-LEAD ACE program, contact Cheryl Lang at clang@i-leadusa.org or (877) 428-8092.

Photo courtesy of I-LEAD USA