quote:

The Chicago Apprentice Network started four years ago with a challenge from Chicago’s mayor at the time; would you hire some kids from City Colleges of Chicago to work at your blue chip company?

The program started with five college students and one company now has nearly 50 businesses and has hired 1,000 apprentices. The goal is to hire them permanently and give students without a four year degree a shot at the corporate world.

Jim Coleman, the senior managing director at Accenture in Chicago, says the program is working.

“This isn’t a philanthropic program,” he said. “This is a ‘You earn, you contribute and you learn.’”

Coleman manages 6,000 people at Accenture’s global management consulting firm, a giant in the industry. He runs the Chicago office. But he and Ahmad Aladawi, a young man who arrived in the states only seven years ago, are on a first name basis these days.