Background
Focus: HOPE is a nonprofit civil and human rights organization that was founded in 1968. Among other services, it provides job training to adults and has a history of preparing women for traditionally male occupations. Focus: HOPE's Networking Academy program is a component of its larger Network Administration program that provides students with the training necessary to be both a Cisco Certified Network Associate [CCNA] and a BICSI certified apprentice. Focus: HOPE is located in Detroit, Michigan, and the primary population served is African-Americans.

The Numbers
In January 1999 Focus Hope conducted its first Networking Academy program courses, and to date, the organization had run twelve sections, ranging from semesters 1 through 4. Thirty-three students, including 11 female students, participated -- 33% of all the Networking Academy program students -- and they had a perfect retention rate of 100%! Males in the program had a similarly high retention rate. The job placement rate for students graduating from the Network Administration program is 100%, and the average rate at placement is $14 per hour. Some students start out at wages as high as $20 per hour.

In the first Networking Academy program class, seven out of eight students received certification as CCNAs (Cisco Certified Network Associates), including all three women in the class. In the most recent Networking Academy program class to complete, 4 out of the 5 women in the class are known to have received their CCNA certification, and Focus: HOPE is still working on tracking down the 5th.

How did Focus: HOPE successfully recruit and retain female students in the Network Administration program, many of whom were African-American females who were underemployed and in many cases, single parents with children?

Recruitment
Focus: HOPE's female students are primarily underemployed African-American women in need of upgrading their skill set. Most are in their twenties and thirties with children; many are single parents; some women are re-entering the workforce.

Focus: HOPE has recruiters who proactively recruit for the Network Administration program by:

• Making presentations to community groups and churches;
• Working collaboratively with counselors in the welfare department who act as referral agents;
• Working collaboratively with government funded One-Stop Career Centers and Michigan Career Development programs;
• Making presentations to high schools and working with guidance counselors.

Pre-Technology Classes / Prerequisites
Students are required to take an Information Technology Basic Skills course - offered by Focus: HOPE - before enrolling in the Networking Administration program. This 100-hour course is offered four hours per day for five weeks.

Curriculum covered includes using the Internet, logging into a Network, and all of Microsoft Office applications [Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access]. The materials used in the ITBS class are two products. The first is a training guide by IBM that contains text and practice exercises on a floppy or CD. The second is an on-line multi-media tutorials by NETg.

Additionally, students must have a High School diploma or GED and possess 9th-grade math skills and 12th-grade-reading skills to enter the program. If they want job placement, they must have a valid driver's license and reliable transportation.

Success in the Classroom

Linda Hanks, the Information Technology (IT) Manager attributes the 100% retention rate of female students to:

• Having a female role model as an instructor;
• Guest lectures by female role models in industry at both the line and manager level who share their stories including barriers they overcame such as moving beyond their fear of getting on a ladder or using a power drill for the first time;
• Program graduates who return as role models and provide inspiration;
• The preparation students receive in the IT Basic Skills course.

Contact
Linda Hanks
Information Technology Manager
Focus: HOPE
Detroit, Michigan
Hanksl@focushope.edu 
313-494-4309

School Web site
www.focushope.edu