YWeb Career Academy
What is YWeb Career Academy?
As part of our ongoing mission to eliminate racism and empower women, our YWeb Academy program provides education in digital skills to traditionally underrepresented or vulnerable populations, such as women of color, survivors of domestic violence, and low-wage workers. YWCA couples this programming with transportation assistance, financial coaching, referrals for affordable childcare, and job coaching and placement to ensure each participant’s success.
The program is part of a national partnership with Google.org, YWCA USA and YWCA Madison. YWCA Evanston/North Shore is partnering locally with Oakton Community College.
Upon completion of the online course, students will have opportunities to pursue full-time permanent employment, a paid internship or freelance careers in technology through partnerships established by YWCA Evanston/North Shore. Students could also continue their education by pursing a Computer Information Systems Certificate, an Associate’s Degree, or a Bachelor’s Degree.
- Free to participants
- 12 weeks in length
- Completely virtual, online learning experience
- 20–25 students per cohort
- Personal laptop provided if needed
- Hot spot for WIFI access provided if needed
- Supportive services include:
- transportation assistance
- financial coaching
- housing assistance
- referrals for affordable childcare
- Design
- HTML
- CSS
- Javascript
The program will include intensive technical training. Students are expected to complete job-related projects and work outside of class time and to be actively engaged in the learning process.
- Project management
- Interview practice
- Resume writing
Students will also receive soft skills training, including situational workplace judgment, active listening, communication skills, and problem-solving Hard skills, such as technical training, are required to get a job but people skills will open future doors and assist in sustaining and building relationships.
Graduates of the YWeb Career Academy will be prepared for entry level employment as a Front End UI Developer. All graduates will have the knowledge and skill sets needed to implement web design and practice development principles to create and maintain stable web based software. Program graduates will be able to:
- Implement web design and have confident and strong development principles to build stable web software.
- Bring mock-ups to life using HTML, CSS, JavaScript.
- Collaborate closely with teams to support projects during all phases of delivery.
- Build websites which are responsive and usable.
- Monitor website performance and rectify front-end-related issues.
- Communicate technical issues in an understandable manner to the team and clients.
- Identify innovative ideas and proof of concepts according to project requirements.
- Maintain an organized workflow using a project management tool (like GitHub).
- Test to identify bugs and technical issues before and after deploying.
- Document bug reports, tickets, and any code changes.
Upon completion of the course, graduates will be prepared to pursue full-time permanent employment, paid internships or freelance careers in technology through partnerships established by YWCA Evanston/North Shore.
Students will earn seven credit hours (from Oakton Community College) and may choose to continue their education by pursuing a Computer Information Systems Certificate, an Associate’s Degree, or a Bachelor’s Degree.
Are you eligible?
YWeb Career Academy is designed to help women of color enter the tech field as web developers. Participants must meet the following qualifications:
- High school diploma or its equivalent (or enrolled in a program that will result in a high school diploma or equivalent before completing the Certificate)
- Interested in a career in the IT sector
- Do not have a college degree
Upcoming classes
Our 2021 Spring class is full.
Next session: Fall 2021 (likely beginning in late August)
Please sign up for our emails below and we’ll keep you in the loop about YWeb Career Academy and other YWCA Economic Advancement Program opportunities.