The Summit Difference
About Summit Academy
Summit Academy OIC is an accredited, nonprofit Career and Technical Education (CTE) Institute located in North Minneapolis.
Summit offers specializations and industry certifications for in-demand careers in Information Technology (IT), Construction, Financial Services, and Healthcare through 20-week accredited programs, delivering academic rigor alongside marketable skills and connections to employers. Summit’s workforce-driven model also offers an accelerated 10-week GED program, and a 6-week Food Manufacturing customized training.
Born out of the civil rights movement and led by Reverend Dr. Leon Howard Sullivan, the Opportunities Industrialization Centers (OIC) were established in 1964 in response to the lack of employment and job training programs in African American communities. Since 1967, a national network of Opportunities Industrialization Centers has been working to equip individuals with the education, skills, and networks required to overcome barriers to economic opportunity and advocate for economic, social, and political justice for all people.
Summit Academy OIC was created after two established training and job placement programs merged forces in 1996: Twin Cities Opportunities Industrialization Center and Two or More. The resulting Summit Academy was a vocational training center focused on giving low-income adults access to skills for the jobs of today and tomorrow. Embracing a comprehensive community focus, we located ourselves in the heart of North Minneapolis, where we now have two campuses.
Today, our mission is to empower individuals to develop their ability to earn and become contributing citizens in their communities and economic drivers of the State of Minnesota. Students enroll at Summit Academy each year from across the seven-county metropolitan area.
We exist to assist individuals in developing their ability to earn and to become contributing citizens in their community.
Summit Academy also fundamentally believes that the best social service program in the world is a job.
Summit Academy OIC will be recognized as a regional leader in accelerated training and workforce solutions that prepare individuals for career-advancing occupations leading to economic mobility and prosperity.
LEADERSHIP
We strive to be and create the community leaders necessary to achieve equity in employment. We establish bold visions that challenge systemic injustice. We take risks and reframe obstacles as opportunities. We identify solutions and take positive action. We act urgently, strategically, and resourcefully to achieve our mission.
TRANSFORMATION
We believe in exceptional human potential. We provide high-quality, in-demand training, individualized support, and career services that are life-changing for our students and their families and communities. We seek to transform social services, workforce training, recruitment, and employment systems to improve equal access to jobs and economic stability.
TENACITY
We do not accept defeat. We challenge cynicism, despair, despondency, and the status quo. Our campus community is dedicated to working alongside our students to overcome barriers to success. We have faith in one another and our students. We believe in positive change and actively work to achieve it.
RESULTS
We do not make excuses. Our students’ success matters more than anything else. We constantly evaluate and seek to improve our effectiveness, measure our success, and tailor services to meet our students’ needs.
RESPECT
Every individual has a unique story. We value the strengths, experiences, and perspectives of our students and others. We recognize that our collective impact as a campus community is strengthened by our diversity and networks. We are committed to strong partnerships with community organizations, organized labor, government, and employers to ensure our students’ success.
LEGACY
We honor the legacy of civil rights leader Dr. Rev. Leon Sullivan: we support economic, social, and political justice, including equal work opportunities for all people. We believe that true empowerment comes from providing individuals with the training and opportunities they need to improve their own lives and communities. We work with purpose and determination to ensure that, each day, Summit Academy OIC and our community are better than the day before.
Accreditations
Summit Academy OIC is accredited by the Council on Occupational Education.
7840 Roswell Road, Building 300, Suite 325, Atlanta, GA 30350
Phone: (770) 396-3898; Fax (770) 396-3790
4 Star Rating
Summit Academy OIC is proud to be recognized as a four star charity by Charity Navigator.
America’s premier independent charity evaluator, Charity Navigator works to advance a more efficient and responsive philanthropic marketplace by evaluating the financial health of America’s largest charities.
Our Philosophy
Our region faces workforce challenges that disproportionately impact Communities of Color. Minnesota is already experiencing a significant drop in labor force growth. According to the State Demographer, projections indicate only 0.1% labor force growth from 2020 to 2025 and zero labor force growth into 2045. In fact, by 2045 the state will need an additional 326,000 new workers to maintain a 0.5% labor force growth rate. More urgently, from 2016 to 2020, the state will need an additional 49,700 new workers (on top of the projected 33,400 workers entering the workforce during that time period) to continue a 0.5% labor force growth rate over the next five years.
The Twin Cities region is home to some of the greatest racial disparities in employment and education compared with other metropolitan areas across the country. Communities of Color face many barriers to participating in the workforce including, but not limited to:
- Failing public school systems: School systems that fail to graduate around 50% of Students of Color and then fail them again in subsequent GED programs (which have poor completion rates), particularly following changes to the exam in 2014.
- Lack of opportunity for education and training: until July 2014, a 30% cap on the number of MFIP participants that could pursue education or job training.
- Limited access: a lack of social networks that support entry into the economic mainstream.
- ‘Soft skills’ policies: systems focused on providing support services and soft skills as opposed to industry recognized hard skills that enable individuals to obtain good jobs.
All of these factors are exacerbated as our workforce growth slows to a halt and the composition of the workforce itself becomes more diverse. As noted by our State Demographer, “failing to better develop the talent of all residents is squandering needed human capital. Some of the poorest performing groups are also the fastest-growing among Minnesota’s population.”
We cannot afford to leave unskilled, underutilized Communities of Color on the sidelines anymore. Developing the human capital of these communities is our opportunity. Summit Academy OIC is a community leader in growing a skilled, diverse workforce that will help ensure stability for our regional economy while connecting low-income people with the tools they need to escape poverty.