On October 6, 2008, 13 young women from CICS Ralph Ellison joined students from CICS Northtown Academy and CICS Longwood for the kick off of the Accenture & Chicago International Charter School Mentoring Program at Accenture’s corporate office in downtown Chicago. Students were chosen based on grades and attendance, and they have to currently be a junior or a senior. Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company with approximately 186,000 employees worldwide, and $23.4 billion (US Dollars) in annual revenue for 2008. To prepare for the Job Shadowing Day, the students had a prep day with Dr. Nelson where they had to research and present facts about Accenture and themselves.

The mentoring program was designed to 1) provide the young women with real experience within a career field to make better and more informed decisions about college and the world of work after high school graduation 2) provide models and mentors for CICS young women and 3) enable the young women in the program to better understand that transferable skills can be utilized in a variety of professions.

Each CICS student was matched with a female executive at Accenture based on a survey which identified common interests and goals. The students had a full day downtown, beginning with an introduction and icebreaker; goal setting with their mentor; a special presentation titled “Reflections on Mentoring,” from Mr. Andre Hughes, Managing Director of Human Capital & Diversity for Accenture; a “working lunch” where they were able to ask questions of a panel made up of Accenture staff; an hour where they actually “shadowed” their mentor to see what she does on a day-to-day basis; and the day ended with an ice cream social in Accenture’s 40th Floor Café.

The mentoring relationships will continue throughout the year with different topics of discussion assigned to each month such as Life After High School, Career Goals and Leadership. CICS Ralph Ellison would like to thank CICS & Accenture for providing this invaluable experience!

ELLISON STUDENTS PREPARE FOR THEIR JOB SHADOW DAY DURING A PREP SESSION WITH DR. NELSON, CEO OF CIVITAS SCHOOLS

CICS/ACCENTURE MENTORING PROGRAM JOB SHADOW DAY