HIGHLIGHTS
Audio story of How Training, Inc. created professionals
Training Inc. Blueprint Slideshow
“Training, Inc. – A Model of Transformative Career Education”, Carol Walters, written for the 2025 Year of Storytelling and “Holistic Job Training Approach” research paper and audio summary, 1997
“Climbing the Success Pyramid at Training, Inc. audio summary of a chapter from Presidential Candidate Michael Dukakis and Rosabeth Moss Kantor’s book, Creating the Future: the Massachusetts Experience after a visit to Training, Inc. Boston in 1988.
“Hard Work on Soft Skills” paper and audio summary by Elsa Bengel, Training, Inc. Boston, 2012
“Application of Imaginal Education in Training, Inc.” paper and audio summary, by Anita Gibson (TI Indianapolis), Shirley Mueller (TI Pittsburgh), and Maria Sharp (TI Washington, D.C., 1993
“Training Inc.: A practical application of Imaginal Education”, Carol Pierce, 1979 and audio summary
Training, Inc. Sites
Oak Brook, IL 1975
Chicago, IL 1979
5th City Business Careers, Chicago, IL 1980
Chicago #2, IL 1981
Indianapolis, IN 1981
Boston, MA 1984
Sellersburg, IN 1985
Newark, NJ 1987
Pittsburg, PA 1988
Washington, DC 1988
Guatemala 1990
New Orleans, LA 1991
Atlanta, GA 1995
Training Futures, VA 1996
Albuquerque, NM 1997
Aditi Learning Center, Pune, India 2009
TRAINING, INC. EVOLUTION
Training, Inc. began in the Chicago area in 1975. Within five years it had four sites in Chicago and was nationally recognized by the Department of Labor as one of the best job training programs in the country. The training model was then replicated in Indianapolis, Boston, Pittsburg, New Jersey, and Washington DC. Fifty years later some of these programs are still operating along with many workforce development programs that share many of the principles and learnings from the original model.
In 1980 the US Department of Labor selected Training, Inc. as one of the Top Ten Exemplary Job Training programs in the country. At that time the program had 97% of the participants completing the program with 90% of them placed in jobs.
The Training, Inc. program has been a demonstration of imaginal education applied in a workforce environment for more than fifty years. Carol Walters, the former Executive Director of the National Training Inc. Association, summarizes the history of the development of Training, Inc. starting in 1974.
The 45TH TRAINING, INC. ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION was held by Zoom on November 16, 2020. Carol Walters launched the event with these thoughts:
“It has been said that sometimes great things come from small beginnings. I remember an analogy the Oak Brook Association of Commerce and Industry (one of the original partners) once used to describe the program when they said Training, Inc. was like an Acorn that grew to be a Mighty Oak. The program has had a big impact in so many areas of so many lives including each of ours. Oaks tend to have a long life-span as evidenced by the group gathered here today to celebrate 45 years of existence. Mighty Oaks can live forever because small acorns have fallen over the years and continue to fall and take root in many places. More Great Oaks exist in continuing Training, Inc. and affiliated programs and in workplace development initiatives across the land. We will hear more about these later in our time together.”
Click on LINK to see the video of the 45TH TRAINING, INC. ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION.
YMCA TRAINING, INC. IN BOSTON
Over four decades, Training, Inc. grew and served as a beacon of hope for unemployed and underemployed adults, equipping over 5,000 individuals with job training and skill development since 1984. YMCA Training, Inc. provides low-income adults – both native born and immigrants – in Greater Boston with the highest quality technical and office support skills training necessary to secure professional employment in positions that offer family-sustaining wages, benefits, career advancement opportunities, and a path to self-sufficiency. Training, Inc. offers quality job training that results in work-ready employees who meet the needs of community businesses. Listen to the participant’s comments in the two videos below.
Click on YMCA Training, Inc. address above to see their Facebook page.
TRAINING FUTURES IN NORTHERN VIRGINIA with Audio
An award winning adult training program in Northern Virginia, Training Futures was designed and led by Susan Erickson Craver and Marla Burton from 1996-2010. Its 25-week program uniquely offered college credits to students while gaining workplace skills. Susan describes the role internships and Toastmasters play in the program:
“Internships. Remember that play we saw eons ago in Chicago called “Getting My Act Together and Putting it on the Road”? Internships are like that. They give the industry seal of approval for each person’s imaginal journey. The participant experiences slayed any doubt dragons that the “new me” was not going to hold steady in the “real world.” It is exhilarating to have an imaginal journey tested and proven by outside, objective forces.
Toastmasters was all about the trainees finding their voices and telling their stories. We literally witnessed stories going from those of victims to those of heroes in the telling. It was powerful and often reduced guests to jelly. I often thought of D. H. Lawrence’s line, “the song of one who has come through.”
15 Years of Achievements: 1996-2010. 1,000 Miracles in Ten Years: 1996-2006. Staff end of year reports for 1998 YearTwo and 2005 Year Seven report.. 2008 , 2009 newsletters.
In 2003 (the 7th year of Training Futures), the Trickle Up case study was written on the program, documenting the community benefits of workforce development (Executive Summary of case study). In 2007 Aspen Institute awarded Training Futures $300,000 and in 2010 the Aspen Institute wrote this report of the program results. A representative from Booz Allen gives a graduation presentation and this report shows documented success. In 2011 a partnership between Northern Virginia Community College and Training Futures wrote a case study called “Rediscovering the American Dream of Opportunity” states:
- 94% of enrolled participants successfully completed the 25-week program, one of the nation’s top success rates for job training programs serving low income workers
- 84% of participants successfully completed a median of 17 NOVA college credit hours while at Training Futures, more than a full-time semester course load
- 84% of program graduates secured new jobs following the program, a strong outcome despite the recession
- Newly-employed participants reported average initial wage gains of $3 per hour over previous earnings in their first new job (29% increase), equivalent to a $6,000 annualized earnings increase.
The Life Philosophy Spin, “How to Handle Routine Everyday Life”, presented each cycle at Training Futures by Susan Craver – short and long audio versions
Florida Staff Conference at Marco Island, 1995
Chicago Training, Inc. Students and Staff at Sun Times Building, 1980