Beyond Chicago:

Our National Programming

Over the past fifty years, many ICA staff have independently launched programs related to their particular passions. Often, they incorporate ICA methods with processes learned from other sources that strengthen program effectiveness.

Climate Action Forums Denver & Boulder, CO

Accelerate Neighborhood Climate Action is a Community Forum Program that gathers residents to create shared, place-based climate action on a neighborhood-by-neighborhood level. Read more.

Project Vida El Paso, TX

Project Vida is located in El Paso, three blocks north of the Rio Grande, bordering México. The neighborhood is one of the most impoverished in the USA. Since 1991, Bill and Carol Schlesinger have been leading programs that address education, healthcare, affordable housing, gang prevention, homelessness, and the needs of small business owners. Read more.

Rite of Passage Journeys Seattle, WA

Started in Chicago in 1968, the earliest inspiration for Rite of Passage Journeys was a heartfelt commitment to maintaining healthy communities and supporting individual growth and responsibility within this collective context. In the summer of 1968, the program-- initially known as the "Sixth Grade Trip"-- took a group of four children on a month-long trip in a school bus from Chicago along a loop around the eastern US. Read more.

Swamp Gravy Colquitt, GA

First debuted in 1992, the Swamp Gravy musical demonstrates how community transformation can occur with an emphasis on the arts. Telling the Colquitt community story has attracted thousands from around the world. The Swamp Gravy players have taken their show on the road, performing at Centennial Park during the Olympics in Atlanta and at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Read more

Training, Inc. Boston, MA

Training, Inc. has been a demonstration of imaginal education applied in a workforce environment for forty-five years. Initially taught by ICA staff as it spread from Chicago to Boston, Indianapolis, New Orleans, Newark, Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C, the program demonstrated success in finding thousands of jobs for the unemployed and enabling job retention. Read more

4750 N Sheridan Rd, Chicago, IL 60640773 769 6363 x 335