Unfortunately, such jobs are not the norm in America, and more and more people are relying on low-wage work with little hope for career advancement.

We are dedicated to building sustainable small businesses that create good jobs, reinvest wealth in the community, and contribute to strong and vibrant economies. This work stems from a simple idea: communities thrive when every person has access to a Good Job.

Our vision is bold: we want every worker in the Bay Area to have a Good Job.

Throughout 2014, we took the opportunity to evaluate our model’s track record and potential for achieving this vision. We asked many of the entrepreneurs whom we had worked with in recent years to articulate their most pressing needs, strategized how to best meet those needs, and prototyped a new approach to working with small businesses going forward. Through this work, ICA has been able to hone in on our strengths, and focus our efforts to achieve maximum impact.

The refined ICA model provides a parallel infusion of strategic Capital Preparation and Talent Management advising to a core group of entrepreneurs who are demonstrating a commitment to the ICA vision, and who recognize it as their responsibility to serve as stabilizing and empowering influences on their communities.

Firstly, we look for potential, because we know that all Good Businesses have to start somewhere. We vet companies year-round through our Business Institute offerings, including our flagship Growth Strategies course, held each spring at the Mills College Graduate School of Business. During this 10-week course, entrepreneurs learn about the ICA mission, and ICA learns about each company’s life stage, challenges, and plans for growth. For businesses with the greatest Good Job creation potential, ICA leans in with a full-service advising model designed to accelerate growth and set our entrepreneurs up to be good employers.

Advising focus areas are tailored to the needs of companies in two different stages based on their access to capital. This is because we have identified the infusion of investment capital as the catalyst that allows companies to accelerate their growth and unlock Good Jobs.

Pre-Investment Advising is provided to companies that have been vetted by the Business Institute, and need capital to scale.

• ICA helps entrepreneurs identify the amount and type of funding most appropriate to their situation, and the obstacles they must overcome to secure it. After an initial assessment, we connect our companies to high-caliber, pro-bono advisors who offer practical consulting expertise to support investment preparation. This support allows entrepreneurs to avoid the pitfalls that cause many small businesses to falter, and ensures that they are able to access the capital they need to unlock Good Jobs.

  While they prepare for capital, ICA simultaneously helps entrepreneurs think about all of the effects that growth will have on their employees. This includes organizational development work to help build strong leadership teams and identify current gaps, key human resources infrastructure, and culture magnification designed to build supportive and values-based workplaces from the ground up. This foundational work supports the creation of Good Jobs as the company begins to scale.

  From this work, a select few high-potential companies are recommended to our partner agency, Fund Good Jobs, for investment capital.

Post-Investment Advising is provided to those companies that are ultimately funded by Fund Good Jobs in order to accelerate their growth in a healthy and sustainable way.

• When entrepreneurs have the resources to begin growing their team, ICA helps to recruit new employees using a “right fit recruiting” technique designed to match individuals to the jobs in which they are most likely to succeed. We begin by helping the entrepreneur to clearly define her staffing needs and plan for new jobs in a thoughtful way. We then partner with regional workforce development agencies to identify right-fit job candidates that have faced significant barriers to employment whose lives would be immeasurably improved by the attainment of a Good Job at an ICA company.

The result of this focused work is a portfolio of Good Businesses that share ICA’s values and positively influence their communities by taking care of people and creating Good Jobs.