State and local leaders celebrated the 25 years of growth and success of the Iowa Jobs for America’s Graduates program on Thursday at the DMACC Ankeny campus.

About 100 people filled the Iowa Culinary Institute at DMACC to share refreshments and reflect on the program’s milestones. Notables like Gov. Kim Reynolds, Google server operations lead Allie Hopkins and iJAG board of directors members made remarks and spoke with students at the event.

An affiliate of Jobs for America’s Graduates, iJAG is a nonprofit that helps students with career development and planning. The group partners with schools and businesses to create opportunities for students to secure skills and job experience that match up with students’ career goals.

The program was started in Iowa in 1999 by Laurie Phelan, a former state education department official, and has served 42,000 students since its inception. Nationally, JAG is serving 80,000 students in 32 states this year. Of those, 10,232 students are from Iowa.

Reynolds served as the iJAG board chair 14 years ago while she was lieutenant governor.
“This truly is a program that has changed lives, has shaped futures and it has opened doors for thousands of Iowa students,” Reynolds said.

“And the good news is it works. We’ve got graduation rates over 96%. That’s some of the highest JAG rates in the country; job placements, leadership development, real world experience that prepares students not just for work, but for life,” she said. “We also know that none of that happens by accident. It takes partnerships from educators and employers, mentors, business leaders and state and local champions who believe in investing in our next generation.”

Wendy Mihm-Herold, iJAG president and CEO, said students learn many soft skills through the program.

“Every student who enters iJAG program builds essential leadership skills and individualized career plans, effective communication skills, problem solving, teamwork, resiliency, adaptability, tolerance for change and a strong civic in service mindset. These are the top skills businesses want across our great state of Iowa and across the nation,” she said.

Mihm-Herold added that iJAG plans to continue to grow.

“iJAG is committed to innovation and expansion, continuing to expand, expand our partnerships with charter schools, after-school programs, community colleges, career academies and exploring virtual and online programming opportunities because we go where the students want us to be,” she said.

Earlier in the week, iJAG student partnered with Meals from the Heartland to assemble and donate 30,000 meals for Iowa communities. Meals will be distributed to 51 counties. As part of the meal donation event, skills workshops and professional development activities took place for 300 students in seventh through 10th grades.