When Laurie Phelan was invited by the governor to launch Iowa Jobs for America’s Graduates 17 years ago, the concept of forming a public-private partnership was still a relatively novel idea. 

“A state study at that time demonstrated that a large number of young people weren’t graduating from high school, and the projection was getting higher,” said Phelan, who has led IJAG as its president and CEO since its launch in 1999. “Gov. Vilsack also noticed in this report that many students who were graduating didn’t have clear plans about what was going to happen next.” 

In visiting with other governors, Vilsack came across a national program called Jobs for America’s Graduates, and he asked Phelan to start an Iowa affiliate. Phelan was working for the Iowa Department of Education at the time on school-to-work programs. 

This year IJAG, which has added 10 more programs in the past two years, will offer 45 programs in 33 schools across Iowa and into eastern Illinois — including programs at all five Des Moines high schools as well as Saydel High School.  

The Iowa nonprofit, which boasts a 95 percent graduation rate among the 2,500 students it serves annually, this year was also rated No. 1 among the 32 state JAG programs in the nation based on results in five outcomes-based standards. It’s the third time that IJAG has achieved that top ranking, Phelan said. 

Up to 50 students per school are selected each year to participate in the program, based on having eight or more “barriers” to graduating, which include factors such as low family income, homelessness and domestic abuse. Without the program, students in that cohort average a 68 percent graduation rate. 

“What we do in JAG is provide a for-credit class that’s offered every single day in the traditional school system, with a counselor who first looks at everything that’s going on in this young person’s life to figure out what we can do to help them stay focused on their future and their career,” Phelan said. “Once we get that managed — working with community agencies and the counselors in the schools — that student feels safe and valued and they start to see themselves as a part of the community and a potential leader.” 

Each student in the program is required to perform 15 hours of service learning, with projects such as neighborhood beautification efforts and reading to young children.

Engaging business leaders to make personal connections with the students is a powerful aspect of the program, she said.  

“We bring in CEOs to speak to our kids about, first, how did they get to where they’re at. When that employer tells their personal story and about their mistakes, the kids start to perk up. And we have the kids tell the CEOs their stories. … And by the time the students tell their short life stories, all the things that are getting in the way of school, usually the (business leaders) say two things: ‘Why in the heck is that kid coming to school? and ‘What can I do to help?’ “

The organization’s 24-member board is made up of primarily corporate executives, but also includes several state officials and legislators. 

This past year Phelan hired a director of strategic advancement, Carly Voltz, who will focus on further expanding IJAG’s reach statewide. The five-person staff, which also includes three regional program managers and an office manager, operates out of cubicles in the Grimes Building provided in-kind by the Iowa Department of Education, but is primarily on the road visiting schools.   

Currently it costs the organization $72,500 per school per year to offer the program, of which nearly half comes from private-sector donations. That percentage has increased year over year as businesses see the results, Phelan said. “It’s a great return on investment — about $1,600 to get a student to graduate.”  

Each participating school district contributes $20,000 per school, and a state appropriation provides about $18,000 for each school. In the next legislative session the organization will seek an increase in its annual appropriation to $1 million, Phelan said. 

Further expansion is at the top of Phelan’s to-do list; the organization currently has more than 20 schools across the state on a waiting list to join the program. That goal includes expanding the program into Des Moines middle schools, she said.

The value to companies goes beyond helping to grow better citizens, Phelan said. They’re also building their diversity IQs.

“They’re starting to get a sense for that fact that they don’t know this population very well, but the closer they get to these kids, they get it in full color, literally and figuratively.”

IJAG’s 16-year track record: 

• 94 percent of the iJAG students graduate 
• Nearly 60 percent of our grads are the first generation to attend any kind of post-secondary education.
• 24 percent are the first generation in their family to graduate high school.
• IJAG students’ grade point averages increase one-third percentage point annually.
• iJAG students’ school attendance averaged an increase of seven days per school year over the past 16 years.