ABOUT
MDC IOWA
MDC Iowa team (Tracy Jon Sargeant, Matt Butler, Julia Crowley, and Maddie Abu-Nameh) with University of Iowa Hummanities for Public Good summer interns (Ebenezer Adeyemi and Kaitlyn Lindgren-Hansen) and Iowa City Area Development Group President, Kate Moreland, receive a check in support of the INCUBATE BIPOC Business Accelerator program from Matt Olson of Hills Bank.
OUR MISSION.
MDC Iowa’s mission is to empower a diverse and inclusive community through strategic programs that address the Digital Divide, wealth gaps, racial equity, and socioeconomic barriers by providing consistent access to tools, training, resources, and support at no cost to the participants. Our goal is to create a multicultural community where diversity is recognized as a strength with underserved and underestimated people who have the support of a community that encourages cultural humility and allyship.
The Multicultural Development Center of Iowa serves communities in Iowa through four main initiatives:
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STEM Factory - hands-on, project-based learning for BIPOC youth and adults to improve diversity in STEM through focused outreach to help create degree and career pathways for historically underrepresented people in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
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INCUBATE – BIPOC Business Accelerator program that provides an intensive training program and technical assistance designed to accelerate the growth and development of minority-owned businesses.
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MDCI Connect - a next-gen mentoring program built on a technology platform with a completely revamped approach to matching industry professionals with small business owners, 1st gen college students, 2nd stage career candidates, and students that could benefit from a mentor.
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the_collective – supporting young students and adult learners that are interested in a career in cybersecurity. This program addresses the lack of diversity in Information Security (InfoSec) by providing Black, Indigenous, and People of Color with a 6-month immersive learning environment that builds skills and real-world knowledge that can be immediately leveraged to apply for high-demand jobs in InfoSec.
OUR VISION.
In 2017, Tracy Jon Sargeant founded the Multicultural Development Center of Iowa (MDC Iowa) as a nonprofit organization initially to address the lack of racial and ethnic diversity that he had witnessed firsthand in his professional career as an IT professional. Leveraging his shared lived experience as a Black man in the technology industry, Sargeant developed programs to help underrepresented people gain access to technology tools and training.
The vision is the same today as it was years ago when our founder took those first steps to start a local movement.
We want to see a world where every individual has the support to visualize their future and has access to the tools and support to pursue their education or career goals regardless of socioeconomic status, race, ethnic background, gender, or orientation.
We exist to shape a better world for all through community partnerships, public and private collaborations, and programs that address the challenges of the underserved and underestimated communities in Iowa.
RACIAL EQUITY & SOCIAL JUSTICE RESOURCES.
OUR PARTNERS.
Our programs are an important service that supports our underestimated and historically disadvantaged community members. This work would not be possible without the generous financial support from our community partners.
The City of Iowa City, ICAD, Hills Bank, and GreenState Credit Union are key sponsors of MDC Iowa's BIPOC Business Accelerator program. Since 2021, with the support of these sponsors, the INCUBATE accelerator has helped more than 40 BIPOC-owned businesses accelerate their growth or successfully launch a business in Johnson County.
