EMPOWERING
LEADERS

LIFE LEADERS

FAMILY LEADERS

CAREER LEADERS

FREE career training. Land a new career in just 6 Months.

Change Course Icon

Change Course

FREE TRAINING TO GET YOU ON THE PATH TO A NEW CAREER

Change Course is a career development program that provides training in highly sought-after skills along with leadership and personal development, to give people in Des Moines a way to stop living paycheck to paycheck and launch a career.

Affordable, effective, and short-term career training is almost impossible to find. Change Course has identified highly sought-after careers in our community. We offer free training and pay you to start a new career in as little as four months. Students who have completed the program in other areas of the country are earning on average more than $18 per hour in jobs with upward mobility and full benefits, including health care and paid vacation time.

Freedom Awaits

Change Course graduates complete the program with a new job skill, a livable wage career, and a strong sense of community and support. After graduation, Leaders join the Alumni Association where they will receive continued services, including financial coaching, professional development opportunities, and the opportunity to give back to future Leaders.

The Heart of Change Course

LEADERSHIP JOURNEY

Leaders apply and are accepted into a six-month-long program broken into three phases.

Icon representing personal and professional growth

GROWTH

The first 6 weeks of the program is dedicated to personal and professional growth. We don’t just want Leaders to land a job—we want them to be the best version of themself, so they can find a career that lasts!

Icon representing professional certification

CERTIFICATION

Leaders work to complete a professional certification or pre-apprenticeship course in their selected career track.

Icon representing professional landing job with their skill set

LAND THE JOB

Once Leaders complete the certification stage, they graduate the program by landing a job in their career track. We’ll work to connect them with employers and jobs that fit their skill set.

Tools for Development

  • One-on-one coaching sessions
  • 100+ hours of personal development
  • Up to 35 life and career skills taught

If you’d like more information regarding Change Course, click the button below.

CAREER PROGRAMS

A better future awaits our leaders after they complete their chosen six-month career training program. Change Course offers 35 life and career skills that can be adjusted according to the need of the Des Moines area job market. Our corporate partners keep us informed of the skills they look for in good job candidates as their needs change.

CAREER PROGRAMS

A better future awaits our leaders after they complete their chosen six-month career training program. Change Course offers 35 life and career skills that can be adjusted according to the need of the Des Moines area job market. Our corporate partners keep us informed of the skills they look for in good job candidates as their needs change.

Energy Career with Change Course

Energy

Medical admistration

Medical Administration

Semi driver with CDL (Commercial drivers license)

Commercial Driver (CDL)

Information Technology (IT) Worker

Information Technology

Customer Service Representative

Customer Service

Construction Trades - Electrician working on building

Skilled Trades

Administration Assistant

Administrative Assistant

Certified nursing assistant (CNA)

Medical Healthcare

Culinary Services - Future Course

Culinary Services

Animal Care - Future Course

Animal Care

Customer Service Representative

Customer Service

Animal Care - Future Course

Animal Care

FREE career training with Change Course. Land a new career in just 6 Months.

If you’d like more information, click the button below.

Our Instagram Feed

Introducing: Change Course Agape Blend Coffee! We have partnered with Coffee For a Cause to bring you this incredible medium/dark roast organic coffee from Guatemala. Each bag highlights a different story from one of our graduates on the back. 

When we tell you it's delicious, we can guarantee it's an understatement! Comes in whole bean and ground. Decaf coming soon! Excellent for an espresso or filtered coffee! 

To purchase online, go to the link in our bio. You can also stop into our office to pick up a bag for no shipping cost!

And as always, every single dollar profited from these products goes directly to our program giving the tools, community and opportunities to those in need of a second chance.
What better day than World Kindness Day to hear our incredible, brave participants share their stories.

Video by @michaelgenewilson 
Edited by Michael Gene Wilson & Bradford Johnson
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Change Course is a FREE career and personal development program in Des Moines, Iowa built to provide a safe space for people ready for lasting change. Here, they learn about themselves and grow in the areas they are skilled in, find new careers and change their lives.

THERE IS HOPE IN THIS CITY!
Epsilon Class got the sweet treatment at Family Gathering last night by our class Ally, Bobbi. We love you Bobbi—thank you for all you do!
Big thanks to Lee Rood at the @dmregister and their write up on Joseph's talk at the Storytellers Project event last month! It was an honor to be part of such an incredible event highlighting a few of the brilliant minds in our community.
Our Epsilon 2025 class started this week! This is our FIFTH Change Course class! We are so excited for what is in store for all of these wildly unique and gifted people. Watch out, world!

Feel free to leave a comment of encouragement for the participants, we'll share all of them with the class!
In ONE WEEK, we will open a portal into the incredible stories of change we get to witness daily at Change Course. In a world of confusion, fear and division, we know hope couldn't come at a better time.

After refreshments, you will hear  incredible testimonies of our graduates and current participants. You will also hear the story of Jose Ruesga, a man sentenced to life at age 17, and unexpectedly being released 30 years later, navigating a new freedom and setting a new trajectory for his life.

We will also discuss our vision as an organization, and uncover a little of what we believe the future holds at Change Course and Des Moines as a city of growth and change. You will leave this event inspired and feeling a newfound sense of hope for humanity.

We can't wait to host you all, but we want to PACK the place! So we need your help. We need you to invite as many people as you can. Please help us promote this event by sending the link below to any friend or family member you think would love to attend. Remember, it's FREE for everyone! Here's the link:

www.ccnightofhope.com

Get your free tickets at the link our bio!
Artist-signed giclée prints of the mural at our headquarters are now available for order! Sizes available are 12" x 36", 24"x72", 24"x84", 24"x96", and 36"x108. 

DM us or email bradford@change-course.org to order a hand-signed print!
Fun announcement—we have created a very small run of Change Course hot sauce! Because why not? We also started an online store, where you will be able to purchase any Change Course apparel, swag and fun items like our hot sauce in the future.

This stuff is delicious—a sweet-hot flavor that's good on pretty much anything. Best of all, all the proceeds go towards giving second chances to those in need.

We only have 35 bottles in stock, and we may not restock them again—so act fast! To purchase online, go to www.ChangeCourse.store. You can also stop into our office to pick up a bottle with no shipping cost!
At Change Course, lives are being changed. Through our program, the work of volunteers, and countless Change Course partner organizations, our work has one goal: to eradicate poverty in Des Moines through engagement, encouragement, education, empowerment, and ultimately, employment. 

On November 12, join us as we open a window into the work we do at Change Course—through incredible testimonies of our graduates and current participants. We will also discuss our vision as an organization, and uncover a little of what we believe the future holds at Change Course and Des Moines as a city of growth and change.

Best of all, it's FREE! You don't want to miss it. Get your tickets at the link in our bio!
At Change Course, lives are being changed. Through our program, the work of volunteers, and countless Change Course partner organizations, our work has one goal: to eradicate poverty in Des Moines through engagement, encouragement, education, empowerment, and ultimately, employment. 

On November 12, join us as we open a window into the work we do at Change Course—through incredible testimonies of our graduates and current participants. We will also discuss our vision as an organization, and uncover a little of what we believe the future holds at Change Course and Des Moines as a city of growth and change.

Best of all, it's FREE! You don't want to miss it. Get your tickets at the link in our bio.
Exciting event! Our CEO, Joseph, will be one of five Iowans sharing a personal story of how they overcame something monumental in their lives at the next @dmregister Des Moines Storytellers Project event. The event will be held on Oct. 22 at historic Hoyt Sherman Place in Des Moines.

In its seventh season, the Des Moines Register's Storytellers Project is dedicated to the idea that oral storytelling and journalism have the same goals: Serving and reflecting a community while fostering empathy.

Joseph and the other participants will tell their stories live on stage without notes and from their hearts.

There are very few tickets left - click the link in our bio to get tickets to the event before they sell out!
We’re so excited to announce our newest corporate partner, Branstad & Olson Law Office. Their values align with Change Course. Defense attorneys that work to give second chances to those in difficult circumstances. Along with providing meals at our Monday night family gatherings, they have also recommended our program to many of their clients. Thank you to Christine, Torrie, David and the entire Branstad & Olson team for joining our mission of empowering people out of poverty.

FOUNDING SPONSORS

Foster Group - Change Course Founding Sponsor
Emerge Academy logo with bird
Foster Group - Change Course Founding Sponsor
Shindler Anderson Goplerud and Weese PC Logo
Foster Group - Change Course Founding Sponsor

DON’T MISS A BEAT