
Change Course’s Mission
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.
Within one year of graduating from our career training program, graduates of the same model, Uprise Nashville, report an average pay increase of $19,600.
Change Course is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit formed in 2022 to assist families living in poverty to remove the barriers in their lives (such as inadequate education, poor support network, and inability to navigate the existing programs) that are keeping them from emerging out of poverty and becoming self-sufficient. Change Course provides training, support, and connections to a network of other partners (such as educational and employment opportunities) to support program participants in their journey out of poverty.
Change Course CEO, Joseph Johnson’s testimony
CHANGE COURSE BOARD

Joseph Johnson
Change Course CEO
Board Member

Karin Johnson
Director of Programs
Board Member

Jerry and Nancy Foster
Board Members

Jeff Johnson
Board Member

Thomas Budler
Board Member

Kim Smith
Board Member

Tyler Smith
Board Member

James Green
Board Member

Julian Dismute
Board Member
CHANGE COURSE Employees

JOSEPH JOHNSON
Founder/CEO

KARIN JOHNSON
Director of Programs

DANI MINCKS
Lead Career Coach

BRADFORD JOHNSON

BOBBIE PHILLIPS
Administrative Assistant

Andrea Rouw
Career Coach

Change Course Office
Effective April 29, 2024, visits. to our offices are by appointment only. Please call us at (515)779-6108 to make an appointment.
PHONE
ADDRESS
1912 6th Ave
Des Moines, Iowa 50314

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUEStioNS
If you’re unable to find an answer to your question, please don’t hesitate to let us know. We’ll add it to the list.