Student wearing headphones, looking at computer screen
Status
Current
Location

Statewide

TEAM
Director of Innovation and Implementation

Dania Ibrahim

Fellow

Illinois Work-Based Learning Innovation Network (I-WIN)

Launched in October 2020, the Illinois WBL Innovation Network (I-WIN) is designed to help employers, educators, and students leverage innovative models for scaling high-quality work-based learning opportunities in school districts and community colleges across the State. This network explores ways to create equitable opportunities for students. 

Our Role

Open to communities throughout Illinois, EdSystems provides I-WIN participants with professional development opportunities and participation in community of practice sessions to support and inspire their work-based learning practices. Participants engage in conversations and receive guidance on creating sustainable, high-quality models that ultimately provide broader and more equitable access to work-based learning, especially for Black and Latinx students. In addition, EdSystems offers participants technical assistance, including help designing student projects, supporting employer onboarding, etc. 

Best practices, learnings, and resources gathered during I-WIN communities of practices are made available through our resource hub. As we learn from I-WIN participants’ first-hand experiences, EdSystems will systematically document best practices, including sharable resources, models, and activities that will be shared with educators across Illinois for broader, statewide scaling. The best practices will also help inform our future recommendations to State policymakers.

Project Resources

The Latest

News

Executive Director Transition Announcement

Education Systems Center at NIU (EdSystems) today announces that Founder and Executive Director Jonathan Furr will be transitioning from his role as of June 2023 after nearly eleven years of building and leading the organization. Jon will be pursuing new professional opportunities, which he will share in the coming weeks.

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Advancing Racial Equity

Placing Our Big Bets Through 2025 and Beyond

EdSystems is coalescing around five new goals, which we call our Big Bets, to ensure that our state’s education and workforce systems truly lessen racial inequities and lead to tangible progress for our Black and Latinx students that have for far too long been underserved by these systems.

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