Intergenerational Computer Education (IgCE) is a Chicago-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit expanding access to cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, digital literacy, workforce development, and emerging technology.
We create opportunities for youth, adults, and seniors to learn by doing: using real technology, real tools, hands-on projects, mentorship, and experiences that connect learning to the world outside the classroom.
TECHNOLOGY SHOULD CONNECT GENERATIONS, NOT DIVIDE THEM.
IgCE began with a simple observation. Technology was becoming more important in everyday life, education, work, communication, and security, but access to the knowledge behind it was not evenly distributed.
Young people were growing up surrounded by technology while many older adults were being asked to navigate an increasingly digital world without the same support. At the same time, young people needed more than exposure. They needed the chance to understand how technology works, build with it, secure it, and see themselves in the careers shaping the future.
IgCE was created in Chicago in 2012 to help close those gaps.
The idea was never just another computer class. The goal was access. Access to equipment. Access to instruction. Access to professionals. Access to cybersecurity and emerging technology. Access to opportunity, and to the confidence that comes from understanding how technology actually works.
That intergenerational idea is still at the heart of IgCE, and it grew into something larger. Today the organization runs CyberSecure Teens, Senior Saturdays, Workforce Development, and the online IgCE Academy, and its professional team provides technology services to organizations. Different doors, one belief: access to technology should lead to confidence, skills, opportunity, and independence.
We empower teens with cybersecurity skills, prepare adults for the workforce, and equip seniors with digital confidence. Then we point all of that outward, defending the small organizations our neighborhoods depend on.
Not merely to impart technical ability, but to give our community the tools and knowledge to thrive, and defend itself, in an increasingly digital world.
Talent exists in every community. Opportunity does not. IgCE works to reduce the distance between people and the technology shaping their future.
Students gaining exposure to cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, networking, software, digital literacy, and technology careers.
CYBERSECURE TEENS →People developing practical technology skills, credentials, career readiness, and pathways into technology and cybersecurity roles.
WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT →Older adults building confidence with digital tools, online safety, communication technology, artificial intelligence, and everyday digital life.
SENIOR SATURDAYS →Nonprofits, businesses, schools, churches, community organizations, and other institutions that need IT, cybersecurity, AI, custom software, automation, or technology training.
HIRE IgCE →Organizations and professionals that can provide mentorship, equipment, career exposure, funding, employment opportunities, industry visits, or other support.
PARTNER WITH IgCE →
Organizations can hire IgCE for professional IT, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, software, automation, and training services while the organization continues expanding access to education, workforce development, and career exposure. That professional work gives IgCE another way to apply its expertise, and it helps generate resources that support the broader educational mission.
Professional staff remain responsible for professional client work. Client engagements are performed and delivered by the IgCE professional team.
Michael Bass founded Intergenerational Computer Education in 2012 out of a conviction that technology education should lead somewhere: to access, to confidence, and to real opportunity. He built IgCE's first programs himself, and he still designs and teaches the labs at the center of CyberSecure Teens, Senior Saturdays, and Workforce Development, working with servers, firewalls, Linux, wireless networks, and the same analysis tools professionals use.
He is a working technology professional as well as an educator. Michael holds a Master of Science in Cybersecurity and has spent a decade in City of Chicago public-safety technology operations, managing technology assets, projects, and vendors across a large public agency. Through cybersecurity consulting he has handled security assessments, network hardening, identity and access management, and incident response for organizations, and he builds AI-driven automation and custom software systems that run in production. He is an ISACA member and has presented at ChiCyberCon and SVP Fast Pitch.
That combination shapes IgCE. The programs are informed by practical experience with the systems, threats, and expectations students will actually meet, and the professional services team applies the same expertise for the organizations that hire IgCE.
IgCE is governed by a Board of Directors responsible for helping protect the organization's mission, strengthen accountability, provide strategic oversight, and support its long-term sustainability.
Board members bring professional experience, community perspective, and leadership that help IgCE grow responsibly while remaining focused on the people and communities it serves.
Jameel works in the accounting sector and is passionate about finance. His background is in home-building companies, where he has handled the financing side of the business. On IgCE's board he brings that financial discipline to the organization's budgeting, reporting, and long-term sustainability.
Takeshia works for the State of Illinois and holds the SHRM credential in human resources. She brings a people-first lens to IgCE's board: she is passionate about helping people, does not like to see anyone taken advantage of, and works to make sure participants, staff, and partners are treated fairly.
Leon is a Senior Security Architect at Dewpoint and an Executive Professor in Eastern Michigan University's School of Information Security & Applied Computing, where he teaches defensive cybersecurity, audit controls, and disaster recovery. His more than 15 years in the field span Deloitte, PwC, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, with a focus on application security architecture, risk management, and compliance frameworks including NIST 800-53, HIPAA, and PCI DSS.
Timothy E. Bates, known as "The Godfather of Tech," is a professor and author whose books include The No-Nonsense, Deep Dive into LLM Prompt Engineering for People Who Don't Know Sh*t About It. He joined IgCE's board because he believes in the nonprofit's mission and offered to help in any way he can, and he and Michael Bass collaborate on other projects as well.
Donations, grants, and sponsorships remain essential to IgCE's work. Alongside them, IgCE is intentionally building earned revenue, so the organization is not dependent on any single source of support and can plan programs that last.
Professional technology services let organizations purchase expertise they already need while helping strengthen IgCE's educational mission. Earned revenue does not replace philanthropy. Diversified support is what makes sustainable programs possible.
Put your technology investment to work twice.
Organizations that hire IgCE receive professional technology expertise from a team that manages, secures, builds, and trains for a living. Because they chose IgCE, the same engagement also helps create opportunities for Chicago youth and adults.
Financial support goes to the concrete things access is made of. Every item below is something IgCE has to provide before a participant can learn by doing.
Technology companies, corporations, schools, foundations, professional associations, employers, community organizations, workforce organizations, and public-sector organizations all have something IgCE participants need: expertise, equipment, exposure, or opportunity.
Partnerships are shaped around what each organization can offer. Start the conversation and we will find the fit.
IgCE stands for Intergenerational Computer Education.
Intergenerational Computer Education is a Chicago-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit focused on hands-on technology education, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, digital literacy, workforce development, and access to emerging technology.
Chicago, Illinois. Programs are held at BBF, 1512 S. Pulaski Rd, Chicago, IL 60623, and the IgCE Academy is online.
Yes. Intergenerational Computer Education is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, EIN 80-0823132. Donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.
Michael Bass founded Intergenerational Computer Education in 2012.
Michael Bass serves as Founder & Executive Director.
IgCE is governed by its Board of Directors.
IgCE serves youth, adults, seniors, workforce participants, community members, and organizations.
IgCE's primary programs are CyberSecure Teens, Senior Saturdays, Workforce Development, and the IgCE Academy.
Depending on the program, IgCE teaches cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, Linux, networking, digital literacy, hardware, software, online safety, and emerging technologies.
Yes. Organizations can hire IgCE for Managed IT, cybersecurity, AI enablement and implementation, custom software and automation, and professional technology training.
Professional services let IgCE apply its technical expertise in real organizational environments while creating an earned-revenue stream that helps strengthen its broader educational and workforce mission.
Individuals and organizations can donate, sponsor programs, provide equipment, mentor participants, create career exposure, provide employment opportunities, partner with IgCE, or hire IgCE for professional services.
Organizations can partner on programs, support workforce pathways, host industry experiences, provide mentors, sponsor cohorts, or request a technology assessment to engage IgCE for professional services.
Email info@iceprogram.org or use the contact page.
Real student stories are on the homepage, and every cohort since 2024 is in the cohort archive with photos from classes and certificate days.
Whether you want to learn, hire IgCE, support a program, mentor emerging talent, create career opportunities, or invest in Chicago's technology future, there is a place for you in the mission.