Grow your career the ICF way
Employees consider career development opportunities one of the top reasons to grow with—or part with—their company. It’s also what attracts top talent.
According to a survey by Amazon and Workplace Intelligence, 88% of respondents said an abundance of career advancement opportunities a potential employer offers is important when looking for a new job.
That’s why we invest heavily in learning and growth programs for our employees. These opportunities empower individuals to unlock their full learning potential and embark on their unique personal and professional development paths. Whether you’re a recent early talent hire or a senior leader, there’s something for everyone at ICF.
75K
Up to $5K
90%+
A culture of continuous learning
Our mentorship program Mentor Connect reinforces the idea that learning from experience and others is critical to a person’s success. Pearl Kaplan was working in public health technology and communications but wanted to expand into a new role that tapped more into client engagement and project management. While she could have explored her options externally, Pearl wanted to stay at ICF.
“Leaving a familiar team and venturing into the unknown were my main barriers. It was essential for me to continue working at ICF, where I feel my values are represented. So, I joined Mentor Connect to explore my options.” – Pearl Kaplan
Through discussions with her mentor and others about ICF projects, teams, and career paths, Pearl overcame these barriers and is now working in an environmental health sciences project management and communications role, which she credits to the unwavering support of her mentor, manager, and the resources provided by Mentor Connect.
In 2023, 640 mentor-mentee pairs were matched through Mentor Connect and 7,000+ hours were spent mentoring, with 92% of participants reporting an experience they would recommend.
Building exceptional leaders
When you reach a leadership position, there’s no limit to what skills you can pick up to enrich your career journey. We believe in human-centered leadership: When we take care of our team members, they take care of our clients, leaning into creativity, collaboration, and innovation. That’s how we have greater impact.
Interested and current managers can explore our Leaning into Leadership course. It goes beyond presentations and videos as participants are immersed in simulated events to practice new skills. Not only will they experience the impact their decisions have on customer and employee satisfaction, but they’ll also gain insights into behavioral styles and how to adjust their communication approaches.
95% of our emerging leaders said they would recommend our Leaning into Leadership course to a colleague.
Fostering a culture of coaching and feedback
Whether we’re promoting new managers or hiring managers with a lot of management experience, we make time to spotlight the role of a people manager at ICF. We create an inclusive and engaging environment for team members to feel their individual differences, personalities, and communication styles are acknowledged and considered. We foster this and more through Managing Others, a required course for anyone with a direct report.
When ICF Next manager Kevin Mooney participated, he didn’t expect to find content immediately relevant and applicable within his team.
“I was a certified classroom teacher for over a decade before beginning my communications career in the private sector and with ICF. Instructional design is a vital component in determining how effective any training will be—and ICF nailed it with this program! Super engaging, super memorable, and super applicable!” – Kevin Mooney
Developing effective project managers
We take on projects that align with our mission: to build a more prosperous and resilient world for all. Managing these types of projects comes with significant responsibilities as project managers navigate complexities, mitigate risks, and optimize resources to ensure the timely delivery of high-quality solutions while cultivating enduring client relationships. So, we nurture them through training courses like Perfecting Project Management at ICF.
“The way this program is designed helps us really learn and understand how project management can be incorporated into our work. And how it can even direct our thinking about where we are and where we want to focus our growth.” – project manager Bindu Kuruganti
Building and activating skills
Management is just one way to grow. There are endless others. And because you can never have enough skills to pick up in our rapidly evolving world, we offer our Skills Lab. Through monthly skill-building sessions, these short and sweet opportunities aim to improve or provide insight into skills like delivering feedback, maximizing teams’ strengths, or engaging with a hybrid team. It's also an opportunity to engage with peers across the company, which is what employees like grants manager Shenetia Magee-Henderson enjoyed most about these sessions.
"Sometimes we can become siloed, interacting with our division only. And we forget ICF is a kaleidoscope of different sections, divisions, and people. It is so refreshing to have an opportunity to interact with others outside of those we normally deal with daily.” – Shenetia Magee-Henderson
Are you interested in starting your learning journey with us? View and apply to our open roles.
