Sheila Clark worked for Union 76 Corporate offices in Los Angeles, in the accounting department as an auditor for seven years. Envisioning owning her own business, she left Union 76. Researching the computer industry, she opened Advance Computer Designs with five hundred dollars to get an office and phone. Advance Computer Designs sold computer hardware, software, local and wide area networks with Vandenberg Air Force Base as a first customer for forty five hundred dollars.
As the owner of Advance Computer Designs a full service Information Technology Consulting and Hardware/Software Company, selling to the state and local federal government Sheila decided after dedicating (20) twenty years of service to the computer industry she would redirect her focus toward establishing a Technology Center for youth.
Sheila Clark is Founder and Executive Director of Computer Empowerment Project Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated and designed to help build computer literacy in adolescents which will enable them to utilize these skills to broaden their educational and vocational horizons.
Founded in March 2000, Computer Empowerment Project, Inc. (CEP) first began donating computers to youth in the Los Angeles area and to local pre-schools in Long Beach. CEP focuses on Literacy and Academic Enrichment supporting the educational development of inner city youth and their families. The program helps students develop essential reading, writing, language arts, math skills, provides mentors, promotes literacy, encourages, and prepares school-age individuals for college admission and degree completion.
As a result of Sheila Clark’s efforts, she has gathered educators and community service providers to make an impact on children in Southern California in preparing them for the future. This center offers young people what they need and want most (1) adults who respect and listen to them (2) a safe environment where they can have fun, learn, and be themselves and (3) interesting and constructive activities that channel youthful energy into challenging pursuits. For a number of years, CEP has been in the forefront of youth development, working with young people from disadvantaged economic, social, and family circumstances.
Computer Empowerment Project is dedicated to ensuring that our community’s disadvantaged youngsters have greater access to quality programs and services that will enhance their lives and shape their futures.
The Computer Empowerment Project seeks to provide students with a multi-cultural, family oriented learning environment designed for students to challenge themselves creatively and critically while developing an understanding of themselves and their responsibilities to society. We believe that all children are capable of learning and that each child, when given the opportunity, will strive to achieve excellence and become a productive member of our
society in the 21st Century. The Computer Empowerment Project seeks to enroll children of all races, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups.
In 2007, witnessing family members and other ex-offenders struggle with the difficult task of obtaining employment after incarceration, it became apparent that there is a lack of understanding in our community. Realizing this void, Advance 2 Community was founded. This organization developed to assist women returning home from detention facilities.
Re-entering society can be a challenge for these individuals when they are not armed with the proper support. This organization was developed for the sole purpose of providing the skills and tools necessary to achieve a balanced life. Understanding that many ex-offenders want a second chance, clients are given job referrals where they are able to apply for employment knowing their criminal background will not be a hindrance.
Sheila accepted the position of Shelter Manager at New Image Emergency Shelter in Los Angeles. In this position, she was over six hundred and seventy two homeless people, Department of Mental Health clients and Case Management. She decided it was time to open Advance 2 Community.
The mission of Advance 2 Community (A2C) is to provide education, employment assistance, health, housing referrals and support services to women who are in disadvantaged positions due to incarceration, poverty, homelessness, HIV/AIDS infection or involvement in the criminal justice system.
“We strive to make a difference in the lives of ex-offenders and their families.”