Apply now
South Los Angeles · 501(c)(3) trade school

The trades are applied STEM. Learn one. Build a career.

Custom Image teaches the science, technology, engineering, and math hidden inside real manufacturing trades — screen printing, embroidery, signs, awards, sandblasting, sublimation — plus generative AI design. Online theory, hands-on lab, taught by working tradespeople. Made here, made in America, made in the neighborhood.

Apply to a program See all seven programs
Programs
7 applied-STEM
Where
90008 · South LA
Status
501(c)(3) public charity
Tuition
Donations tax-deductible
01 The case for support

Bringing American manufacturing home — one neighbor at a time.

The gap we close

South LA has the talent and the demand, but too few on-ramps from life skills to a real, credentialed trade. Custom Image is a community-based school that connects the neighborhood's high schools, manufacturers, workforce boards, and reentry partners — turning learners into makers, and makers into careers.

6
Manufacturing trades taught
100%
Hands-on, work-based learning
90008
+ surrounding zip codes served
1
Shared platform, no silos
Real products, made in America, made in the neighborhood. The school stands in front; the engine that runs it stays behind.
— Custom Image · the idea, made here
02 Six trades + AI

Six trades. Plus AI.

Six are real manufacturing trades with a paying career on the other side; the seventh is generative AI design that feeds them all — taught as the applied STEM they already are. Pick the one that fits the life you want.

03 A STEM learning ecosystem

The learner at the center, surrounded by the ecosystem.

STEM Learning Ecosystems are cross-sector collaborations that connect schools, employers, and community partners into pathways from learning to work. That is exactly what Custom Image is for South LA — which opens the door to the STEM Learning Ecosystems Community of Practice and the funders behind it.

At the center
The South LA learner
life skills → applied-STEM trade → career
Education
Feeder high schools
Crenshaw · Dorsey · View Park · Hawkins
Industry
Manufacturers
Employers reshoring production
Capital
Funders
STEM · workforce · equity
Community
Reentry & CBOs
Second-chance & neighborhood orgs
Government
Workforce boards
WIOA · regional boards
At the center
The South LA learner
life skills → applied-STEM trade → career
Education
Feeder high schools
Crenshaw · Dorsey · View Park · Hawkins
Industry
Manufacturers
Employers reshoring production
Government
Workforce boards
WIOA · regional boards
Community
Reentry & CBOs
Second-chance & neighborhood orgs
Capital
Funders
STEM · workforce · equity
04 How it works · the five pillars

Mapped to the STEM ecosystem framework.

STEM ecosystems are built on five pillars. Custom Image delivers all five — and the platform makes each one visible and reportable for accreditation and funders.

  1. 1
    Partnerships
    Cross-sector by design: feeder high schools, manufacturers, workforce boards, and reentry organizations feeding one enrollment pipeline.
    enrollment pipeline · partner program
  2. 2
    Systems
    One platform connects recruitment, enrollment, instruction, scheduling, and accreditation — no silos between learning and work.
    the whole platform · built with DRGx
  3. 3
    Teaching & learning
    Immersive applied STEM — online theory plus hands-on lab, taught by working tradespeople, across seven programs.
    student app · instructor app · curriculum
  4. 4
    Measurement
    Live outcomes — enrollment, completion, credentials — collected as evidence and aligned to ACS WASC standards.
    reporting · accreditation layer
  5. 5
    Workforce
    The destination: manufacturing careers made in America, closing the opportunity gap in South LA.
    placements · case for support
05 One identity, two funder circles

A manufacturing program and a STEM ecosystem.

Most schools can credibly claim one. Custom Image qualifies for both — and the platform proves the outcomes either funder asks for.

Circle one · workforce

Made-in-America manufacturing

For manufacturing, workforce, and equity funders: a hands-on program that reshores production and builds local economic strength, trade by trade.

Circle two · STEM

Applied-STEM learning ecosystem

For STEM philanthropy — corporate, foundation, and federal — that funds exactly this cross-sector, equity-driven pathway from classroom to career.

Custom Image is both at once. The work is the proof, and the platform is the evidence — so whether a funder cares about jobs or about STEM access, the outcomes are already on record.
06 The credential

Finish the work. Earn something that travels.

  • A real, verifiable certificate. Every completion is recorded and can be checked against the school's verification record — no paper to lose.
  • Portable, stackable skills. Programs stack industry-recognized credentials and safety training onto the trade itself.
  • Accredited. Custom Image is accredited by ACS WASC — the Accrediting Commission for Schools, Western Association of Schools and Colleges — with Initial Accreditation Status through June 30, 2029, and aligns its programs to recognized workforce standards.
CI
Certificate of completion
Your name here
applied-STEM program in
Screen Printing Production
verifiable · CI-2026-0001
Apply

Start where you are. Leave with a trade.

Open to youth, young adults, and neighbors ready to learn. Tell us a little about yourself and which trade you're drawn to — we'll reach out about the next cohort.

  • No experience needed. We start with life skills and build toward a credentialed trade.
  • Online theory + hands-on lab. Learn the science, then make real products on real equipment.
  • Built for the neighborhood. Reentry, second-chance, and young-adult pathways are welcome.
Want to fund or partner instead?

Foundations, manufacturers, and workforce partners: reach the team at hello@customimage.org or call (424) 480-9691.

Ready to apply?
Our enrollment flow takes about a minute — tell us who you are and which trade you're drawn to, and we'll reach out about the next cohort.
Start your application
No experience needed · open to youth, young adults & reentry
ACS
WASC
Accredited
Accreditation

Custom Image is Accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Schools, Western Association of Schools and Colleges (ACS WASC) as a Supplementary Education Center/Program (adult). Initial Accreditation Status through June 30, 2029.

Programs covered: Screen Printing, Embroidery, Sublimation, Signs & Banners, Awards, Sandblasting, and Generative AI Design.

Accrediting Commission for Schools · Western Association of Schools and Colleges · 533 Airport Blvd., Suite 200, Burlingame, CA 94010 · www.acswasc.org