Give Big Pittsburgh – Building Bridges for Business
https://www.givebigpittsburgh.com/organizations/building-bridges-for-business Thanks to you 19,427 students across the region received UcanB career education and FREE online career portfolios last year. On behalf of them, thank you for supporting career education for our youth. This year-end, we are fortunate to have a donor who will match 100% of the donations received in our online campaign. I recently helped a young lady named Diamond, find a job right out of high school We hosted a job fair after providing career education and soft skills courses at her school for the entire school year. Diamond knew that college wasn’t the next step and was able to get a good paying job close to her home. Without your help, Diamond and many other children may not have the resources to find career help. Today, she is working and planning her next career move. The stories range from very challenged communities to well-supported communities. As we all know, the more great advice and support, students and families receive the better their future will be. Every day, your support makes stories like Diamond’s possible. Today, we’re launching our 2018 Year-End Campaign. Our goal is to help an additional 5,000 students get additional career education, hands-on activities, online career portfolios, and interactive discussions and even lunch with industry experts. You see, even though we helped over 19,000 students last year there are still thousands of students that we couldn’t help because we don’t have the resources to do so. Thank you for your support. ...
Building Bridges Year in Review
#UcanB continues to serve as the organization’s flagship program. Over 100 local businesses, non-profits, schools and government agencies participated in this year’s #UcanB Program. Our partners at US Probation & Pretrial Services continued to speak with our students about Careers in Criminal Justice; and this year the US Probation team expanded its scope of service to include presentations on Internet Safety, Keeping a Clean Criminal Record and more. The staff at UPMC deployed speakers into our classrooms: a nurse visited students to discuss the Realities of Direct Care, and a member of the executive team gave a Corporate Overview of a Large Health System. Students and staff from schools such as Penn State University, The University of Pittsburgh, Bidwell Training Center, Point Park University and New Century Careers all spoke with and met with #UcanB students to share information on higher education options. Western Pa’s Trade Unions and Apprenticeship Programs all got involved this year as representatives from the electrician’s, carpenter’s, sheet metal worker’s, laborer’s, heavy equipment operators’, iron worker’s and painter’s unions all visited #UcanB students! Local school district’s embraced the #UcanB Program like never before. PA Department of Education’s passing of the Career Education & Work Readiness (CEW) Standards required schools to provide intensive career services. Many of the school systems had never provided career courses. #UcanB’s existing school partners helped fine-tune services provided specifically to 8th and 11th grade students as these are targeted age groups for the CEW standards. Hopewell, Shaler and Pittsburgh Public Schools put together schedules for ALL 8th grade students to participate in #UcanB’s Career Portfolio and Career Assessment classes. Sto-Rox High School, Carlynton High School and Clayton Academy partnered with #UcanB to organize Hiring Events and Career Fairs to meet the employment needs of upperclassmen in the high schools. Springdale High School partnered with #UcanB to create a Lunch ‘n’ Learn series for 11th grade students. #UcanB greatly increased the number of service hours provided to many of its existing school districts, but still managed to forge new partnerships with schools in the Chartiers Valley, Springdale and Pittsburgh Public School districts. In addition, #UcanB has initiated plans to expand into the following areas this coming school year: Pittsburgh’s Hill District, East Liberty, Northgate, Pittsburgh’s Allderdice High School, CAPA and Avalon High School. Workforce Development Program Summary While #UcanB met the needs of dozens of school districts and thousands of local students, Building Bridges’ Workforce Development Team continued to provide employment and training opportunities to the community at-large. The Workforce Team expanded its efforts with State Representative Dan Deasy to provide job placement to residents of Pittsburgh’s West End communities. Workforce Development also continued its partnership with US Probation & Pretrial Services of Western PA to help serve the needs of men and women returning home from prison to Pittsburgh neighborhoods. The year concluded for Building Bridges for Business’ Workforce Development Program with two days of pre-release employment seminars at the Bureau of Prisons location in Morgantown, WV. The Pittsburgh Business Community supported workforce development activities in a similar fashion to the support it provided to #UcanB. Businesses and organizations, large and small, joined Building Bridges for Career and Hiring Events in Beechview, West End, West View and Northside. I.B.E.W. Local 5, The Builders Guild of Western PA, Allegheny County Sheriffs, Pittsburgh Police, FedEx and IBEX Global were among the employers who interviewed candidates at bi-weekly meetings hosted by Rep. Deasy. Fifty local non-profits joined US Probation and Building Bridges at this year’s Community Resource Fair hosted by the US District Court of Western PA. Vocational Schools such as Brightwood Career Institute, Career Training Academy and Bidwell Training Center opened their doors for tours and open houses. Small neighborhood employers such as 5 Generation Bakers, Cellone’s Bakery, ACE Wire Spring & Form Co., Neena’s Daycare and Bosetti Landscaping sent job vacancies to Building Bridges for Business to be shared with neighborhood residents. Workforce Development, like #UcanB, was selective in its use of time and resources. It was important for Workforce Development to continue its work with State Representative Dan Deasy and with the US Probation Office as both of these entities are also great supporters of the #UcanB Career Education Program. The Workforce Development Team also believed in the importance of its partnership with the Bureau of Prisons because of the ongoing, unfortunate relationships between adults serving time and the youth who participate in #UcanB. These three partnerships remained the focus for Building Bridges for Business’ Workforce Development Department. Still, Workforce Development was able to forge new partnerships and organize events with State Representative Adam Ravenstahl and State Senator Wayne Fontana as...
UcanB provides a look inside Hiring Companies
The Pittsburgh Community rallied around the #UcanB Career Education Program. A vast array of organizations and individuals contributed to help educate youth. More than 50 guest speakers from more than 50 local organizations and businesses visited #UcanB classrooms, participated in #UcanB events and hosted #UcanB students for tours. This allowed #UcanB the opportunity to expose students to a multitude of career paths and job opportunities. Students met with a diverse group of businesses representing government, retail, IT, entrepreneurship, military, media, advanced manufacturing and more! Some of the programs at Propel Braddock over the years are described below. Erik Ross of Bitcore and Scott Albert from #UcanB led a STEM seminar at Propel Braddock. Students in the Media and Technology Courses at Propel Braddock participated in the program. This included 10th-12th grade students who are preparing for and learning skills needed to compete in the IT, Media and/or Gaming Industries. Topics for the seminar included Careers in IT, Careers in Media, IT Skills Needed to Succeed, Video Game Design and Entrepreneurship. The #UcanB Program at Propel Braddock ended with one of the year’s most unique presentations. Drew Cady, Sound Engineer for Seismic Island Labs in Seattle, concluded the 5-week IT seminar with a Skype presentation for students. The accomplished sound engineer, whose experiences include sound design for Pirates of the Caribbean and Finding Nemo, shared with students the creativity process he now applies to the video game series Guild Wars 1 & Guild Wars 2. Mr. Cady shared videos of his team creating sound effects out of everyday items such as cardboard boxes, musical instruments, animal calls, and even scrap metal turned to fireballs! Every student in the class had the opportunity to ask specific questions. Mr. Cady was very gracious with the time he spent with each student. In addition to the presentations, every student at Propel Braddock received a FREE online career portal accounts. This most recent UcanB program at Propel Braddock was made possible through the generous support of the Verizon Foundation. Previous to that, the program was made possible through the suport of the Education Foundation. Classes in 2018, focused on careers in entrepreneurship, the entertainment industry, softskills and networking, and careers in criminal justice. Recent speakers included: Aaron Aldrich – Bridgeway Capital Lee Davis – Presidental Award Winner, Braddock Native, and Entrepreneur Julius Boatwright – Julius Boatwright, MSW, LSW – Person-Centered Community Servant – Will Allen Foundation Jessica Albert – US Probation – Careers in Criminal...
