NYCETC’s Member Spotlight series – which introduces our readers to the wide variety of workforce programs and services that our members offer across the five boroughs – is shifting to highlight the ways in which organizations have shifted their services to best support their clients and communities during the COVID pandemic and within the post-COVID economy. This week we focus on StreetWise Partners.

A high national unemployment rate translates into fierce competition for jobs. This is especially true for adults living in low-income communities where COVID-19 has hit the hardest and access to job opportunities has been historically limited. As we eye economic recovery and work readiness for underserved communities, it is critical to focus on a solution that is effective and beneficial to many: mentorship.

In today’s environment, the value derived from mentoring is more important than ever. As overlooked adults compete for jobs, they need a strong foundation of essential soft skills to successfully interview, engage and succeed on the job. Mentoring provides customized, one-to-one attention and reinforces positive skill building, while providing a safe space to make mistakes that allow mentees to learn and grow. Mentors help problem solve, provide valuable industry knowledge and assist with confidence building. In fact, employees who received mentoring were promoted five times more often than people who didn’t have mentors.

Social capital has never been more important, especially for New Yorkers who inherit unequal networks. Some estimates suggest that up to 70% of all jobs are not published on publicly available job search sites. Research has long shown that up to 80% of jobs are filled through networking, with LinkedIn reporting that more than 70% of professionals get hired at companies where they already have a connection and applicants who are referred to a job by a current employee are 9 times more likely to get hired.

StreetWise Partners is a 23-year-old non-profit mentoring organization that drives social capital building and economic equity through its innovative programming. StreetWise pairs mentors with unemployed and underemployed adults to ensure a quantity, quality and diversity of relationships through their 2,000 volunteers. Mentors teach mentees how to identify opportunities, expertly promote themselves, and navigate the job market to achieve their goals. Their structured, curriculum driven program model delivers 13- weeks of “in-person” mentoring and 9 months of follow-up. All programming has transitioned into a virtual setting, and the organization will serve 600 adults this year across NYC, D.C. and Detroit. StreetWise closely collaborates with workforce organizations, service providers and academic institutions, providing much needed career development support to clients. As a result of their programs, 70% of graduates are employed, with full time salaries averaging $60K a year.

As with many organizations who quickly transitioned to a remote environment in response to the pandemic, StreetWise connected with program alumni, current mentees, and volunteers to identify and connect constituents with direct financial aid, food assistance, and mental health resources. Through a needs assessment survey, StreetWise found that 54% of clients reported that they had a reduction in hours or had been laid off due to the coronavirus; 31% reported needing skill development (especially in digital work tools like Zoom); and 15% reported challenges in accessing technology. Clients’ top concerns included reduction in hours/layoff, ability to pay utilities or buy basic needs, mental health issues, and retaining new job or internship offers in the summer.

In response to growing client needs, StreetWise has set up virtual happy hours, webinars, and one-on-one office hours between alumni and volunteers. This includes a robust set of COVID-19 community resources to help clients connect to organizations offering support that StreetWise is unable to provide, such as housing assistance. In order to address clients and alumni’s growing financial needs, StreetWise connected alumni to financial aid, distributing more than $50,000 to 120 alumni through a partnership with the Stand Together Foundation and the Family Independence Initiative. Additional Robin Hood Foundation funding is being used to support 40 alumni in acquiring technology solutions in order to better access programming and advance their job search.

For more information on becoming a mentor or volunteer and sharing your professional expertise or participating as a mentee, visit StreetWise Partners.

Stacks and Joules’ Mission

Student Demos

On Wednesday, May 24th, Stacks+Joules and Henry Street Settlement co-hosted a demo and networking session that provided employers a first-hand way to get to know recent graduates of Stacks+Joules’ building automation and energy management program. NYCETC was honored to have a chance to hear from students first-hand about their work and career interests. In an impressive display, recent graduates showed off their knowledge of wireless LED lighting, heating and HVAC systems.

Stacks+Joules graduates present their work at a recent demo event at Henry Street Settlement.

A laptop with Python coding written by Latyana and teammates that wirelessly controls a panel of six lights.

One graduate, Latyana showed the coding they wrote to control a set of six LED lights to change color and flash to the beat of music. Practical applications for this technology are probably ones you are familiar with — most notably, the colored lights on the Empire State Building.  Also, in energy efficient buildings, you’ve probably noticed similar applications of this technology when energy efficient lights turn on and off automatically dependent on whether there are people in the space. Latyana, a House Manager for the Abrons Art Center, in addition to being a Sheet Metal Worker apprentice for Local 28, heard about the Stacks+Joules program through Henry Street Settlement. The Stacks+Joules program interested Latyana because it built-up a completely new set of skills, but was still related to their background in construction.

Congrats to the graduates and to Stack+Joules and Henry Street Settlement for their continued partnership.  Learn more about getting involved as a student, educator, or professional here. 

Latyana with their signature Stacks+Joules graduation cap.

NYCETC is launching a Member Spotlight series in the NYC Workforce Weekly to introduce our readers to the wide variety of workforce programs and services that our members offer across the five boroughs. We are kicking this off by highlighting new members that have joined the Coalition in the last year. This week we introduce you to Solar One.

Solar One’s mission is to design and deliver innovative education, training, and technical assistance that fosters sustainability and resiliency in diverse urban environments. Through its various core programs that engage and educate diverse stakeholders and communities, the organization empowers learning that changes the way people think about energy, sustainability, and resilience, and new ways of living and working that are more adaptive to a changing world. Now serving over 500 students per year, Solar One’s Green Workforce program celebrated a major milestone in 2019 by surpassing 4,000 total students trained since its inception in 2009.

“I’m inspired on a daily basis by seeing the real-world changes made from our work at Solar One,” said Max Levitzke, Director of the Green Workforce Program. “Our organization is in a very unique position that allows us to strive forward for two important issues: 1. fighting climate change and championing for a more sustainable NYC, and 2. providing job training and employment opportunities in energy efficient fields to underserved communities across the city. Combining these two areas together is leveraging a boots-on-the-ground solution towards employment in areas that can reduce the City’s carbon emissions.”

Solar One’s Green Workforce Program offers hard-skills technical training and industry recognized certifications tied to green building operations and maintenance, energy efficiency, and solar PV. Its courses are delivered in active, hands-on formats at a training lab in Long Island City, Queens. Courses are primarily targeted to entry-level students with little or zero experience in the field, and are often combined together for a four-week training program to provide students with a combination of basic hands-on skills and experience with tools, a background in energy efficiency and sustainability, and specific skill sets to open doors in the construction, buildings or solar PV job sectors.

The two-week long Green Construction program covers carpentry, electrical and plumbing. The two to three-week long Green Building Operations and Maintenance results in students receiving a varied combination of Solar One certificates of completions, GPRO Operations + Maintenance, EPA Lead Renovator, BPI Multifamily Building Operator, OSHA 30 and NYC DOB Site Safety Training certifications. The two to three-week long Solar PV Installer course results in students receiving a varied combination of Solar One certificates of completions, NABCEP PV Associate, OSHA 30 and NYC DOB Site Safety Training certifications.

Solar One’s training model relies on strategic partnerships with other workforce and social service organizations throughout NYC to provide services to a diverse pipeline of individuals interested in working in the renewable energy, sustainability, construction and building sectors. The organization is looking to build new workforce and employer partnerships for any organizations or companies interested in partnering for future training or hiring students from its programs. The organization is looking to build new employer partnerships for any companies interested in hiring students from its programs. Companies and organizations looking to partner can contact Max Levitzke at levitzke@solar1.org or (646) 576-5661.
Learn more about Solar One via a short doc made by BRIC and apply via its website.

Pictured above, MediaMKRS Career Exploration students attended a celebration after the completion of their work readiness training this past year. Through this program, students earn digital credentials that represent their skills, interests, and achievements. Digital credentials have been used in the tourism management, retail, medicine and IT fields, emerged as a tool to convey practical learning not captured by traditional assessments. MediaMKRS Digital Badges are industry-backed and align with nationwide work readiness standards. These credentials have been developed in conjunction with a task force of leading industry professionals and align with National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) key competencies associated with career readiness.

Reel Works is an arts education nonprofit that was founded 20 years ago to serve New York City based youth and young adults who live in underrepresented communities and/or who do not have access to arts education. The organization began in 2001 at the Prospect Park YMCA with approximately 15 students, and has grown to help over 6,500 young professionals find training with industry professionals and jobs in entertainment to date. Reel Works offers free in school and after school programs that pair teens with professional filmmaker-mentors to create original short documentaries, narrative and experimental films. Additionally, Reel Works’ MediaMKRS program offers training and digital badging to prepare talented New Yorkers for careers in media and entertainment. MediaMKRS aims to provide an avenue for both traditional and non-traditional students with production experience and hands-on skills to more effectively demonstrate their skills and abilities to potential employers through digital credentials.

When the pandemic started just over a year ago, Reel Works moved all of their filmmaking classes and work readiness training to be completely remote. In addition, they successfully placed MediaMKRS Career Exploration students in 75 remote internships, and enrolled 158 CUNY students and Reel Works alumni into their Career Exploration program. Their job training programs also went remote, and were able to successfully run two Post Production Coordinator job trainings with WarnerMedia Access for individuals in NY and LA.

One challenge during this pivot was that filmmaking can be highly technical and many students desired experience working on production sets. Many sets that were active at the time scaled back their crews significantly. Furthermore, for sets that would allow students to work as an intern or production assistant, they had to learn and help students navigate Covid-19 protocols.

Students served by Reel Works programs faced technological barriers, like access to equipment. Reel Works was able to provide them with cameras and laptops in order to still partake in filmmaking classes. Students directed films over Zoom and edited remotely.

Throughout all of this, Keisha Katz, Reel Works’ Director of Workforce and External Partnerships, projects an increased shift from traditional education to skills-based credentialed learning, and believes more employers will recognize those skills. Katz concludes, “We’re seeing a lot of interest in our digital badging work readiness curriculum and are hopeful other organizations may collaborate with us to adopt our model.”

Learn more about Reel Works and their workforce programs on their website or connect with them on social @ReelWorks.