Thank you to all who joined us at this year’s Breakfast of Champions. As some of you know, this was my second Breakfast, but my first with a view from the front. Once again, I was inspired by the enthusiasm and support of so many in the JobTrain community, both old friends and new. The students were inspired by our fantastic speakers, whose stories made it clear that with commitment, dreams could come true. I’ve learned over the past year that JobTrain was founded by an innovator who knew that in order to “move mountains,” change would have to be a constant. Nearly fifty years ago, the Rev. Leon H. Sullivan made it clear that we would have to continually innovate and respond to changes in our community if we were to succeed in our mission. Among his many innovations, he began community-based social enterprises to employ the young people of his community who found it difficult to get the job experience they needed. Rev. Sullivan believed that “whatever could be conceived could be achieved,” but he also knew that strong dedication to key principles, input from key stakeholders and a clear plan were necessary to success.
As we begin planning for our 50th Anniversary, we are looking forward to building on JobTrain’s history of innovation to chart the path forward. After talking with our clients and graduates, donors, volunteers, employer partners and people throughout the community and with the support of Tipping Point Community and volunteers from the Boston Consulting Group, JobTrain has developed a strong strategic plan. We will stay true to our mission to help those most in need succeed by making sure we use every opportunity, partnership and business model at our disposal. We will publish our report in late summer on our website.
Thank you to all those who provided their input and especially to Tipping Point Community and the team from the Boston Consulting Group, who immersed themselves not only in information about workforce trends, needs and data, but also in the community and the people of our organization. We now have wonderful feedback from our stakeholders and detailed data that characterizes what is unique about JobTrain, and how we can continue to build for even greater impact.
I look forward to your participation as we continue our journey. Please stay tuned and stay in touch!
Sending you our very best wishes,
Nora Sobolov
Executive Director