**FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE**
August 2018
Contact: Jose Medellin | jmedellin@goodwillnynj.org | (646) 238-9133 mobile
Goodwill® NYNJ Surpasses Digital Career Accelerator Grant Goals with Google
Goodwill NYNJ Provided Digital Skills Training to 6,773 Individuals in First Six Months
New York, NY (Aug. 29, 2018) – Six months after launching Goodwill’s Digital Career AcceleratorSM program with founding partner Google, Goodwill® Industries of Greater New York and Northern New Jersey, Inc. has blown past all training and placement benchmarks. The program is part of a three-year $300,000 Google.org grant to provide technical training and employment services for individuals with disabilities and other barriers to employment. Through this grant, Goodwill NYNJ provided information, assessment and digital training to 6,773 people (225% of the six-month goal set by Google) and placed 803 individuals in jobs using the digital skills they gained.
Digital skills are becoming increasingly important to our personal and professional lives. According to a 2017 report, The Digital Edge, by Burning Glass Technologies and Capital One, nearly 80% of middle-skills jobs require some basic digital skills, but without accessible training programs, technology or even reliable internet access, job-seekers will miss out on these well-paying jobs. Goodwill NYNJ provides five levels of digital skills training depending on each participant’s needs: everything from using keyboards to using Microsoft Suite products and Google Docs products to enable individuals to fully integrate into a virtual workplace.
Goodwill NYNJ is working together with partners with expertise in the technology training sector to advance people’s skills to connect them to the power of work. Coalition for Queens, Per Scholas, NPower, York College, and the NYC Tech Talent Pipeline provide the tools and wrap-around services that make adults successful as they transition to middle-skills jobs. Training with these partners prepares workers for jobs in IT help desk support, programming, internet and interactive media, cybersecurity, telecommunications and other technology-infused areas.
Watch a video of some of the individuals who received basic digital literacy training this semester.
Jukay Hsu, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Coalition for Queens (C4Q), says, “By working with Goodwill NYNJ, we are able to provide invaluable resources for our C4Q community in their pursuit to transform their lives through technology. The range of wraparound services—from providing Metro-cards to interview clothing vouchers to financial resources for food and basic living needs—helps remove barriers and ensures that our students are fully equipped to become the tech leaders of tomorrow.”
“We’re thrilled Goodwill NYNJ has exceeded its six-month goals and trained thousands in digital skills,” says Carley Graham Garcia, Google Inc.’s Head of External Affairs for New York. “Moving forward, we are excited to continue working with Goodwill NYNJ so more beneficiaries can have the digital skills trainings we provided so far.”
Katy Gaul-Stigge, President and CEO of Goodwill NYNJ says: “We are delighted to partner with Google, C4Q and others to provide job-seekers the training and employment tools they need to succeed in the 21st century economy. Being tech-literate is crucial for any person to succeed in the world today. Goodwill NYNJ is a leading workforce development social enterprise with 103 years of experience helping individuals with disabilities and other barriers to employment to reach their highest potential.”
In 2017, Goodwill NYNJ served over 45,000 individuals with developmental and physical disabilities, persons with mental health challenges, and public assistance applicants and recipients. During the same period, the nonprofit placed over 3,400 individuals in jobs, including 1,397 people with disabilities.
In addition to providing digital skills training through the Google.org grant, Goodwill NYNJ human services programs include an integrated health and wellness center to provide primary health care for adults with behavioral health issues, unlimited job coaching and full-time and temporary job placements for individuals with disabilities; and clubhouses and other supportive programs for people with psychiatric disabilities.
About Coalition for Queens (C4Q)
C4Q creates transformation by training adults with the most need and potential to become the next leaders in tech. It builds job-ready computer programmers with in-demand coding skills and industry smarts. Its graduates go from making $18,000 to over $85,000 on average and are hired by leading companies such as Pinterest, Kickstarter, LinkedIn, Jet and JPMorgan Chase.
About Google, Inc.
Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. Through products and platforms like Search, Maps, Gmail, Android, Google Play, Chrome and YouTube, Google plays a meaningful role in the daily lives of billions of people and has become one of the most widely-known companies in the world. Google is a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc.
About Goodwill NYNJ
Goodwill Industries of Greater New York and Northern New Jersey, Inc. (Goodwill NYNJ) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization which operates 38 retail stores throughout the region powered by donations of clothing and household items. Goodwill translates those donations into workforce development services for people with disabilities and the unemployed. For over 103 years, the agency’s mission has been to empower individuals with disabilities and other barriers to employment to gain independence through the power of work. Annually, Goodwill NYNJ provides services to thousands of New York City Metropolitan Area residents – in workforce development, services for individuals with disabilities and retail training leading to employment to build better lives for participants and their families. Learn more about Goodwill NYNJ at http://www.goodwillnynj.org; follow us on Twitter: @GoodwillNYNJ; and find us on Facebook or Instagram: GoodwillNYNJ.
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