Daniella Molina is a Lead Program Specialist with the San Diego Workforce Partnership. Here she describes her role, discusses what she likes best about working in workforce development and shares one of her proudest professional moments.
Tell us about your role at SDWP.
My role as Lead Program Specialist is to provide contract oversight, budget preparation and project management as well as support workforce development programs that empower job seekers to meet the current and future workforce needs of employers in San Diego County.
What do you like best about working in workforce development?
What I like best about working in workforce development is being a part of the creation, design and management of workforce programs that empower job seekers to succeed. In the end it is rewarding to see the impact that SDWP’s programs have on not just the individuals going through our programs, but families as a whole.
What professional moment or project are you most proud of?
I have really enjoyed leading the Platform to Employment (P2E) program, which is a regional collaboration between The Workplace and SDWP. P2E was developed as a strategy to respond to the social challenges, emotional needs and skill deficiencies of the long-term unemployed and to provide a means to effectively get them back to work. P2E participants receive career coaching and guidance, resume-writing assistance, and undergo mock interviews to address their professional needs. They also have access to behavioral health services and financial counseling to help address some of the personal needs that result from long-term unemployment.
The first cohort of the P2E program graduated in February and I had the honor of attending the ceremony. It was amazing to see how a group of strangers can bond and support each other over the course of just five weeks. As their training came to an end, it was nice to see how many stated that, although at one point it seemed like the end, the P2E program has demonstrated that it is not the end, but just the beginning. I am glad that I was part of their accomplishment.