Faces of Workforce

As the San Diego Workforce Partnership shifts to a more human-centered program design and our approach to our work adapts to the realities of those we serve, we are also becoming increasingly aware that the term we have used for our participant stories—success stories—does not fully reflect the realities of our program clients.

Dipshika (pronounced DIP-si-ka) is a first-generation Nepali American who immigrated to the United States in 1997. A former opportunity youth, Dipshika had logged many records of traffic, court and criminal cases within a 10-year period.

The Life Sciences Summer Institute (LSSI) nourishes a passion for science and math in San Diego’s next generation of scientists through high school internships at leading life sciences companies. LSSI participant Michelle Fox sat down with San Diego Workforce Partnership Business Program Specialist Penelope Oseguera to talk about her internship at the Su Lab.

Rahmatullah, who speaks Farsi (his native tongue), English, Pashto (spoken in Afghanistan) and Urdu (spoken in Pakistan and India), worked as an interpreter for the U.S. Armed Forces in Afghanistan for nearly three years.

With the help of the TechHire team at the San Diego Workforce Partnership, Michael started in a paid internship at Journeys Map, an application that helps users land their dream job or career by charting career paths and sharing new occupations based on users’ interests. This internship was Michael’s first job in the U.S. that aligns closely with his interest in information assurance, the practice of assuring information and managing risks related to the use, processing, storage, and transmission of information or data and the systems and processes used for those purposes.

Jessie Island is a decorated veteran and a father to a 4-year-old son. Until recently, Jessie was looking for a better paying job and was in dire need of a special driver’s license that would give him the salary and benefits he needs to support his family.

Four years ago, Pamela Olvera visited the South County Career Center and tapped into available funding for training to pursue her passion of cooking. She used the funding for culinary school, and now owns a cafe in Point Loma called the Northside Shack.

Growing up Jesus Jhair Gama describes himself as, “that kid who was called upon whenever there was a technical issue at home.” He enjoyed working with technology and was a self-taught repairman. In his early days of repairs, he immersed himself in information, watching videos and reading as much as possible about the mobile phone industry.

Motivated by a desire to give back to his family, high school student Rolando was looking for work experience and a paycheck to afford things for himself like clothes, shoes and fun experiences for his siblings. In his words, Rolando has done some ‘not so great things’ in the past and wanted to make up for it by giving back to his family members.

“I never thought I would know anyone from Microsoft,” said Desjonae Hixon, who spoke at Opportunity Summit 2018: Initiate alongside Carmen Summers, the Southwest Region Technical Sales Director for Microsoft Public Cloud. The panel brought together youth who shared their personal experiences alongside