Profile

Samvathna Em, who goes by Sam, was attending San Diego College of Continuing Education when he heard about the San Diego Gateway to College and Career program. This program supports immigrants, refugees and English language learners in self-sufficiency and personal empowerment. We asked Sam about his goals, experience with the program and dream job.

Dr. Danene Brown is the regional consortium chair for the San Diego and Imperial Counties community colleges, representing the career education programs at the 10 regional community colleges. Here, she tells us why workforce development is pivotal to maintaining local and regional economic growth and stability.

The Cyber Center of Excellence makes it their mission to enhance cybersecurity resilience through timely sharing of information and analysis, and specialized training with safe environments to simulate and defend against cyberattacks. Read on to learn how CyberHire, one of our very own programs, helps create workforce pathways to support cybersecurity efforts in San Diego.

For over 100 years, the Neighborhood House Association has supported San Diego communities. Read on to learn how the Neighborhood House Association is enriching lives through a continuum of education, wellness services and workforce development.

Windy Ortiz had been involved in the justice system and got connected to our Reentry Works program, Prison to Employment. We connected with Windy to hear about her personal experience and what advice she’d give to others who are interested in the program.

Gregory and Richard recently graduated from Construction Career Jumpstart as pre-apprentices and were invited to join the Electrical Training Institute as apprentices; a process that typically takes several years of work , before being considered as apprentices. Here, Electrical Training Institute staff, Garrett and Marcus, discuss how Gregory and Richard made the jump in less than one year.

Cynthia and Khea, co-owners of Café X: By Any Beans Necessary connected with Workforce partner, Access Inc., to hire Betsy, a young adult looking for an internship opportunity. Read on to learn how the community partnerships like these are building San Diego’s future leaders.

Meet data analyst Melinda Jackson. Melinda tells us about some of the pros and cons of working remotely, her favorite part of working in workforce development and how she spends her free time.

Andy Berg believes in the power of workforce development to change lives and that everyone deserves the opportunity to move up in their careers. Here, Andy talks about the impact of workforce development in San Diego.

Brisa Johnson spearheaded the creation of the San Diego Black Worker Center. She shares with us the importance of remembering your roots and paying it forward.