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.
One of the roles of the marketing & communications team is to speak on the phone or in person with clients to learn about their experiences. We have come to realize that the term “success story” was more about demonstrating the success of our programs (whether it be training or job placement or another metric by which our programs are measured) and may not align with how individuals define their own success. On more than one occasion we have heard from participants that they did not feel as though their current situation was what they would call a “success” just yet.
Out of respect for the people who experience our programs and services, we want to acknowledge their realities as much as possible in the stories we share. Their experiences we share may include past and current struggles as well as past and current achievements and future aspirations.
After much consideration, we think the term “faces of workforce” allows for a much broader range of experiences. Under this heading, we plan to share stories of program participants as well as funded partner staff members and community leaders.
You can find all of our current Faces of Workforce stories here.