Empowering Self-Sufficiency Through AI and Technology

Goodwill and the Dignity of Work: A hybrid-era renewal for a 120-year old model] with Jenny Taylor, Chief Mission Officer and Vice President of Career Services at Goodwill of North Georgia and Nick Espinosa, Branch Chief, US Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Services, Office of Employment and Training, Southeast Region Office

Goodwill was founded in Boston by Reverend Edgar J. Helms, a Methodist minister and early social innovator. Helms created the Goodwill philosophy of “not charity, but a chance” when he collected used household goods and clothing, then trained and hired people who were destitute to mend and repair the used goods. The goods were then sold or given to the people who repaired them. 120 years later, Goodwill remains a household name and leading nonprofit provider of educational and workforce-related services. The Goodwill enterprise is a network of more than 150 community-based, autonomous organizations in the United States and Canada with a presence in 12 other countries. To meet the needs of their local communities, each local Goodwill organization designs and operates its own programs and services to help people find work near where they live.

Most Goodwills did not recover their mission services to the size, scale, and performance after they were forced to shut down or significantly change during and after the pandemic. Collectively, the Goodwill movement went from placing approximately 230,000 Americans into work in 2019 to around 141,000 in 2023 which is almost a 40% decrease. Goodwill Industries of the Southern Rivers (Columbus, Ga), however, served more people than ever before starting during and after the pandemic, and Goodwill of North Georgia (Atlanta), significantly improved the quality of mission services increasing the % of people we placed into employment in living wage jobs from 16% to 87% from pre-pandemic to post-pandemic, while simultaneously recovering the high volume of people employed annually (22,083 last year) to remain the #1 Goodwill 5 years in a row for # placed into employment. To combat some of the issues of the wider movement, to utilize the lessons learned and solutions applied by these two Goodwills in Georgia, and to co-create a solution that fits with the various sizes and different territories around the country, we have convened more than three dozen decision-makers from varied Goodwills. The hybrid-era of using live synchronous video instruction from one agency paired with in-person hands-on, paid, work-based learning, case management and work supports at another in local markets has begun to renew the more than century-old model and when taken to scale, is poised to make a significant impact in moving people out of poverty.

Resources and more about our guests below the video

https://youtu.be/zREutYQtcVI

Readings and Resources:

link to Course Catalog and Goodwill of North Georgia’s Mission Impact Report: https://careerconnector.org

Episode Guests

Jenny Taylor. Jenny Taylor is a sought-after public speaker on the topics of successful large-scale public/private partnerships, employer engagement, career pathways, economic mobility, using data to drive mission impact, and employment outcomes for people with significant barriers. She is Vice President of Career Services and Chief Mission Officer at Goodwill of North Georgia, the largest in the nation for mission job placement outcomes, leading evidence-based programs with outcomes in the top 10% of the industry, as measured by the National Benchmarking Project. Her agency has a $200 million-dollar budget and operates programs that placed 22,113 people in competitive employment last fiscal year in North Georgia. The vast majority (87%) of people placed into employment in competitive, unsubsidized jobs were at or above living wages, according to the MIT living wage calculator for Georgia.

She serves as Chair of the Board of Directors for the Metro Atlanta eXchange (MAX) for Workforce Solutions, leads the technical assistance for the SNAP Employment and Training National Partnerships Grant for USDA-FNS since 2020, and is a member of the National and Georgia Rehabilitation Associations, Chief, and Mensa. She holds a Master of Rehabilitation Counseling from the University of Kentucky, a Certificate in Design Thinking from Harvard University Extension, a Bachelor of Business Administration with Non-Profit focus, and is a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor.  Jenny’s favorite role is being a mom; she lives in Athens, Georgia.

Nick Espinosa

Nick Espinosa has 27 years of experience working within social services and has served in a variety of roles at the state and federal levels, as well as within non-profit organizations. Nick is currently a Branch Chief at USDA-FNS’ Southeast Region office in Atlanta where he works to support Technology, Nutrition & Integrity. Prior to federal service, Nick worked for the State of Washington as a Program Manager for both the TANF and SNAP programs. He also held positions at local and national non-profit organizations focusing on helping low-income individuals to achieve self-sufficiency. Nick is best known for co-developing the first third-party SNAP E&T model in the country and for his work promoting the untapped potential of E&T programs across the nation. Nick received a Bachelor's degree from the University of Washington and an MBA from the University of Liverpool, United Kingdom. Nick will bring an outside perspective from a partner who relies upon Goodwill to serve people.

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