NYC Council Speaker Corey Johnson
NYC Council Member Chaim Deutche
NYC Council Member Danel Dromm
City Hall Office
New York, NY 10007
June 12, 2019
Dear Speaker Johnson, Council Member Deutche, and Council Member Dromm,
As an organization that champions human potential in building a future-ready workforce in New York City and communities across our country, Upwardly Global calls on the New York City Council to invest $70M in skill-building and bridge-building programs for New Yorkers.
Upwardly Global is proud to be part of an ecosystem of diverse organizations committed to building an equitable, inclusive workforce for all New Yorkers. Since opening our doors in 2000, we have supported more than 6,000 newcomers—immigrants, refugees, and asylees—in rebuilding professional careers across the United States. Nearly 2,000 of these professionals have found jobs with support from our New York City office. Upwardly Global has seen first-hand the power of job-training and coaching programs to transform individual lives and local economies, and enthusiastically supports the Council’s efforts to build bridges for more New Yorkers to access quality, living-wage jobs.
Upwardly Global understands how systemic and structural barriers—ranging from limited access to post-secondary education to linguistic hurdles to blatant discrimination—stymie the contributions of New Yorkers. Before connecting with Upwardly Global, many of our program participants are either unemployed or underemployed in minimum-wage “survival” jobs as they struggle to rebuild their lives in a new country. Our coaching program connects participants with pathways to professional opportunity. Participants work with mentors in their professional fields, practice their interview skills, and access skill-building, including reskilling and upskilling, and networking programs.
Our program metrics speak to the power and potential of programs that champion equity and opportunity in our workforce. Upwardly Global alumni earn an average salary of $55,300 after completing our program. More than half are employed in high-demand health care, finance and STEM fields, a boon to New York’s workforce and economy.
New York City needs workforce development programs that champion the potential of all its residents—foreign-born and US-born alike. We call on you to invest in programs that meet growing skills gaps in healthcare, finance, and STEM and to build reskilling and upskilling opportunities centered around lifelong learning.
Sincerely,
Jina Krause-Vilmar
President & CEO, Upwardly Global