Oakton,
Va., June 30, 2006-At
the Training Futures 10th anniversary
celebration, Northern Virginia
Family Service (NVFS) honored
several companies and individuals
for their commitment to the
Training Futures program, which
brings together low-income Northern
Virginia adults who yearn for
a better life and area businesses
that need technology-savvy administrative
staff.
"We
are grateful to all the companies
and individuals who have shown
such tremendous support to the
Training Futures program over
the years. Our friends in the
community have made a huge contribution
to the success of the program
and have helped our graduates
on the path to finding better
paying, more fulfilling careers,"
said NVFS President and CEO
Mary Agee.
The
awards were given during Training
Futures' 10th Anniversary Celebration,
held at the Annandale campus
of Northern Virginia Community
College (NVCC) on June 27. NVCC
President Dr. Robert Templin,
Jr. gave the evening keynote
address. Additional speakers
included Training Futures graduates;
Julie Portman, artistic director
of the Ki Theatre; and George
Lizama, president of L.A. Associates
and NVFS Board member.
The
following received awards:
•
Employer Partner Award, Large
Company: Inova Health System.
During the past six years, Inova
has hired 20 Training Futures
graduates in both permanent
and long-term temporary positions.
In the most recent Springfield
cycle, Inova hired the most
graduates ever by one employer
in a single cycle - nine!
•
Employer Partner Award, Small/Medium
Company: Oblon, Spivak, McClelland,
Maier and Neustadt, P.C. Oblon
has hired a total of 54 Training
Futures grads, more than double
any other employer. Oblon also
makes a $1,000 scholarship donation
to Training Futures for each
graduate that they hire.
•
Staffing Agency Partner Award:
Express Personnel. Express Personnel
has provided long-term and temporary-to-permanent
employment opportunities for
21 Training Futures graduates
over the past six years. Over
the past 20 cycles, Express
Personnel averaged two-three
placements per cycle.
•
Overall
Employer Champion Award: Booz
Allen Hamilton. Over the past
six years, Booz Allen has been
the employer anchor for our
Tysons Corner site. They secured
office space at a significant
discount, donated equipment
and furniture, made annual scholarship
donations of $15,000, contributed
more than 20 regular computer
lab volunteers, delivered workshops
on communications and Myers-Briggs,
hosted "field trips"
to their office, and provided
access to graduates to their
online learning system of 500
courses.
•
Individual
Employer Champion Award: Greg
Albright, Production Solutions.
Under Greg Albright's leadership,
Production Solutions hired seven
graduates, provides numerous
in-kind resources and graduation
sponsorships. Like Oblon, Spivak,
McClelland, Maier and Neustadt,
P.C., Production Solutions makes
$1,000 scholarship donations
for each graduate that they
hire, a practice that Albright
championed. He served as chair
of the advisory council and
has been an advisory council
member for nine years. He has
also been one of Training Futures'
most generous individual donors.
•
Funding
Partner Award: Fairfax County
Consolidated Community Funding
Pool. For nine years straight,
Training Futures has won competitive
funding from Fairfax County,
which provides scholarships
for dozens of trainees from
Fairfax County each year. Over
this time, Training Futures
has trained around 600 Fairfax
County residents, thanks to
this consistent and high level
of scholarship funding support.
•
Individual
Donor Partner Award: Ellen Burton
and Lisa Pryor. Two individuals
stand out for providing outstanding
scholarship support. Ellen Burton,
who recently passed away, made
an extraordinary gift to Training
Futures from her husband's estate.
Lisa Pryor, a resident of Florida,
has contributed a $4,000 scholarship
donation to Training Futures
each year for the past four
years.
•
Graduate
Service Award: Grace Yang. Training
Futures graduates are the biggest
source of new trainee referrals:
they speak on panels, forward
job openings in their companies
and make scholarship donations
for future trainees. Grace Yang
has done all of this.
•
Volunteer
Award: Vince Sescoe and Bob
Mechler. Training Futures relies
on many volunteers help in different
ways. Vince Sescoe is a retired
state department official and
published author who has been
a weekly member of Training
Futures' team for nine years.
Bob Mechler is a retired human
resources manager who has counseled
and taught trainees, and more.
This
month Training Futures is celebrating
its 10th anniversary, and the
program also just enrolled its
1,000th trainee. The award-winning
Training Futures program has
successfully trained a thousand
entry-level administrative staff
for professional services firms,
law firms, governmental agencies,
professional associations and
small businesses. The program
provides its graduates with
a comprehensive skill set, including
proficiencies in all Microsoft
Office Suite software products,
keyboarding, customer service,
filing, bookkeeping and business
communication. Trainees consistently
achieve 90% graduation rates,
85-90% employment success and
$5,000/year immediate wage gains-outcomes
that place this program among
the top-performing workforce
development programs in the
country.
Established
in 1924, Northern Virginia Family
Service is a private, non-profit
community service resource dedicated
to helping individuals and families
find new paths to self-reliance
and brighter futures. Each year,
NVFS helps more than 24,000
people find affordable housing,
counseling and child care; access
to low-cost medical and dental
services; foster and respite
care, job training; trauma recovery;
and much more. For more information,
visit www.nvfs.org.
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