On a warm Moroccan night in May 2015, Khalid Bachir looked at his computer screen and screamed for joy. It was midnight. His mother, father and twin brother awoke, startled, in the house they shared. Bachir stared disbelievingly at his
Mayor Martin Walsh announced on December 30th that the city’s Tuition-Free Community College Plan will be expanded to include eligible students who plan to attend MassBay Community College. The plan had been previously limited to those students attending Bunker Hill Community College and
Caroline Sande stood in front of the graduates of the Bridge to Culinary program at their December 9th ceremony in Roxbury as a prime example of someone who made the most of the opportunity she’d been given. Just six months
When you’re at a disadvantage in the workforce, it can be easy to give up hope for anything better. At the start of the most recent cycle of the “ESL for Customer Service” training program at Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center,
The Mayor’s Office of Workforce Development (OWD) has long dispensed workforce funds to various community-based organizations – 80 in the last fiscal year. But how can that regular contact be optimized to benefit Boston’s wider workforce development ecosystem? The OWD is addressing that question
Returning to civilian life after six years in the army, Edward Morgan, 27, found himself adrift in his native Dorchester. “I did random jobs. I was a driver, a chef. They didn’t last too long. I found myself getting in
In October of last year, Mayor Martin Walsh announced the creation of the Greater Boston American Apprenticeship Initiative (GBAAI) – a comprehensive apprenticeship program designed to prepare residents for careers in the fast-growing hospitality and construction industries. “We want to provide a pipeline to better-paying jobs with benefits,”
The pilot version of Boston Saves, the city’s new children’s savings account (CSA) program, rolled out eye-level with its beneficiary audience – kindergarteners – in early November to teach them about saving money. At Roosevelt K-8 School in Hyde Park, Miss Money and the Coins
Mayor Martin J. Walsh this week announced the city’s plans to expand the Tuition-Free Community College Plan, which pays for community college tuition and mandatory fees for income-eligible Boston Public School graduates. Though the plan was initially designed to pay for students who attended
When the Mayor’s Office of Workforce Development (OWD) released a labor market study last March, the findings showed how much work was needed to address the city’s economic disparities: The average Boston resident, the report found, makes just over $35,000 a year, an income that barely covers expenses for many