Mar 25, 2020
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SA Works
On Monday I attended the SA Works informational meeting at the San Antonio Area Foundation. I learned all about a new program initiated by the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce called SA Works. This new program is modeled after the Private Industry Council in Boston which is a nonprofit organization that emphasizes fostering the skills needed in the pathway from school to career.
SA Works similarly aims to impact students from 7th grade up to college level by connecting them to internships at businesses around San Antonio. This summer SA Works already provided internships to 30 students at businesses and nonprofits around San Antonio! In addition, SA Works wants to include teachers in their endeavors. They will do so by creating opportunities for externships for teachers in order to keep them up to date on necessary workforce skills and how they can better format their curriculum to meet that reality.
SA Works shares a similar goal with Excel Beyond the Bell in that it seeks to be a collaborative organization. The current vision of collaboration between SA Works and nonprofits is to align current programs to the needs of businesses. SA Works wants to continue a relationship with these organizations, in part, to make sure that any programs that may already be in place are not duplicated. This way, SA Works will make the most of established programs around town and will build a network with one common goal: to educate and encourage youth in order to prepare them for the ever-changing competitive workforce. The speakers also discussed an interest in bringing in business people and non-profit members to talk about the journey to their current career path. In addition, non-profits will be able to promote openings in their organizations. In response, SA Works will work to connect qualified students to fill those positions.
SA Works’ goal is to be available to and working in all schools around San Antonio but they are currently starting with schools offering career and technical education (CTE) courses as those schools are already formatted to easily facilitate their goals. At our last EBBSA coffee hangout, partner organizations discussed their interest in working more closely with schools. If a partnership with SA Works is created, this could definitely become a reality. The future looks bright for collaboration in youth development!