Portland Public Schools formally thanked the Portland Workforce Alliance on Tuesday for its longstanding efforts to provide career-learning experiences to PPS students.
“We’ve had this partnership with the Workforce Alliance since it was small and since we were really unable to do a lot of the experiences that Workforce Alliance has allowed us to do for our students,” Superintendent Carole Smith said. “… “You guys have just grown exponentially in terms of what you make available to our students. That’s just been phenomenal.”
Incoming PWA board president Scott Kleiner of Wieden + Kennedy gave a brief presentation about PWA’s year-round work. Jeanne Yerkovich, PPS’ senior program manager for career pathways, highlighted the PWA board’s essential role.
“Central to the success is the volunteer board of directors,” Yerkovich told the school board. “They bring passion, experience, technical skills and a willingness to make the ask of anyone to support our efforts. And by the way, they all have day jobs, so this is in addition to what they actually do.”
Afterward, Smith and the Portland School Board presented members of PWA’s board of directors with a plaque and some words of appreciation. The district also recognized two other career-focused nonprofits: the ACE Mentor Program of Oregon and Worksystems Inc.
Here are Smith’s full remarks about PWA:
“We’ve had this partnership with the Workforce Alliance since it was small and since we were really unable to do a lot of the experiences that Workforce Alliance has allowed us to do for our students. We’ve been building the capacity to be a partner by adding career coordinators in all of our schools.”
“You guys have just grown exponentially in terms of what you make available to our students. That’s just been phenomenal. So I just want to say really a heartfelt thanks to all of you who spend your time and energy growing these opportunities for our kids. It’s been remarkable.”