Two more Hopeworks alumni -- Pabel Arizaga and Chris Newbill -- are continuing their professional journey with full time positions at American Water, right here in Camden!
After serving time in the military, Pabel returned home and tried finding employment that fit him, but the jobs did not work out. Ready for a change, Pabel heard about Hopeworks from his mom and his sister and decided to give it a try. Coming to Hopeworks, Pabel worked hard to complete the training, and became a leader on the GIS team, even earning his drone pilot certification as he worked on projects for American Water, Comcast, and other customers. Now, he is taking those skills to American Water as a full time GIS Technician!
Chris found out about Hopeworks through his mom and sister as well. He came to Hopeworks because he was feeling directionless and did not know what his next step would be. Chris did not have the easiest time when he first joined Hopeworks. He described his first few weeks as frustrating, discouraging, and overwhelming. He even admits to being ready to quit at one point. He decided to stick with it because, as he shared, “I realized somewhere along the way that I could not just keep quitting on things.”
Chris has made the most of his time at Hopeworks. He moved from trainee to an intern in our GIS department, where he demonstrated such a high level of skill that he was offered a full time position at Hopeworks working on our American Water contract. Now, he is using those same skills -- at a much higher pay rate -- at American Water, working on their GIS Team.
Congratulations to both Chris and Pabel on their huge growth!
You wouldn’t buy a fleet of Ferraris and skip the driving lessons.But that’s exactly what many companies are doing with AI. They’re investing in powerful new tools—enterprise licenses for ChatGPT, intelligent CRMs, custom copilots—but leaving employees to figure them out on their own. The result? Missed potential, uneven adoption, and a workforce stuck doing work […]
“Our collaboration with Dell Technologies and NVIDIA isn’t just about technology; it’s about genuinely empowering people. Together, we aspire to scale our success and extend opportunities to every underserved community we reach.” -Dan Rhoton, CEO, Hopeworks Learn more by clicking here.
Hopeworks, a Camden-based social enterprise dedicated to empowering young adults, has received a $75,000 matching grant from The Foxwynd Foundation. This significant investment is earmarked to expand the organization’s successful Recode Your Future initiative in Philadelphia and Camden, creating more pathways to financial stability through trauma-informed technical training and job placement. This is the second consecutive grant […]
