Grace Manning leads a program helping land young professionals work at companies like Subaru.
Grace Manning is director of employer and alumni relations at Hopeworks, a nonprofit organization based in Philadelphia and South New Jersey, offering workforce development programs to young adults.
Through training programs, paid internships, and placement services with local employers, Hopeworks helps young, diverse professionals ages 17 to 26 get their foot in corporate America’s door. As director of employer and alumni relations, Manning helps place Hopeworks’ participants (usually 150 at any given time) land work at companies including Subaru, public utility company American Water, and cloud computing firm Akamai.
“I act as, essentially, like a headhunter for our young professionals in our program, and for our partners, I act as kind of a no-fee staffing agency,” she said of her role. In 2021, Manning also developed the nonprofit’s alumni network, which offers support with career advancement and mentorship, salary negotiation, and even planning for homeownership.
“Part of our goal is…we’re putting them into roles, and they’re getting into positions where they work for great companies that have some of those resources. But even then, we have some alumni who work for some pretty large organizations, it can be hard to figure out how to navigate that,” she said. “So [we’re] acting as a continued mentor, career coach for them, to advocate for themselves, and find those spaces.”
Read the full article here.
This month, our partners showed up in a big way to support our young professionals! Aramark Career Exploration DayOur young adults visited Aramark’s Philadelphia HQ for an exciting day of career discovery. From industry panels to hands-on workshops, they gained real-world insights into IT, innovation, and hospitality—and some were already eyeing job openings before the […]
We’re thrilled to announce that tickets are officially on sale for the Hopeworks 25th Anniversary Reception—a special evening honoring the young adults, partners, and community members who have shaped our journey. September 25, 2025Collingswood Ballroom, Collingswood, NJPurchase Tickets Now » This milestone event will include a cocktail reception, awards dinner, and powerful storytelling from the Hopeworks […]
Building a top-performing RCM team from scratch is no easy task, but it's exactly what Pecola King, Hopeworks’ Director of Revenue Cycle Management, has done again and again. When Pecola relocated to Arkansas, she inherited a team with zero billing experience. Within one quarter, she transformed that team into the top-performing RCM unit - hitting every KPI and setting […]
