We are ecstatic to announce that we have been named a Community Redzone Sponsor by our friends at the Philadelphia Eagles Organization, in partnership with Philadelphia Insurance Companies! It is an honor to have a new found partnership with our hometown team, especially with the recent opening of our Kensington location.
Three of our young professionals recently got the chance to attend the Eagles vs. Giants game where we were recognized on the field, and set up an information booth for attendees and fans to learn more. This recognition brings more awareness to our mission of placing young professionals in permanent jobs - in Camden, Philadelphia, and beyond.
Timothy, who is one of our first Kensington trainees to successfully complete training and begin an internship, was in attendance and said the experience was everything.
“I’ve never been in the stands for an Eagles win, not to mention, we were working with the Birds for a good cause. Hopeworks made that happen.”
Thank you everyone at the Philadelphia Eagles Organization for your support - let’s continue to make history!
On May 21, in partnership with the Philadelphia Mural Arts and EPAM, Hopeworks hosted our annual Hackathon, which focused on the digital divide.
During the event, volunteers worked on storyboards and captured content to produce an augmented and virtual reality experience.
This includes an online repository for individuals in Camden and Philadelphia to share their experiences of the digital divide and how to solve it.
Not only will these stories exist online, but they will also form a key component of an upcoming pair of murals that will be developed in Philadelphia and Camden.
Visitors to the mural will be able to use their smart devices to see and experience these online stories as part of their experience. The Hackathon event was also covered by KYW News Radio reporter Racquel Williams!
Check out some photos of the experience below!
Graduation season is in full effect! Over the past few weeks we’ve had a ton of Hopeworks alumni graduate from College and we want to take the time to recognize them. We also want to acknowledge the graduates that may not have been highlighted during the pandemic.
Congratulations to Corey Thorpe, Monica Perez-Reyes, Brandon Rodriguez, Daniel David, Kayana Clue, Tianna Coleman, Luisa Lechuga, Marcel Njighe-Tezeh, Rhys Okun, and Ashlee Alexander! You have all worked incredibly hard for this achievement!
With another exciting announcement, last month Youth Healing Team lead Jase Elam (they/them) was presented with a prestigious award from one of the top news stations in our region! Jase was named as one of KYW News Radio’s 2022 Game Changers!
During Black History Month, KYW Newsradio’s Game Changers honored 10 individuals or organizations that have made a significant, positive impact in communities of color in the greater Philadelphia region.
Jase was recognized as a leader in their field by helping youth find their power. They are passionate about making mental health resources accessible to marginalized people and breaking the cycle of poverty. Jase talked about how rewarding it is to watch our young professionals evolve.
“Watching people grow and blossom just from the support of being there and of caring — that’s been an incredible thing for me. And that’s something that I always hold with me.”
Congratulations Jase, keep doing amazing things!
This month, after receiving hundreds of nominations, the team at Nonprofit Pro have selected Hopeworks Board Alumni TJ Lynch as the “Board Member of the Year!”
The award is well deserved. As the article shares:
“TJ Lynch began volunteering with Hopeworks eight years ago when the organization’s annual budget was less than $1 million and it was only able to serve 12 to 20 youths at a time. Thanks to Lynch’s guidance as treasurer and board member, he has helped the nonprofit — which pairs youths with real-world, on-the-job experience — grow substantially. Now, the organization is on track to earn more than $3.6 million and will place more than 100 youths in full-time jobs this fiscal year. Lynch’s thoughtful dedication to Hopeworks is what helped him become NonProfit PRO’s 2021 Board Member of the Year.
Throughout his time with the organization, Lynch has built the foundation for Hopeworks’ growth and led the Hopeworks team through a detailed analysis of its financial processes and procedures. He built the systems the nonprofit needed to succeed, and educated staff members on how to utilize the systems to work with the financials and program.
Not only did Lynch help pave the way for Hopeworks’ significant growth, he built a finance committee and financial and governance processes that will set the stage for Hopeworks’ future. He has ensured that the organization’s financial situation is stable and that its mission and strategic goals are integrated into its financial management, enabling the Hopeworks team to deliver on its promises.”
In August 2021, Hopeworks received a $300,000 grant from the National Basketball Association (NBA) Foundation. Hopeworks was one of 22 organizations—and the only one in the Philadelphia area—chosen to receive funding during the NBA Foundation’s third round of grantmaking.
Hopeworks Executive Director Dan Rhoton said he was “most excited about young people at Hopeworks finding out that the NBA is supporting them. It’s one thing when you know you are working hard and you’re changing your life. But when the NBA, the National Basketball Association, is saying ‘Great job, everyone at Hopeworks . . . I think our young people are taking that in and thinking, ‘I am doing amazing stuff!’”
Dan said Hopeworks will use the money this year and next to set up the infrastructure to support rapid growth. “This is the kind of support we need to move from placing 100 young people in jobs, to 140 young people in jobs this year, to more and more over the next two to three years.” To accomplish that, Hopeworks will expand its career readiness department along with its core businesses—Web Design & Development, GIS Services, and the Youth Healing Team’s trauma-informed trainings. “All of these are essential to young people’s success, and [the expansion] will make us more sustainable, too.”
The $300,000 Hopeworks grant is part of the $6 million that the NBA Foundation has dispersed this year alone, in its third round of grant making. Grants in this round are focused on increasing “employment opportunities, furthering career advancement, and driving greater economic empowerment for Black Youth,” according to the NBA Foundation.
The Foundation arose out of the 2020 social justice movement that emerged in the wake of the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. In August of that year, NBA team owners came together and pledged $300 million over the next 10 years. Its goal: “To drive economic opportunity in the Black community through employment and career development by funding programs that generate successful transitions from school to meaningful employment for Black youth.” More specifically, the Foundation set its sights on programs that foster job readiness and skill development, provide job placement, and assist with career advancement.
And that’s exactly what Hopeworks does. It was chosen because its mission—and record—align perfectly with those goals. “The NBA is really focused on generating wealth for Black communities,” said Dan. “There are a lot of good programs in this area, but when you take someone who is basically unemployed and you place them in a $40,000 a year job—that’s how you get wealth.” Fortunately, the Philadelphia 76ers, who have a training center and corporate offices in Camden, knew about Hopeworks’ track record in this arena. So when the NBA Foundation came scouting organizations, the 76ers introduced the Foundation to Hopeworks.
And that’s when the magic happened.
“Kudos to the NBA,” said Dan. “They have lots of ways they could have done this. They could have given away money for sneakers or basketball classes but they made the commitment to changing the status quo. It’s an honor to be part of that.”
Hopeworks and Linode, a Philadelphia-based cloud-hosting company, were recently recognized with a Philadelphia Business Journal’s 2021 “Faces of Philanthropy award for an innovative partnership that opens up a new pathway for Middle-Skill technology jobs for young people. The annual “Faces of Philanthropy”award recognizes collaborations between for-profit and nonprofit organizations that benefit the greater Philadelphia region, and create positive change in the lives of others.
This Hopeworks-Linode venture, now in the pilot phase, will ultimately provide young people with the opportunity to prepare for careers in cloud computing, using Linux servers. These jobs typically offer a starting salary of $55-$65K. That’s significantly higher than the less than $800 average annual salary youth earn before coming to Hopeworks.
The idea for the venture came from Rick Myers, Vice President of Customer Support and Success at Linode. (Myers is on Hopeworks’ Board of Directors). Myers has a full-scale, sophisticated training program in place for new hires in his department at Linode. One of the modules in that training program forms the basis for this collaboration. Myers worked with Erich Smith, Hopeworks Training Room Manager, to customize the curriculum for Hopeworks youth and adapt it to Hopework's own training model. In its present form, the training requires 25 hours, spread out over five weeks.
Significantly, the key trainers will be two Hopeworks interns: Rhys Basov and Kevin Sanchez. They will be fully supported by the Linode training team. Both underwent the training earlier, and are very excited about the prospect of deepening their own expertise with Linux, even as they help train peers.
Rhys said they became interested in Linux because their uncle is a long-time Linux user. They identify themselves as a “designer” and appreciate the myriad of possibilities that Linux opens to them. They are interested in using it to create Magic Mirrors, and in following the lead of Chinese DIY maker Naomi Wu, and experimenting with creating wearable tech.
Kevin pursued the training because Linux sounded “interesting.” Kevin was always aware of it but never knew anyone who had experience with it. Now that they are much more familiar, they are impressed by how secure the Linux operating system is.
“Since Linux is an open-source software, it allows others to constantly update it so that there are no bugs or back doors,” says Kevin. “Since most of the people who use Linux are already very into the tech world, you can only imagine that by having that much oversight, there are fewer chances for there to be weaknesses, bugs, and security breaches. One of the main reasons Linux is primarily used in servers is for that security.”
By: Sekinah Brodie, Hopeworks Content Creation Specialist
In today’s world there is no denying that social media has completely taken over our phones, our businesses, our entertainment, and in some cases our minds. It’s rare that you see any person within a certain age range without their phone glued to their hand at all times. With this in mind, businesses all over the world have had to pivot and adapt to the ever changing social landscape.
Nonprofit organizations, many of which have had a stigma of being behind the times have also found themselves adapting. By engaging in social media promotion, nonprofits are finding ways to raise awareness, gain donations, and grow their network. Here are 5 easy ways your organization can boost social media engagement.
Being intentional about the content you create and post is what separates the social media giants from the amateurs these days. With a content calendar you have the ability to plan and strategize what you will post, why you are posting it and where you will post it. By having your content created and planned in advance, you can spend time doing other things during the day. You also now have the ability to post more consistently which only helps grow your audience and brings more eyes to your cause.
Depending on the goals of your organization, certain data metrics may be more important than others in your long term plans. Likes, comments, and retweets are often great indicators of awareness, but they may not convert into partnerships, donors, etc.
According to classy.org there are actionable metrics that you can focus on that will likely be more helpful in sustaining your long term engagement strategy. Here’s what you should pay close attention to:
Using hashtags has been defined by some as a now useless engagement tactic, however there are still ways to make them work. This will take a bit of research on your part along with some experimentation.
Check out what other influencers and organizations in your industry are using for their hashtags and begin to incorporate them as you see fit. Also, making sure that the hashtags you use regularly are active is incredibly important. Non relevant hashtags do absolutely nothing to grow the reach of your post so be mindful of that. Lastly, making your hashtags as niche as possible is best for reach. The more people that use the tag, the easier it is for your post to get lost in the crowd. Make sure you stand out as much as you can!
For the most part, the intrigue of nonprofit organizations are the causes they support and their overall missions. People are drawn in by wanting to help change the world in their own little way and they admire those who dedicate their lives to doing so. With this in mind, your social media platform is the best way to capture the attention of your audience with storytelling.
For example, here at Hopeworks we help young people in underserved communities advance their education and build professional careers in tech. Our social media displays the stories of those young people, struggles they’ve overcome, and the way the program has changed their lives and future. This not only engages our current audience, it draws in new supporters, donors, and youth who are eager to make the same changes.
The best part about social media for any business is the ability to put a face to a name for your customers, clients, supporters, donors, etc. This allows you to build with them on a human level in a way that wasn’t as possible in the past. You can easily have conversations with your supporters through your social media channels and have the power to keep the conversation going. It’s important to engage as much as you can on your posts by - following up on messages and comments in a timely manner, replying to tags or mentions, and sharing stories related to the topic of the post.
With all of these methods combined, you will be well on your way to boosting your nonprofit’s social media engagement. Stay as consistent as possible and just watch your presence continue to rise daily, weekly and monthly. Keep track of your vanity and actionable metrics to gauge what is working and what is not working. And as always, have fun communicating with your audience as you never know where that like, comment, or follow will lead!
Penji: An Invaluable Partner in Empowering the Community.
As an organization that focuses on empowering the youth to build strong futures, we’re always ready to team up with community partners who are working to achieve the same goals as we are. Penji is one of these organizations.
A graphic design company that offers unlimited designs for a flat monthly rate, Penji takes pride in offering quality output for its clients. But what they do and stand for goes far beyond that. More than fame and profit, Penji works to create life-changing opportunities not only for its employees but for small businesses and nonprofits.
Speaking of the Penji partnering with nonprofits, that's exactly how we're connected to this graphic design platform. Penji came to our attention because we admire the company's work - not only in delivering their product but also in changing the community.
In fact, they let us have excellent design while at the same time keeping our focus where it belongs, which is our young people. Penji allows us to reliably and repeatedly have an exceptional design when we need it on our terms.
“Easy and effective - those two words really sum up our experience with Penji,” our executive director Dan Rhoton said.
Thanks to Penji’s generosity in offering opportunities, one of our home-grown alumni has also landed a full-time job at the company. Thanks to the alumna’s impressive internship background at Hopeworks, it wasn’t hard for her to get into a reputable graphic design company like Penji.
Thanks to Penji, we don't have to spend hours and resources to create graphic designs that allow us to reach out to the community. Even though we're not a "paying" client, their designers work just as hard for our projects.
Moreover, they make sure that we have what we need right on schedule. Thanks to their designs, we can reach out better to our audience and encourage more young people to follow their dreams.
“It takes a village to raise a child,” so the proverb goes. This is an inspiring concept, but we believe that guiding young people should go beyond childhood. And so, we offer a more comprehensive version - it takes a community to empower the youth.
As responsible citizens, we must help the youth reach their full potential. And it's up to us to pave the path that leads to their bright future so that they can do the same for the generation after them. Carrying out this mission can be tough, but we're happy to know that we're doing it alongside Penji - a company with a heart.
Learn more about Penji's services and products here.
Thanks to our sponsor, Rick Forman, and other donors, Hopeworks was able to award $14,000 on October 24th to 6 entrepreneurs to grow their 5 small businesses! Trainees, interns, and Hopeworks Alumni, who have started their own businesses, pitched to judges and the audience. Top prizes were awarded from both the judges and audience voting. All youth entrepreneurs received cash prizes to invest in their enterprises!
Congratutations to all:
Gabby Lee of Gabby Lee Designs
Aris Miller of Supply CMND
Charlene Newbill of Young Saved and Unashamed Christian Apparel
Kayla Wilson of Metamorphosis Mobile Boutique
Kayla and Kyla Evans of Evans Eatery
Check out their pitches here!
