Can you share a pivotal moment when you realized that leading your purpose-driven company was making a significant impact? Can you share a specific example or story that deeply resonated with you personally?
A long-standing partner of ours, the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice (NJISJ), used to run a pre-apprenticeship workforce development program aimed at helping Newark residents gain admission to the unions’ apprenticeship programs and ultimately secure union jobs. We invited a graduate of the program to come speak at our Foundation Board meeting. She shared her story, that she had been unemployed and was living off the couches of various relatives, with her kids in and out of school. After being accepted into the program and graduating, however, she obtained steady employment as a steamfitter. Her job enabled her to secure an apartment and ensure her kids were in school. It turned out that one of the jobs she was placed in was the construction of the Prudential Center in Newark.