Oakton, Va., June 30, 2006– At the Training Futures 10th anniversary celebration, Northern Virginia Family Service (NVFS) honored several companies and individuals for their commitment to the Training Futures program, which brings together low-income Northern Virginia adults who yearn for a better life and area businesses that need technology-savvy administrative staff.
“We are grateful to all the companies and individuals who have shown such tremendous support to the Training Futures program over the years. Our friends in the community have made a huge contribution to the success of the program and have helped our graduates on the path to finding better paying, more fulfilling careers,” said NVFS President and CEO Mary Agee.
The awards were given during Training Futures’ 10th Anniversary Celebration, held at the Annandale campus of Northern Virginia Community College (NVCC) on June 27. NVCC President Dr. Robert Templin, Jr. gave the evening keynote address. Additional speakers included Training Futures graduates; Julie Portman, artistic director of the Ki Theatre; and George Lizama, president of L.A. Associates and NVFS Board member.
The following received awards:
• Employer Partner Award, Large Company: Inova Health System. During the past six years, Inova has hired 20 Training Futures graduates in both permanent and long-term temporary positions. In the most recent Springfield cycle, Inova hired the most graduates ever by one employer in a single cycle – nine!
• Employer Partner Award, Small/Medium Company: Oblon, Spivak, McClelland, Maier and Neustadt, P.C. Oblon has hired a total of 54 Training Futures grads, more than double any other employer. Oblon also makes a $1,000 scholarship donation to Training Futures for each graduate that they hire.
• Staffing Agency Partner Award: Express Personnel. Express Personnel has provided long-term and temporary-to-permanent employment opportunities for 21 Training Futures graduates over the past six years. Over the past 20 cycles, Express Personnel averaged two-three placements per cycle.
• Overall Employer Champion Award: Booz Allen Hamilton. Over the past six years, Booz Allen has been the employer anchor for our Tysons Corner site. They secured office space at a significant discount, donated equipment and furniture, made annual scholarship donations of $15,000, contributed more than 20 regular computer lab volunteers, delivered workshops on communications and Myers-Briggs, hosted “field trips” to their office, and provided access to graduates to their online learning system of 500 courses.
• Individual Employer Champion Award: Greg Albright, Production Solutions. Under Greg Albright’s leadership, Production Solutions hired seven graduates, provides numerous in-kind resources and graduation sponsorships. Like Oblon, Spivak, McClelland, Maier and Neustadt, P.C., Production Solutions makes $1,000 scholarship donations for each graduate that they hire, a practice that Albright championed. He served as chair of the advisory council and has been an advisory council member for nine years. He has also been one of Training Futures’ most generous individual donors.
• Funding Partner Award: Fairfax County Consolidated Community Funding Pool. For nine years straight, Training Futures has won competitive funding from Fairfax County, which provides scholarships for dozens of trainees from Fairfax County each year. Over this time, Training Futures has trained around 600 Fairfax County residents, thanks to this consistent and high level of scholarship funding support.
• Individual Donor Partner Award: Ellen Burton and Lisa Pryor. Two individuals stand out for providing outstanding scholarship support. Ellen Burton, who recently passed away, made an extraordinary gift to Training Futures from her husband’s estate. Lisa Pryor, a resident of Florida, has contributed a $4,000 scholarship donation to Training Futures each year for the past four years.
• Graduate Service Award: Grace Yang. Training Futures graduates are the biggest source of new trainee referrals: they speak on panels, forward job openings in their companies and make scholarship donations for future trainees. Grace Yang has done all of this.
• Volunteer Award: Vince Sescoe and Bob Mechler. Training Futures relies on many volunteers help in different ways. Vince Sescoe is a retired state department official and published author who has been a weekly member of Training Futures’ team for nine years. Bob Mechler is a retired human resources manager who has counseled and taught trainees, and more.
This month Training Futures is celebrating its 10th anniversary, and the program also just enrolled its 1,000th trainee. The award-winning Training Futures program has successfully trained a thousand entry-level administrative staff for professional services firms, law firms, governmental agencies, professional associations and small businesses. The program provides its graduates with a comprehensive skill set, including proficiencies in all Microsoft Office Suite software products, keyboarding, customer service, filing, bookkeeping and business communication. Trainees consistently achieve 90% graduation rates, 85-90% employment success and $5,000/year immediate wage gains-outcomes that place this program among the top-performing workforce development programs in the country.