TRI-CITIES, WA – What started as a partnership between two Washington-based organizations, has become something bigger.
WholeStory is a Tri-Cities-based social technology platform that provides insights into diverse life experiences to power better hiring. The platform empowers job seekers to share pivotal life experiences that highlight their soft skills.
Career Path Services is a non-profit workforce development and human services organization that aims to break the spirit of poverty through the dignity of work. It empowers all people, enhances an equitable workforce and enriches diverse communities where the team serves.
In February of 2021, the two organizations became Team Dignified Work as they were selected to be one out of 118 applicants from around the world and competed in the semi-finalists throughout 2021.
In the semi-final round, they trained and placed job seekers with growing construction companies in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia.
Just last month, the team found out they made it to the final round. During the finals, which run throughout 2022, the team will partner with under-resourced jobseekers across the Pacific Northwest. More specifically, throughout the Tri-Cities, Spokane, Seattle and Portland. The goal is to give job seekers the essential skills for jobs in different workforces. For this round, they’re focusing on construction, medical administration, or human and social services.
John Roach, CEO of WholeStory says, “When you’re an adult and you’re moving into a new career path. It can be really challenging. Our solution is designed to help those job seekers see that they have a lot of strengths. The resilience, the adaptability, the mindset that they need in order to make that change. and then support them as they do it.”
The competition aims to change the way job seekers train for the workforce. Something WholeStory and Career Path Services has had their sight set on since the beginning.
Andy Dwonch, COO for Career Path Services says their goal is to build something that outlives the competition.
“Whether we win or don’t quite rise to that level, as long as we see a meaningful way that we can partner with the current workforce system with this model. I believe that we’ll continue to offer it and try to expand it beyond the Pacific Northwest ideally,” says Andy Dwonch, “But also see it as a way that we can hopefully branch out into other occupational groups and industries as well. So we think about it as an initial platform to build on, win or lose.”
Together, Andy and John Roach, CEO of WholeStory focus on employment offering living wages. Alongside benefits and long-term career paths for people that have previously struggled to establish themselves in the workforce.
