CareerBridge: Just the Beginning

By Margena Wade-Green

CareerBridge students, supervisors, mentors, family, and Faith Network staff.

CareerBridge has reached an important milestone. We served twenty students this summer, helping each to get an internship. Ten students also signed up to be paired with an adult mentor. All students received stipends through partnering agencies as well as through Faith Network’s Caroline Yee Future Scientist Fund*.

Building upon relationships and making new ones has proven to be one of CareerBridge’s best assets. Over the course of twelve weeks, mentors walked alongside students before and during their internships. They took time to engage mentees in conversation and various self-help and career path development, all the while giving support and advice as students mapped possible career paths. Meanwhile, dedicated employers trained and coached their interns, providing meaningful hands-on job experience.

At the CareerBridge Wrap-up event on August 1, students presented an oral summation of their experience. Many expressed gratitude to CareerBridge and Faith Network. Some students had never thought they could be successful at a “real job”. Other sentiments were “I learned so much” and “It felt good to get a real paycheck with my name on it.”

A big thanks to the mentors, employers, and the supervisors who stepped up in such a stellar way to create entry points for students to discover their potential. We’d like to thank the following companies for providing CareerBridge students with enriching work experiences:

Caltrans
Jeannie Balderamos, Venecia Connally, Darryl Fountain, Joe Haga, Susan Lindsay, Tom Tong Ly, Debra Nelson, Deborah Smith, Demeke Tsige, Deanna Vilcheck

Catholic Charities
Eric Stekel

BART
Jesse Alcantara, Prem Bajaj, Laura Clark, May Cooper, Phillis Pinkston,

Oakland Unified School District

To find out how you or a student can get involved with CareerBridge, contact Margena Wade-Green at margena@faith-network.com.

*To donate to this fund, please indicate the Caroline Yee Future Scientist Fund on your donation.