Hopeworks Camden

Hopeworks is a social enterprise that leverages technology and market forces to transform lives and generate wealth for underserved communities; on average, over 99% of youth (aged 17-26) entering Hopeworks are unemployed, making less than $400 annually.  Youth completing the Hopeworks program make, on average, over $40,000 annually, with an almost 90% 12-month retention rate in their jobs.

Our trauma-informed approach, combined with high-demand, high wage technical training and paid work experience in our revenue-producing businesses help participants not only get the job, but keep it.

Now is the time to scale. The global pandemic has brought tremendous opportunity. With the rise of remote work, a corporate recommitment to racial equity, and growing technology needs in every sector of the economy, now is the time for Hopeworks and the young professionals we serve to seize the moment and dramatically change the economic situation of themselves and their families.

Hopeworks is successfully preparing those entering, re-entering, and who are already in the workforce for the future of work through affordable equitable digital skills, training, and employment opportunities.

Our combination of trauma-informed training, paid work experience in our real technology businesses, and career pipelines don’t just provide the opportunity for success, they build a real pathway, with an almost 90% 12-month retention rate at companies like Slalom, American Water, Linode, Penn Interactive, Benefits Data Trust, and dozens of others.

The global pandemic has brought incredible hardship to communities across the United States and the globe. In many of the communities Hopeworks serves, the unemployment rate at times exceeded 20%.

However, the pandemic has also brought a moment of tremendous opportunity. With the rise of remote work, a corporate recommitment to racial equity, and growing technology needs in every sector of the economy, now is the time for Hopeworks and the young professionals we serve to seize the moment and dramatically change the trajectory of their careers, and the economic situation of themselves and their families.

These factors mean that Hopeworks solution doesn’t have to just work for a small number of young people; now is the time.

Experience and data show that, for communities excluded from tech and opportunity, and communities often facing tremendous poverty, simply providing training is never enough.

That is why Hopeworks starts with training but doesn’t stop there. Participants at Hopeworks learn front-end web development, data visualization, and Geographic Information Systems, high-demand and high impact fields that do not require a college degree. 

However, that isn’t enough. Hopeworks also uses individualized career readiness coaching and our research-based job readiness assessment to build professional, social, and emotional skills so our participants don’t just have the technical skills, but also the social and emotional skills as well.

However, Hopeworks has learned that even the best training requires an additional step - experience and income. That is why Hopeworks employs our young people in 6 month paid interns working in our own revenue-producing businesses. 

To provide this experience, Hopeworks runs real businesses, providing technology solutions for businesses in web design, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and data visualization that not only helps businesses achieve their goals but also trains and employs youth into high demand, high wage careers. In the last 12 months, Hopeworks paid over $600,000 in wages to our participants.

With a focus on significant levels of resource navigation, a trauma-informed approach, and comprehensive support and coaching, Hopeworks makes a significant investment in the success of young people. We specialize in changing the narrative shared by other organizations that deem some young people “unemployable”, ”not ready,” or “too difficult” – youth who have been failed by the educational system and social system, and who are left out of the growing economy.  

Hopeworks, quite deliberately, does not filter or select youth for our program.  If a young person wants to change his or her life, Hopeworks is ready for them. 

Our youth -- once relegated to poverty or low-wage jobs in retail or the service sector -- have proven that they can earn living wage jobs in tech with massive growth potential. Now, with more and more companies recommitting to ideas of equity and diversifying their workforce, is the time to scale our efforts. 

Our unique trauma-informed approach, combined with high-demand, high-wage technical training and paid work experience helps young people not only get the job, but keep it, transforming their lives and the lives of their families. 

On average, over 99% of youth (aged 17-26) entering Hopeworks are unemployed, making less than $500 annually.  Youth completing the Hopeworks program make, on average, over $38,000 annually, with an almost 90% 12-month retention rate in their jobs.  That is the Hopeworks difference, truly ending poverty and generating wealth for communities excluded from prosperity for generations.

This challenge seeks tech-enabled solutions for the 2021 Digital Workforce Challenge that leverage technology and strengthen digital capacity-building to meet the needs of the current and future digital workforce. 

Hopeworks doesn’t have a groundbreaking idea or a clever app. We don’t have a compelling vision that has yet be realized.

We have a proven solution that is ready to scale. 

Hopeworks does not simply rely on philanthropy or grants, but uses market forces to provide real businesses services and generate revenue that pays wages that uses tech to bring our participants out of poverty today.

Hopeworks is poised for growth. In the last 12 months, Hopeworks has placed over 100 youth in full-time, living wage jobs, generating a total of over 3.7 million dollars in additional wages for our participants, with an almost 90% job retention rate.

Our solution works, and we are ready to scale. We have been invited to replicate in multiple cities across the country with partners seeking to work with us in Newark, Los Angeles, New York, Yonkers, and elsewhere.

Hopeworks Board has set the ambitious goal of placing between 350-500 youth per year by 2025, an ambitious goal that has the potential to generate an additional 20 million dollars in wages for our participants each year. 

We have a proven program. We have the results, revenue-producing social enterprises, and employment partners. Now, we just need the investment to scale.

Hopeworks is using tech solutions and market forces to build real opportunities that have the potential to build wealth and equity specifically for Black and brown communities.

Hopeworks isn’t simply doing training, but building and scaling social enterprises that generate significant revenue for our community, employing young people in ways that dramatically increase their income and change their lives.

You can see the impact in Marcel’s story here: https://thephiladelphiacitizen.org/hopeworks-camden/

You can see the impact in Kayondra’s story here: https://www.nj.com/news/2021/05/for-nj-woman-this-remote-work-space-gave-her-the-chance-to-go-from-homelessness-to-hope.html

You can read about the impact of our alumni our industries by reading the work of Hopeworks alumna here: https://www.wqpmag.com/videos/checking-49-breaking-bias-water-industry

These are just some examples of the over $3.7 million of impact Hopeworks had in increase wages just in the last 12 months. We have truly built a solution that is generating wealth and building equity for our communities.

Hopeworks does not simply rely on training. Hopeworks does not simply rely on employment.

Instead, Hopeworks extraordinary results are driven by a unique combination of trauma-informed technology training, career readiness coaching and counseling, and market-driven transitional employment in our technology social enterprises.

Hopeworks works better than other solutions because we don’t just try to help participants enter the tech marketplace. We actively compete in the marketplace, employing our participants to provide solutions to Fortune 1000 companies, competing to win contracts and deliver solutions to clients. 

This means that Hopeworks doesn’t “hope” that our participants are prepared for the rigors of the tech workforce. We know they are ready, because we have seen them do it, providing real solutions to real companies and generating real revenue for Hopeworks while they do it.

Hopeworks unique combination of business value, tremendous social impact, and solutions for hiring diverse and top notch candidates means that we can meet the needs of our participants, the needs of our business clients, and the needs of our employers all while building equity and wealth where it is needed most.

Training plus employment plus market forces plus technology has build a platform that Hopeworks is using to scale and build truly transformative change. Because Hopeworks leverages existing business and market forces, we have the ability to transform the digital equity landscape in a way few other traditional programs can.

Hopeworks is combining existing market-based tools and platforms in a new way that generates dramatic change.

Hopeworks does not depend on a never-before-seen app or an untested technology. Instead, Hopeworks presents a unique combination of trauma-informed technology training methodology, market-driven technology businesses, and existing e-learning and market-based platforms and tools to actually place unemployed youth into high-wage, career-track jobs.

This is not a theory. Hopeworks has proven results and needs investment to scale. On average, over 99% of youth (aged 17-26) entering Hopeworks are unemployed, making less than $400 annually.  Youth completing the Hopeworks program make, on average, over $38,000 annually, with an almost 90% 12-month retention rate in their jobs.  That is the Hopeworks difference.

Hopeworks is combining existing tools in a transformative way, delivering amazing results with a dramatic ROI. Hopeworks combines established learning management systems, industry-standard agile development practices and technology, trauma-informed training and coaching, and market-driven business practices to eliminate poverty. Just in the last 12 months, Hopeworks placed over 100 youth in permanent, career-track jobs and paid over $600,000 in wages to youth working in our businesses.

Hopeworks has chosen not to “re-invent the wheel,” but instead combine existing methodologies and technologies into a transformative, revenue-generating, and life-changing system that has proven results and is ready to scale.

Over 99% of youth (aged 17-26) entering Hopeworks are unemployed, making less than $400 annually.  Youth completing the Hopeworks program make, on average, over $38,000 annually, with an almost 90% 12-month retention rate in their jobs.  That is the Hopeworks difference.

Over the last 12 months, Hopeworks has placed over 100 participants in full-time, permanent, career track jobs, and is on track to place 140 participants in jobs this year. In the last year, we also paid over $600,000 in wages to our participants through our businesses.

Our unique trauma-informed approach, combined with high-demand, high wage technical training and paid work experience helps young people not only get the job, but keep it, transforming their lives and the lives of their families.

Hopeworks is not an untested solution, but rather a proven methodology ready to scale.

Hopeworks has worked hard to leverage and test all of our methodologies and technologies to make sure that we have proven, replicable, and reliable results.

We specialize in changing the narrative shared by other organizations that deem some young people “unemployable”, ”not ready,” or “too difficult” – youth who have been failed by the educational system and social system, and who are left out of the growing economy.  

Our participants count on us to change their lives by training them, employing them, and placing them in life-changing jobs. This is a promise that we take seriously, and one that brooks no risks. If an app fails, a developer can try again. If a family is without income, there are true consequences.

That is why Hopeworks is not developing or testing an unproven technology, but instead combining industry-standard tools, methodologies, and market forces in a new way with proven, dramatic results.

Last year, Hopeworks placed over 100 participants in full time, career track jobs. We are currently on track to place over 140 participants in full time jobs this year. By 2025, Hopeworks Board of Directors has set a goal to place between 350-500 participants in full time jobs per year.

Most importantly, this number is not just "individuals served" or "number of users." At Hopeworks, we find those metrics unhelpful for measuring actual change.

Our numbers represent actual long-term, high retention, living wage placements. In just the last year, Hopeworks helped generate over $3.7 million in increased wages for our community.

To take advantage of this unprecedented moment in time and dramatically increase the number of youth earning permanent, living wage jobs, Hopeworks has set three key growth goals.

These growth goals are critical to reach our goal of a 40% increase in living wage job placements in the next 12 months, and achieving our goal of placing 500 youth in living wage jobs per year with at least 85% retention after 12 months by the year 2025.

While these numbers are small, they will allow us to prove the scalability of our model. Then, we will be able to rapidly replicate in multiple locations nationally and internationally. Our proven model also allows us to serve as a catalyst for changing the conversation nationally and internationally about who can fill high wages jobs. After working with us, we have already had 3 Fortune 1000 employers drop the college requirement for some of their positions. Our participants have demonstrated that they are able to do the work.

This is not an app or a website that will enroll millions of users. This is a proven, scalable methodology that is generating tremendous wealth and opportunity right now in communities never served by apps, innovative web products, and other traditional interventions.

We have already received invitations to replicate our programming with partners in Newark, Los Angeles, New York, Yonkers, Baltimore, and Georgia. With proper investment, we can replicate and grow our revenue-producing and life-changing work in communities that need it the most.

At Hopeworks, we hold ourselves accountable to the promises that we have made to our young people and communities.

Hopeworks mission is to eliminate poverty. To do that, we work to place every single participant into a living wage job at the end of their time with us, and work to make sure that they retain that job for at least 12 months.  We are proud of our success. On average, youth entering Hopeworks make less than $400 per year when they start at Hopeworks, and make, on average, over $38,000 per year when they leave, with an almost 90% 12-month retention rate in those jobs.

That is the promise we make our participants - that their future does not have to look like their past. To make sure we are keeping that promise, Hopeworks tracks our data and performance carefully.

We use a customized version of Salesforce.com to help us track the participants, programs and performance of our organization. It is a valuable tool that helps us quantify our experiences and enhance our ability to help youth help themselves.  It also allows us to give our partners and donors an accurate report of our stewardship of their time, talent and treasure.  

Key Performance Indicators for Hopeworks’ success include:

• Permanent jobs earned

• Permanent job retention (12+ months)

• Starting wage

• Increase in income

• High School credentials earned

Hopeworks currently employs 31 full time staff, 7 traditional part-time staff, and over 51 transitional part-time youth associates.

Hopeworks team reflects the community and people that we serve. In fact, over 30% of Hopeworks permanent full-time staff are alumni of our program!

Lived experience is not all that the team brings, however. Hopeworks also brings a unique blend of trauma-informed youth development and coaching expertise, traditional business leadership, and high-demand tech skills. On our team, we have individuals who have started and sold companies, individuals who have led and worked at startups, award-winning youth development professionals with decades of experience, and young technologists who just a year before were experiencing homelessness and unemployment.

Hopeworks has the team to make our work of hope happen!

Addressing issues of race, sexuality, gender identity, gender presentation, sexual orientation, economic status, physical/cognitive ability, citizenship status, nationality, ethnicity and/or religious affiliation at the organization staff and program levels is not something Hopeworks hopes to do. Addressing these issues effectively is essential to delivering on our mission. To address these issues, Hopeworks works each day to:

• Have clear metrics and expectations for success: Hopeworks has clear metrics for representation on our governance board, staff, and decision-making bodies.

• Track the data, and share our findings:  Using the Racial Equity Readiness and Assessment Tool from Race Forward, Hopeworks disaggregates staff and youth retention and performance data by race and other factors to make sure that we are effectively serving all of our communities.

• Stakeholder Engagement: People of color and those most adversely affected by relevant issues are engaged in feedback, planning and implementation with real decision-making power and leadership. This includes staff, youth, and community members who serve on our Governance Board and also as part of clear decision-making processes

• Hiring for effectiveness, not qualifications: In addition, Hopeworks has used our performance and data-based culture to revise our hiring expectations to make sure we are hiring based on the candidate’s likelihood of being effective in the role rather than based on educational or other standard qualifications.  Traditional position qualifiers (Master’s degree, etc.) do not effectively screen for effectiveness in the role, but they do screen for privilege. 

Now is the time. 

The global pandemic has brought incredible hardship to communities in both across the country, with the unemployment rate in neighborhoods in both cities at times exceeding 20%.

However, it has also brought a moment of tremendous opportunity. With the rise of remote work, a corporate recommitment to racial equity, and growing technology needs in every sector of the economy, now is the time for Hopeworks and the young professionals we serve to seize the moment and dramatically change the trajectory of their careers, and the economic situation of themselves and their families.

With the support of ServeNow and this challenge, Hopeworks can leverage the expertise of the Challenge to scale our successful solution to more communities.

Hopeworks is currently working predominantly in the Philadelphia market, with growth opportunities in New York, Newark, Georgia, Florida, and Los Angeles.

Hopeworks has a proven, effective model. We have a very favorable environment for both our businesses and our youth development work to scale.

Now, we need to leverage the expertise of a global leader as we scale and replicate our services to new geographies. We are excited by the potential for this Challenge to allow us to use the expertise of ServiceNow to scale our impact and change lives.

Hopeworks has excellent relations with dozens of local and regional employers. As we continue to grow our reach, we will be able to attract and grow partnerships with national employers as well, allowing us to quickly scale our employment and poverty ending solution to other geographies and impact many more lives.