The first STRIVE career readiness training designed for New Orleans East residents graduates thanks to a $75,000 AT&T Believe New Orleans℠ investment in the New Orleans Business Alliance workforce development program.

Using STRIVE International’s Core curriculum, STRIVE NOLA delivers job-readiness training to prepare and support workers. The program serves communities nationally and includes case management and supportive services for jobseekers. From January 2018 to March 2019, the local STRIVE affiliates had 268 participants, a 78 percent student retention rate and an 84.5 percent employment rate upon graduation.

The AT&T-supported program will provide job training and soft skills education for New Orleans East residents.

Training Creates Workforce Pipeline for Employers, Career Options for Employees

“We salute AT&T for its investment in New Orleans East and for helping us develop talent for local businesses,” said Quentin L. Messer, Jr., president and CEO of the New Orleans Business Alliance. “The top need for all businesses is talent. We have a lot of underutilized talent among our friends and neighbors ready to get into the game. The goal of the STRIVE program is to equip graduates with professional development experiences that will lead to stable employment and launch careers. Programs like STRIVE positively impact individual lives and will transform neighborhoods while improving business access to a trained workforce.”

Adding a STRIVE training location to New Orleans East is one aspect of the Business Alliance’s strategy to improve the economic vibrancy of neighborhoods across the city. With this cohort located at the New Orleans East Library, this neighborhood location eases the transportation burden for participants. Further, this local training creates improved opportunities for business exposure to the assets within East.

“The men and women of AT&T in New Orleans believe in this city, and while our commitment to keeping the city’s residents and businesses connected is clear, our commitment to New Orleans extends well beyond connectivity,” said Michael Ruffin, regional director for AT&T Louisiana. “We are working every day with organizations like the New Orleans Business Alliance to expand opportunities for area residents and help place them on a path to success.”

The graduation for this first of two New Orleans East STRIVE NOLA cohorts, supported by AT&T, will be Friday, Aug. 2 at 10:00 a.m. at the Audubon Louisiana Nature Center, 11000 Lake Forest Blvd New Orleans, LA 70127.

The larger network of local STRIVE affiliates includes the City of New Orleans’ JOB1 Business and Career Solutions Center, Goodwill Industries of Southeastern Louisiana, Total Community Action and Urban League of Louisiana. 

About the New Orleans Business Alliance

One of fewer than 70 Accredited Economic Development Organizations worldwide, the New Orleans Business Alliance is the official 501 (c)(3) not-for-profit economic development organization created as the partnership between the City of New Orleans and the business community to enhance the economic security of all New Orleanians by accelerating the diversification of the local economy, developing local talent and expanding entrepreneurial opportunity. By pursuing an inclusive economic development strategy, we will create the perfect intersection of culture and commerce resulting in more equity and greater prosperity for all. Visit nolaba.org for more information.

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