Member Impact: Cheryl Katz of C&J Katz Studio and BEST Hospitality Training
Member’s Design Expertise Meets Grantee’s Art Display Need When TPC member Cheryl Katz and her husband Jeffrey launched their design studio more than 30 years ago, they did so with the belief that design could be used as a problem-solving tool. Cheryl relates, “We...
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When a career path narrows: How a job-seeker and training program found a new way in the pandemic
Liziana Borges thought she was making a fresh start. Last February, after a layoff from her retail job, she enrolled in a Certified Nursing Assistant course – a decisive step toward her dream of working in healthcare. But the pandemic dashed those dreams. Her school...
read moreTwo graduates climb different City-sponsored paths to college
A sea of Bunker Hill Community College (BHCC) graduates gathered beneath the commencement tent this spring as president Pam Eddinger offered a frank farewell: “While life can be harsh, it is also limitless and ever-renewing….I have learned to hope and believe, from...
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Bringing Better Training and Better Jobs to Boston’s Hotel Industry
In the competitive US hotel industry, the majority of front desk clerks and housekeepers are not making a living wage, and the majority of hotels suffer from high staff turnover. In Boston, a group of innovative organizations has come together to break this cycle and...
read moreTPC Newsletter: June/July 2018
TPC members Judy Monahan and Ruth Ferguson traveled to BEST’s Roxbury location to conduct mock job interviews for a small group of students in the Job Seeker Program. These students were in the final days of an intensive training program for the service industry,...
read moreCommonwealth Corps Newsletter: Program Spotlight
The mission of BEST Hospitality Training is to provide individuals with the education, skills and training to excel in the hospitality industry and in their personal lives. The two Commonwealth Corps members serving at BEST, Alexis Kubana and Cheryl Holmes, are...
read moreGrantee Impact: BEST
Erin Rodat-Savla met with Joan Abbot, Assistant Director of BEST Hospitality Training to learn more about the organization behind the concept of “Good Jobs. Better Lives.” Founded in 2006, Boston Education, Skills & Training (BEST) focuses on workforce development...
read moreHospitality Apprenticeship Offers Bostonian a Path to Success
Hadia Diallo of South Boston enrolled at Quincy Junior College after high school. To afford tuition, she worked – as a teacher’s assistant at a local after-school program, a visitor’s experience associate at the Boston Children’s Museum, and a security officer – which...
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Volunteer Day: BEST Mock Banquet
The tables were set. The napkins folded into perfect snail-like spirals. The guests were seated, and the wine was poured. A sumptuous three-course meal was served. Well, the wine bottles were empty, and the food was one-dimensional and paper-thin. But for the 19...
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Fast Track to a Hospitality Career
After graduating from West Roxbury High School in Boston, Mykelsy Charles began taking college classes while working to support herself and her mother. Mykelsy was determined to earn a degree but could only take a class or two each semester. After several years, the...
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