OneWest Bank pledged to give back to its local community at the 76th graduation ceremony of the JVS BankWork$® career training program. Byron Reed, senior vice president of Community Development for OneWest Bank delivered keynote remarks during the ceremony and made a $80,000 donation on behalf of the bank in support of JVS SoCal’s award-winning program.
“As a part of OneWest’s commitment to JVS and to you, we wanted to make sure we continue to pay it forward,” said Reed. “Not only philanthropically do we support the organization, but we hire the candidates that graduate the program.”
The intensive eight-week program consists of job training and on-going coaching for career advancement that leads to highly-motivated, vetted and well-trained future employees. With an 85 percent placement rate and an 83 percent retention after one year, the program proves that careers in banking continue to be in high-demand.
BankWork$ is part of the suite of JVSWorks® Career Training Programs that includes ApartmentWorks® and HealthWorks®. Since 2006, these three training programs have graduated and placed over 1,460 participants who have earned an aggregate of $56 million in salaries and benefits. With a combination of government, corporate and foundation support, this represents a 750 percent social return on donor investment.
“We know this program works,” said JVS SoCal CEO Alan Levey. “No single one of us can do it alone, but the program, when we all work together, demonstrates how and what we can truly achieve.”
The graduation marks the expansion of BankWork$ into the Long Beach area, with half of the graduates receiving their training on the campus of Long Beach City College and the other half at the West L.A. America’s Job Center in Culver City. The support provided by OneWest Bank and other key sponsors keeps the program free of cost for eligible applicants and promotes the possibility of further expansion.
OneWest Bank has been committed to their partnership with JVS since 2011 and was recognized at the 21st Annual JVS Strictly Business Luncheon with the agency’s 2018 Corporate Partnership Award.
View the full gallery of the summer 2018 BankWork$ graduation here.