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Dear Partners and Supporters,
Welcome to our third annual Youth Issue with a focus on triumphs amidst the Covid-19 Pandemic! School is back in session - virtually in most of our communities - and we are working remotely with our school partners and youth-serving organizations across the Metro North region. Of special interest, see our Spotlight on Youth, including news about the 2nd Annual Youth Employment Forum and STEM Week. We have also highlighted some of the great work we have done with youth this past summer.
We look forward to working with you all this fall season to serve our region’s residents and businesses!
In partnership,
Chris Albrizio-Lee, President and CEO
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Meet our Newest Staff Members!
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Aisha Necoechea joined the MassHire Metro North Workforce Board as the Vice President of Programs on October 4, 2021. Prior to joining the Board, Aisha spent the last five years working on organizational strategy, development, contracts management and compliance, fundraising, finance, and partnership initiatives at a non-profit that focuses on education and skills training. Previously, Aisha worked for 13 years at a refugee, asylee, and immigrant multi-service organization where she began her career providing direct services to clients in the workforce development department and ended by managing the adult education, business development, case management, employment, and skills training programs. Aisha holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science and Religious Studies from Emmanuel College.
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Aisha Necoechea joined the MassHire Metro North Workforce Board as the Vice President of Programs on October 4, 2021. Prior to joining the Board, Aisha spent the last five years working on organizational strategy, development, contracts management and compliance, fundraising, finance, and partnership initiatives at a non-profit that focuses on education and skills training. Previously, Aisha worked for 13 years at a refugee, asylee, and immigrant multi-service organization where she began her career providing direct services to clients in the workforce development department and ended by managing the adult education, business development, case management, employment, and skills training programs. Aisha holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science and Religious Studies from Emmanuel College.
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Saladin (Sal) Islam is a long time resident of Somerville, MA. In the last decade, Sal has worked with a number of organizations that provide employment and enrichment for young people. He joined MassHire MNWB after his two year tenure as the City of Cambridge’s Youth Employment Coordinator, but continues to build on the work that he started there in this new role. Sal has a passion for his community and has given back to the organization that offered him his first job – Groundwork Somerville. From Green Team member, Sal has grown in the organization to be their Board Vice President. In his free time Sal enjoys hiking the White Mountains, with hopes to complete the NH 48 4,000 Footers. He is also an experienced guitarist and vocalist who likes to play covers around a campfire and produce original music for friends and family.
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Other Changes
Congratulations are in order for several members of our team for well deserved promotions:
Trey Walsh is now Senior Director of Youth Programs, Dani Smejkal is now Director of Workforce Systems, Cyndy Chapin is now Director of Employer Partnerships and Carlos Fuentes in now a Youth Programs Manager.
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 SPOTLIGHT ON YOUTH
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2021 YOUTHWORKS SUMMER SUCCESS STORIES!!
The YouthWorks Summer program continues to grow, innovate, and thrive as over 470 young people ages 14-21 in the metro north region were employed throughout our six YouthWorks partner communities in Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Malden, Revere and Somerville.
Employment opportunities ranged from 100% remote and hybrid remote/in-person to best suit each young person’s preference and with all appropriate precautions taken due to the pandemic. These young people also had the opportunity to participate in micro-career pathway courses offered by Commonwealth Corporation education partners, which included web design, digital office skills, introduction to healthcare, information technology, and more as a way to expose to in-demand industries and skills throughout our region.
In the City of Everett young adult workers had the opportunity to engage in the mystic river cleanup project while also learning about environmentalism, climate change, invasive plant species, and cleanup projects designed to strengthen the shoreline and improve the wildlife habitat. For many students we spoke to, working outside on this project was a breath of fresh air (literally!) after a long school year of zoom classroom sessions.
We want to thank all of our partners throughout the region who worked with and hired our young people and for investing in their communities during this challenging time. Their contribution resulted in paid employment opportunities for hundreds of young people, workforce readiness and in-demand skills training, and confidence building needed to succeed in the working world and invest in their future!
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SPOTLIGHT ON STEM
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 MA STEM WEEK 2021
October 16 - 22, including the weekend!
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PAC MAN
The second cohort of the Metro North Pre-Apprenticeship Construction and Maintenance Training program (PACMAN) started this week at Medford Vocational Technical High with 11 students, including residents from Revere, Chelsea, Everett, Malden, Winthrop, Medford, and Cambridge. PAC-MAN is a ten-week, 160 hour training consisting of Principles of Construction, Job Readiness and Financial Literacy. All graduates will have the opportunity to enter paid apprenticeship employment with either trade members of the ABC-MA Builders or Winn Companies.
Thank you to our partners for all your hard work and your commitment to the PACMAN program: International Institute of New England, CONNECT, MassHire Metro North Career Centers, ABC-MA, and Medford Vocational Technical High School.
This project is funded by a Senator Kenneth J. Donnelly Workforce Success Grant (Workforce Competitiveness Trust Fund FY’20 Appropriation) through the Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development and is administered by the Commonwealth Corporation.
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As COVID began to ravage our area, all plans were put on hold as both TND and IINE shifted our focus to immediate crisis response efforts. TND launched a hotline to support people impacted by the pandemic, and have since assisted over 2,000 community members with applying for unemployment, accessing emergency rental assistance, filing for taxes, applying for SNAP, and getting school-issued Chromebooks online. Meanwhile, IINE reached out to all of their past graduates to check in and see how they were doing.
We regrouped in early June to figure out how to move forward with delivering our training and helping people move past basic stabilization. To respond to our new COVID reality, we had to make some major changes to our original training plan, including broadening the focus of the curriculum from hospitality training to general professional development, and delivering classes virtually instead of in-person.
As we moved into these uncharted territories, we were nervous about how this new format for training would work. A highlight of our classes when they were in-person was the tangible sense of community that was created in class. When planning to make the switch to virtual class delivery, we couldn’t help but wonder if we would be able to foster the same atmosphere through our screens.
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CAREER CENTER SUCCESS STORY!
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MNCC Receives Award for Excellence in
Service to our Veterans!
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For many Veterans and their families, much of their time was dedicated to serving our country. When Veterans and their families need support connecting to employment resources in the Metro North region, it is our time to serve them. For this service, MassHire Metro North Career Centers were awarded with the Silver
Award by the Massachusetts Department of Career Services for their outstanding work in serving veterans.
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This is the 2nd year in a row that the Metro North Career Centers are the recipients of the Veterans State Grant (JVSG) Incentive Award! The staff at the Metro North Career Centers along with their partner Vet Reps, Dennis Pellegrino, Steve Fernandez and Rob Doucette, are constantly striving to provide excellence in service to our Veterans and their families. Much thought has gone into how they can continue to serve the Veteran population and with this grant award some of the ideas on how to continue supporting them in the upcoming year focus around technology support. A huge THANK YOU to the Metro North Career Center staff for their continued excellence and dedication to our Vets!
(Photo is from the 2019 MNCC Veterans Award Ceremony)
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