Justine Sakou’s journey to her current career in financial services crosses continents. 

A native of the Ivory Coast and native French speaker with a degree in accounting and finance, Justine immigrated to the United States with her husband in 2008. After settling with her family on New York’s Long Island, for the next five years Justine worked as an assistant manager of a gas station. Then, in 2013, Justine moved with her family to the Seattle area and focused on raising her four children. 

By 2021, Justine was eager to rejoin the workforce in a role beyond retail.

“I knew I wanted to have a career in financial services and was hopeful my background and education in accounting and finance would help me find something,” Justine recalls. “But I did not know where to start.”  

It was then that a friend recommended BankWork$® to her. 

After talking with our training partner YWCA Seattle | King | Snohomish about the CareerWork$® training programs they offer, the team suggested Justine apply for BankWork$®. She was accepted, and this summer, she began the eight-week program, which was held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“I like to learn, and it was something that I was looking for. It was challenging.” 

Justine started the BankWork$ program while her four children attended school remotely and her husband worked from home due to the pandemic. Despite those challenges, Justine excelled. She impressed her instructors with her work ethic, and her confidence grew by leaps and bounds over the eight weeks. 

After celebrating with her family at the BankWork$ virtual graduation ceremony, Justine participated in the virtual career fair, where she interviewed with BankWork$ employer partner Key Bank and quickly received an offer. 

So in July 2021, decades and continents removed from her early interest in finance, Justine began her career in financial services as a Financial Wellness Consultant at one of the Key Bank’s Seattle-area branches, just 15 minutes away from her home. 

“It’s been a great experience so far. BankWork$ really prepared me to get the job and to be ready to do the training at Key Bank. It was the best program for me. BankWork$ was an open door.” 

Justine hopes others considering the BankWork$ program and a career in financial services will take advantage of the opportunity. 

“BankWork$ helps you be prepared for the real world.” 

For students starting the free eight-week, comprehensive career development program, Justine’s advice is to “take it seriously and work hard. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Give your all. That’s what will make the difference. At the end, your effort will pay off. That’s what happened to me. It was a life-changing experience for me.” 

### 

“If I don’t make this call now, then when will I?” 

That was the question Chicago resident Adriana Flores was asking herself in late 2019 as she considered applying for the BankWork$® program with our training partner Association House of Chicago. A friend who had already completed the eight-week, free comprehensive career development program and been hired immediately by an employer partner, had recommended it to Adriana.  

After working in retail early in her career, Adriana had been a stay-at-home mom the previous two years, and she was ready for a change. 

“I needed a better future for me and my son,” says Adriana.  

So Adriana made the call and applied for the BankWork$ program. In January 2020, Adriana started the eight-week career development program. 

At first, Adriana says, she was hesitant and out of her “comfort zone” after being out of the workforce for several years. But Adriana settled in; her instructor’s talent and the value of hearing from multiple employer partners from across the financial services industry, who spoke to the class about their different roles and approaches, helped her s 

In March 2020, with the COVID-19 pandemic growing, her BankWork$ program shifted to a virtual model. Instead of the typical in-person graduation celebration and career fair with employer partners, the graduates participated in a virtual format. 

After interviewing with several banks, Adriana accepted an offer from Chicago-based Byline Bank.  

“BankWork$ helped me get my foot in the door. That was the first step. They gave me the opportunity, and then it was on me,” says Adriana. After starting in a part-time Teller role, Adriana then took on a full-time role, and is now a Senior Teller. 

And Adriana isn’t the only BankWork$ graduate at Byline Bank: two of her fellow graduates from her cohort also joined the Byline Bank team. 

As a Senior Teller, Adriana brings another skill to help serve the mostly Hispanic community in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood: a native Spanish speaker, she is fluent in both English and Spanish. That’s allowed Adriana to help serve the bank’s Spanish-speaking customers, acting as a translator for many of their customers who don’t speak English.  

“Language accessibility is a challenge for many in this community to financial stability.”  

More than half of our program graduates are fluent in two or more languages, making banking accessible for communities where English fluency could be a barrier.  

As Adriana grows her career, her advice to others considering BankWork$ and a career in financial services it to “go for it. There’s a lot you can learn and you can pass a lot of that on to your family to help them be more financially stable. You never know what opportunities can come from it. Joining BankWork$ was the best decision I could have made. I made good friends who I have the pleasure of working with now and met a lot of great people along the way as well. I now have a stable career, and I can’t wait for what the future holds.” 

### 

Over the past 18 months, organizations across the country navigated the rapid changes of the pandemic. CareerWork$ worked closely with partners around the country to adapt, pivot, and pivot again—and as a result, we’re still marking milestones like graduations and job placements among our graduates.  

Here are three ways we adapted and continued our impact during the pandemic: 

A New Program: CareerWork$ Ready: Early in the pandemic, we launched a new job readiness program, CareerWork$® Ready, a condensed, three-week program designed for individuals seeking their first job, as well as those who are looking to re-enter the workforce., in a broad range of industries. We provide community organizations with the curricula they need to offer virtual or in-person training for job seekers in underserved communities. The program leverages the curricula from our proven BankWork$® and CareerWork$® Medical programs and includes one-on-one sessions and group trainings with a job coach, creating a personalized experience in real time, and standing out from many other pre-recorded programs. 

Making Classes Digital: As we launched CareerWork$ Ready online, we also digitized our BankWork$ and CareerWork$ Medical® curricula, making it possible for our training partners to offer courses through hybrid models while complying with public health guidelines. Moving the curriculum content online meant students also gained digital skills and practiced holding virtual meetings and online collaboration tools—skills and experience necessary in the “new normal” for many careers. 

Making Graduations and Job Fairs Digital: Ask any graduate, or any employer—our graduations and job fairs, where each graduate interviews with each employer partner, is part of what makes CareerWork$ so impactful. We celebrate the hard work and dedication of participants, and they receive far more personal attention than they might during a standard job fair or online application process. During the pandemic, we adapted to ensure we could continue our graduations and jobs fairs by pivoting to a virtual model; immediately following the virtual graduation events, our graduates met 1:1 virtually with employers in their region for job interviews. As we look to the future, we are hopeful and energized for what’s next – especially as we recently hit an important milestone: 4,000 graduates placed into jobs with career growth potential.   

Thanks to these steps and collaboration with our training partners around the country, CareerWork$ is poised for our next phase of growth— expanding with new partners, new staff, potential for new training programs, and new ideas for the future. Our work has never felt more vital, and as the pandemic has highlighted the long-standing inequities for BIPOC community members, the need for our last-mile training programs has never been so clear. 

 ### 

Leah Bright, a 2021 graduate of the BankWork$ program with our training partner Philadelphia OIC, was a featured speaker at the recent Pennsylvania Bankers Association 2021 Young Professionals Conference, where she shared her career journey to a role with our employer partner Citizens Bank.  

Earlier this year, Leah was seeking a new career. Her mother first told her about BankWork$; she had seen a flyer advertising the program with Philadelphia OIC at her workplace.  

“I knew I had nothing to lose and everything to gain,” Leah recalled. 

She applied, was accepted, and began the program in a hybrid model that was adopted during the pandemic, with some classes in person and others taught live via Zoom sessions. 

For Leah, the free, comprehensive, eight-week program offered the communications and workplace skills she needed to launch a new career, along with the industry-specific skills and knowledge. 

“Because of BankWork$, I could really understand and learn the ins and outs of the financial services industry.” 

In her remarks, Leah also thanked Philadelphia OIC BankWork$ Instructor Shantelle Faison for her support and encouragement before and after the program. Calling Shantelle her mentor, Leah said she “added fuel to the flame, which I needed at the time.” 

The day of her graduation in Spring 2021, Leah and her fellow graduates participated in a key feature of BankWork$: one-on-one interviews with multiple employer partners in the region. 

A week later, Leah received an offer from Citizens Bank. 

Today, as Leah grows in her new career, her goal is to “run my own branch and impact the lives of emerging leaders.” 

The Pennsylvania Bankers Association has been a strong supporter of the BankWork$ program since 2017, a key partner in expanding the program to Pittsburgh and an advocate for our programs with Pennsylvania banks. Their support of BankWork$ graduates like Leah is a testament to our shared commitment to opening more doors to meaningful careers in the financial services industry. 

### 

Tama Robinson’s journey to her new career started with her car radio.  

The lifelong Milwaukee resident was driving when she heard an advertisement for the inaugural BankWork$ class with our training partner Employ Milwaukee. Tama quickly jotted down the number and made the call. With a new class starting in two weeks, Tama raced to meet the application deadline. After receiving support from Instructor Adrienne Wright, she applied online – and was accepted.  

For Tama, it was the right opportunity at the right time. After working in long-term care for a decade, she was eager for a transition into a career in financial services.  

“I knew I had a passion to help people – and I knew I wanted a career where feel like I did something to help someone that day. I knew I could transfer those skills into the financial services sector.”  

With her customer service skills from her career in long-term care, Tama was eager to dive into the BankWork$ program and learn the industry-specific skills she’d need to thrive in a new career. 

“As class started, I was able to take those transferable skills and move them into a new industry. BankWork$ put the puzzle together.” 

As graduation approached near the end of the eight-week program, representatives from several area employers came to class to speak with students about their hiring process and their culture. As part of the program’s post-graduation job fair, Tama had the chance to interview with a number of employers in the region immediately after the graduation ceremony. 

One of those banks was Prime Financial Credit Union, which offered Tama a position following her graduation. 

Since starting with Prime Financial two years ago, Tama has already been promoted – twice. Today, she’s an Assistant Branch Manager. 

“BankWork$ gave me the blueprint to launch my career,” says Tama. “They give you the outline, and then it’s up to you to fill it in to succeed.” 

“We had high hopes for our very first BankWork$ class at Employ Milwaukee, and like many of her peers, Tama thrived. Tama was hardworking, committed, and driven to build a new career,” said Adrienne Wright, BankWork$ Instructor with Employ Milwaukee. “We knew she would do a great job and be successful as she demonstrating care and leadership in class. It’s an honor and privilege to be part of a program supporting amazing people like Tama as they start lasting, meaningful careers.” 

For those considering the BankWork$ program, Tama says simply to “go for it. They put you in a position to succeed. You won’t regret it.” 

###  

 

CareerWork$ is celebrating a key milestone: more than 4,000 graduates of its BankWork$® and CareerWork$ Medical® programs have started new, meaningful, and lasting careers after completing these programs.  

“The real impact behind this incredible milestone is that it means more than 4,000 families now have far more economic stability,” said Sherry Cromett, President of CareerWork$. “That’s a milestone worth celebrating. As we continue to face the challenges of the pandemic, I am immensely proud of the CareerWork$ team and particularly inspired by our training partners, instruction staff, and employer partners for their resilience and resourcefulness in rapidly changing circumstances. They always put students first. Every single career started is a result of their efforts—and couldn’t be done without our supporters. Thank you for your continued belief in this important work.” 

CareerWork$ builds a collaborative and cross-sectoral approach to launching new careers: we bring local employers and workforce development training organizations together with young adults lacking access to lasting careers via our free, eight-week, industry-specific career training programs around the country. We facilitate direct connections between job seekers who want lasting careers, and local employers with open roles. By engaging employers from the beginning of the process, these employers know our graduates are ready to get to work—and job seekers know they aren’t just starting jobs, but are launching lasting, stabilizing careers.  

Eighty-two percent of CareerWork$ and BankWork$ program graduates are BIPOC, more than 50 percent are bilingual or multilingual, and participants earn an average of more than $1,000,000 in increased lifetime earnings, compared to if they had not completed the program. Click here to learn more about CareerWork$ impact in communities across the country. 

 ### 

Before her career in financial services, Ashley Yates was working in retail in the Los Angeles area, and feeling stuck. 

“I wasn’t really looking for a future. But I knew I needed a future.”  

So when Ashley’s mother told her about a free career training opportunity she’d seen with our training partner in the Los Angeles area, JVS SoCal, Ashley was interested. She connected with the JVS SoCal team and began the free, eight-week comprehensive training in October 2019.  

Over the next two months, Ashley and her peers learned the industry-specific skills and the customer service, communications, confidence, and workplace skills needed to succeed as customer-facing banking staff. At the end of the program, Ashley and the rest of the cohort celebrated in a graduation ceremony and personalized job fair, where participants interviewed for open positions with industry partners in the region. 

Participating in BankWork$ “was the greatest experience ever and I wouldn’t change it for the world. I’ve learned to not just have respect for myself, but respect for my colleagues and respect for what I do. My life has definitely changed a lot. BankWork$ really changed the personal and professional direction of my life.”  

Today, Ashley continues to thrive in that new direction and in a career in financial services in her role as a Teller at BankWork$ employer partner Wells Fargo in Los Angeles, California. 

For Ashley, the most rewarding part of her career in banking with Wells Fargo is “meeting new customers every single day and helping them succeed financially. Knowing I am there and helping them out makes me feel good.” She also values having direct relationships with her clients and knowing them on a first-hand basis. 

This summer, Ashley was invited by JVS SoCal Associate Director Julian Hampton to speak at a virtual graduation as an alumna guest.  

Ashley’s advice to the new graduates was to stay positive and believe in the value of the BankWork$ program, knowing it was both the “shortest and longest eight weeks of your life.” 

Lessons learned in BankWork$, Ashley concluded, “will change you and will open doors for you. Keep going. Don’t stop. There are always new opportunities out there in the industry. Always have an open mind.” 

### 

 

 

CareerWork$ announced today that Alexis Jones, an April 2021 graduate of the BankWork$® program with our training partner Association House of Chicago, is the second and latest recipient of the CareerWork$ Marc Hill Rising Star Award.

This spring, Alexis began her new career in financial services as an Associate Banker with Chase Bank.

Launched in Spring 2021, the Marc Hill Rising Star Award recognizes graduates of our BankWork$ or CareerWork$ Medical® programs who have shown significant personal growth and transformation from the start of their class until their graduation. The award is part of CareerWork$’ ongoing work to open doors to meaningful careers – and to honor the life, work and legacy of the late Marc Hill, an instructor of both the BankWork$ and CareerWork$® Ready programs with CareerWork$ partner, YWCA Seattle | King | Snohomish, who passed away in late 2020. Marc first began teaching our BankWork$ courses in 2011, and then began teaching CareerWork$ Ready in 2020 as part of our response to the COVID-19 crisis. The lessons Marc shared with his students embody our values as an organization.

Each quarter, CareerWork$ recognizes one student from graduating classes of our BankWork$ or CareerWork$ Medical program. Each award recipient receives a certificate and cash award to celebrate the start of their new career.

CareerWork$ staff and the Association House of Chicago staff surprised Alexis with the news that she had been selected as the second-ever award recipient in a virtual celebration.

“Pathways to new careers are hard to find,” said Alexis Jones. “The help BankWork$ gave me is amazing. I am grateful to the BankWork$ team for supporting me. If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be a success story!”

“We are thrilled to honor Alexis as she launches her new career and to celebrate her growth, grit, and focus. Alexis represents what CareerWork$ is all about,” said CareerWork$ President Sherry Cromett. “We know that Marc would be proud that his legacy has brought so many people together to celebrate Alexis’s success, and this his work continues to have impact on people as they move forward in their careers.”

“From day one, we were impressed with Alexis’s willingness to learn, ask questions, and take advantage of each and every resource available as she worked to start a new career. She was focused every single day, and throughout the program she demonstrated tremendous personal and professional growth,” said Sherri Richardson, BankWork$ Instructor and Workforce Training Facilitator with Association House of Chicago and Cynthia Moore, BankWork$ Career Navigator and Enrollment and Retention Specialist with Association House of Chicago. “We are so proud of Alexis as she grows in her career and can’t wait to see all that she does.”

From all of us at CareerWork$, congratulations, Alexis!

###

BankWork$®, a free, eight-week career training program to help open doors to lasting careers in banking, is coming to Oakland through a partnership with the national nonprofit CareerWork$®, Fremont Adult and Continuing Education and Oakland Adult and Continuing Education. The program provides the skills needed for any entry-level banking position with great career potential. Positions include roles such as teller, customer service representative, relationship banker, and personal banker. After eight weeks of intensive training, participants attend a combined graduation ceremony and personalized job fair where they can interview for open positions in the region with industry partners. Graduates also receive ongoing coaching and job placement support.  

The new class in Oakland begins simultaneously with the ongoing Fremont class on August 23 and will conclude on October 15. Classes are three days per week and follow a hybrid model, with half of the classes in person and half virtual to provide students experience with digital learning. Interested participants can lean more and apply here: https://www.face.edu/Page/34751.  

Eligible applicants must be 18 years old or older, have a high school diploma or GED, have English literacy and basic math skills, and a minimum of six months experience in customer service. 

Since 2019, BankWork$ has worked with Fremont Adult and Continuing Education to offer classes in Fremont and has graduated over 100 people from the program. Current BankWork$ employer partners in the Bay Area include SBI, HSBC, Bank of the West, Umpqua Bank, Patelco Credit Union, Fremont Bank, Mechanics Bank, Wells Fargo, and Comerica.  

“The BankWork$ class in Fremont has been a tremendous success, and we are excited that with our partners at Fremont Adult & Continuing Education it can expand its reach into the Oakland community and beyond.” said Sherry Cromett, President of CareerWork$. “We work in communities like Oakland where we can have the greatest impact and partner with local organizations, banks, and financial institutions to match great hires with great jobs.”      

“We have seen firsthand that BankWork$ is an effective and impactful program that teaches the hard and soft skills needed to succeed in banking and engages employers throughout the program to provide invaluable industry insight and integrated recruitment opportunities,” said Heidi McFadden, Principal, Fremont Adult & Continuing Education. “We look forward to continuing to work with CareerWork$ and our community to expand the impact of BankWork$ in the Bay Area.” 

BankWork$ currently offers its classes in 13 cities across the United States and has helped launch nearly 4,000 careers since its founding in Los Angeles. More than half of BankWork$ graduates are bilingual or multilingual, and 72 percent of BankWork$ graduates remain with their employer after 12 months. You can learn more about BankWork$’s graduates and its impact here. 

Are you an employer interested in supporting the BankWork$ program and recruiting great talent to help serve the diverse financial needs of your communities? Contact us at info@bankworks.org. 

###