Graduate Spotlight: Shaniya from Drexel University College of Medicine
“This program would open many doors and opportunities for me to move up on the train of success,” wrote Shaniya Matthews on her application to the West Philadelphia Skills Initiative’s Medical Assistant Pipeline Program in partnership with Drexel University College of Medicine. It was 2011, and Shaniya had completed Medical Assistant school and certification but […]
Partnership Announced to Connect Philadelphians with Career Training in the Skilled Trades Starting at $25/Hour
The West Philadelphia Skills Initiative and PIDC’s Navy Yard Skills Initiative Launch Professional Development Program with the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Philadelphia Division for Union Careers PHILADELPHIA (September 18, 2023) – University City District’s West Philadelphia Skills Initiative (WPSI) and PIDC’s Navy Yard Skills Initiative (NYSI) launched a program to train Philadelphia residents for permanent, […]
Graduate Spotlight: Shaniyah from SEPTA
It was in 2019 that Shaniyah’s great-grandmother shared WPSI’s pilot SEPTA Bus Operator program with her, which seemed like the natural next step after driving for CCT Connect Paratransit. “I was just trying out stuff. I didn’t know what I wanted. My great-grandmom was always sending me WPSI stuff and this time, the timing and […]
Philly Money Moves: West Philadelphia Skills Initiative won a big workforce development grant
Originally Published by Technical.ly West Philadelphia Skills Initiative (WPSI), a workforce development program through the University City District, won a $339,000 grant from the JPMorgan Chase Foundation to support workforce development for justice-involved individuals. During FY22, 17% of WPSI’s participants were justice-involved individuals and only half of them graduated, according to the org. These […]
Graduate Spotlight: Iyana from Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc.
Iyana Pearson saves lives. Before she joined the West Philadelphia Skills Initiative in 2022, she had worked as a dialysis technician for eight years. Like so many other Americans, however, she found herself looking for work because of the COVID-19 pandemic. As Iyana explored getting back into the medical field, she discovered the pilot […]
OPRE Pathways To Work Case Study on WPSI
The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services’ Office of Planning, Research & Evaluation published a case study on WPSI! Read the study below:
Announcing the Third Class of WPSI Scholars
The West Philadelphia Skills Initiative (WPSI) is pleased to name the third annual class of WPSI Scholars. These ten Skills Initiative alumni will each receive financial assistance to help with continuing their professional education. Through generous funding from the Chappell- Culpeper Foundation, Scholars each receive a $2,000 scholarship toward tuition to cover degree, certification, or […]
The West Philadelphia Skills Initiative: Building Customized Talent Solutions
Originally published by BioBuzz Going on 13 years, the West Philadelphia Skills Initiative (WPSI) has acted as a workforce intermediary with local companies. The Skills Initiative operates a year-round, cohort-based, jobs-driven training model designed to find and train talent. Over the years, the Skills Initiative’s programs have connected more than 91% of graduates to employment […]
Cutting the Ribbon on New West Philadelphia Skills Initiative Headquarters
The West Philadelphia Skills Initiative (WPSI), our pioneering workforce intermediary that has connected Philadelphians to career-ladder positions with major employers since its formation in 2011, has cut the ribbon on a new headquarters at 22 S. 40th Street in West Philadelphia. Members of our UCD and WPSI staff were joined by 3rd District Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, […]
Support from Hummingbird Foundation Helps Skills Initiative Launch WPSI University to Further Advance Alumni
This week, the West Philadelphia Skills Initiative (WPSI) is thrilled to announce the launch of WPSI University, our new program to offer continued workplace education and academic advancement for our graduates, equipping them with the tools and credentials they need to advance in the 21st-century workplace. This new enterprise is supported by a generous $150,000 […]
West Philadelphia Skills Initiative Graduate Updates
University City District’s West Philadelphia Skills Initiative has trained more than 1,500 residents for career-ladder positions with local employers. In this short film, we check in with three graduates from our program–Mark Gay, Myna Christian, and Vanessa Dicks–to learn how their careers have taken off since completing our program.
For ‘middle-wage’ workers in Philly, finding a job can be harder than in other cities, according to a Pew report
Originally published by The Philadelphia Inquirer Over the last decade, about 1,600 people have graduated from a West Philadelphia-based workforce development program. The mission of the West Philadelphia Skills Initiative is to recruit workers, train them, and then place them in jobs that pay family-sustaining wages and offer career growth in major Philly employers such […]
