Bridges to Career Opportunities
In 2016, we added Bridges to Career Opportunities (BCO) to the bundled services offered by the Financial Opportunity Center. BCO enables our partners to prepare people with low incomes for high demand careers. Participants get:
- basic education and language skills,
- career training, credentials, and placement, and
- personalized career and financial counseling--all in one place.
BCO has engaged more than 200 local employers nationwide in serving nearly 700 individuals with low incomes, of which half have achieved an industry-recognized credential, been placed in careers they've been trained for, improved their credit scores, and increased their incomes and net worth. About 85% of those served are people of color.
BCO is a supported bridge training program that helps overcome the gaps in academic readiness that can prevent low-wage, low-skill adults from being hired and succeeding in careers that offer livable wages. Many workers are unable to participate in occupational skill training, which teaches workers specific capacities so they are prepared for employment in an industry or field, because they lack the necessary literacy and math skills and have financial challenges that undermine their ability to commit to longer-term training and career development. BCO is designed to address both these issues.
Participants learn foundational skills such as math, literacy or English as a Second Language in the context of their intended occupation. As important, Bridges to Career Opportunities helps participants manage the financial and logistical challenges that can interfere with job training.
