Ready to Work Program Wins America’s Sharman Stein Award
Published on August 02, 2023
City’s Ready to Work Education and Employment Program Wins Results for America’s Sharman Stein Award for Storytelling Changemakers
SAN ANTONIO (August 2, 2023) – Results for America announced today that the City of San Antonio’s Ready to Work team will receive the fifth annual Sharman Stein Award for Storytelling Changemakers. The award, which honors the memory of What Works Cities’ founding Director of Communications Sharman Stein, recognizes a local government team that cultivates trust and collaboration between local government and residents through excellence in communications.
In 2022, the City of San Antonio launched Ready to Work, designed to help remove financial, social and emotional barriers for qualified adults committed to earning industry-recognized certifications, Associate’s Degrees, or Bachelor’s Degrees. Participants have access to tuition assistance aligned with targeted occupations in high demand, well-paid careers, support services and emergency assistance to ensure training completion, and job placement and retention services.
“We are thrilled to get national recognition for Ready to Work’s targeted outreach to meet people where they are and to take them to the next level,” said Mayor Ron Nirenberg. “Ready to Work is a transformative program that’s changing the lives of people in our city.”
“What sets Ready to Work’s communications strategy apart is that it starts with residents and their needs—whether that’s a local business owner, community leader or someone taking the next step in their education or career,” said Michele Jolin, CEO and Co-founder of Results for America. “It’s a collaboration that would have made Sharman proud.” The award comes on the heels of creating an entirely new city department – Workforce Development – to manage and operate the Ready to Work program. San Antonio City Manager Erik Walsh brought Mike Ramsey on board after a national search and credits the communications and storytelling capabilities to Ramsey and the department as a whole.
“This office has been laser-focused on telling the stories of the people involved in Ready to Work,” Walsh said. “That includes San Antonians who seek training and education to gain quality jobs, the employers who have pledged to hire Ready to Work graduates, as well as the partner organizations from career counselors and case managers to community members who support this program. We stand committed to working and collaborating with them as the program moves forward. We are proud of where we’ve been and where we’re headed.”
The annual award is given by Results for America (RFA). RFA’s mission is to make investing in what works the “new normal” so that government decision-makers use evidence and data to maximize their impact and increase economic mobility. The City of San Antonio participates in RFA’s Opportunity Accelerator and has achieved Gold Certification by What Works Cities, a Bloomberg Philanthropies initiative led by RFA that recognizes cities for their exceptional use of data to inform policy, allocate funding, improve services and engage residents.
Winners of the Sharman Stein Award for Storytelling Changemakers are selected based on their embodiment of the communications philosophy Stein championed; proactively leveraging modes of communication that reach residents with information about their city’s progress; and contributing to improving community trust, understanding, and/or engagement through their efforts.