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Quarterly Newsletter, Issue 8
April, May, June 2016
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During these past three months at Workshops for Warriors we have hosted our Spring Graduation, been featured on local News channels and various TV and radio programs, welcomed Government officials to our facility, and more.
For those who are checking out the Workshops for Warriors newsletter for the first time, our newsletter is designed to help you learn more about these exciting advancements and as well as see where your donations go and what a big difference they make. Check us out by clicking any of the links to your right, and if you like what you're reading, connect with us on
social media
or contact us to learn more about how you can get involved.
Workshops for Warriors provides quality hands-on training, accredited STEM educational programs, and opportunities to earn third party nationally recognized credentials in machining and welding. This enables veterans, transitioning service members, and other students to be successfully placed in their chosen advanced manufacturing career field.
Workshops for Warriors (WFW), is a State-licensed, board governed, fully audited, 501 (c) (3) nonprofit school founded in 2008. WFW is funded through private donations-87% of our revenue goes towards the training programs.
If everyone that read this newsletter donated $50 per month, we could train and graduate 120 Veterans, Wounded Warriors, and transitioning service members per year.
Please consider donating
in order to help give those who served our country a clearer path to success upon leaving the Military.
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Workshops for Warriors Founder Hernán Luis y Prado Featured as Guest on Cox's
Operation American Dream
Operation American Dream is a new TV segment by
The Craig Sewing Show,
a consumer advocate in the San Diego community, that aims to educate San Diego on Military issues as well as events involving the Military. The show broadcasts on COX Channel 4 at 10:30am every Friday, and our Founder Hernán Luis y Prado was the first guest on Episode 4 of the new show.
Unlike many of the news pieces that cover Workshops for Warriors, for this segment Hernán went all the way back to the moment when he knew he needed to make a change for Veterans and those transitioning back into civilian life. The story talks about his encounter with a friend who he had just seen in Iraq a few months prior, and the moment Luis y Prado realized his friend had lost his legs. He goes into more detail in the segment about what the moment meant to him and how it shaped the rest of his life, and subsequently the lives of all the Veterans going through Workshops for Warriors programs.
In addition to talking about the pivot point in his life when he started what would soon be Workshops for Warriors in his garage, he shares success stories of our students, statistics that highlight the need for this kind of organization, and how Workshops for Warriors does it with no federal, state, or municipal funding.
Luis y Prado also adds in the segment, "I think the country is in need and wants to do something that's bigger than us, and this is one of those great opportunities where we've been fortunate to have so many great organizations and people align and we're all walking forward together."
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Workshops for Warriors
Hosts Spring Graduation with a
Record 46 Graduates
A total of 46 graduates were honored at the April 22 WFW Graduation Ceremony, with portable and stackable machining and welding credentials enabling them to immediately integrate into large and small manufacturing organizations throughout the Nation.
"We're extremely proud of these men and women not for only what they did to serve our country, but for having the passion, drive and dedication to move forward and obtain the education needed to pursue a new career in the manufacturing space," said Hernàn Luis y Prado, Founder of Workshops for Warriors. "The graduation was extra special because we had two veterans, Ryan San Vicente and Erik Davies, who both obtained 14 certificates in one 16-week semester. That is a remarkable accomplishment."
The event included a Marine Color Guard, remarks by three student speakers and comments by guest speaker, Meghan West, President of CNC Software, Inc., developer of Mastercam, as well as San Diego City Councilman Chris Cate.
We created a video covering the Graduation Ceremony that covers the event and interviews recent graduates just after the Ceremony. One of the graduates Alejandro says in the video, "Now not only do I have a skill set, I have certificates to back that skill set up. It's proven, on paper and pen. The fact that I'm able to do this and that it's free for us Veterans is a blessing."
You can check out the video in the Video Highlights section below or head over to our
YouTube channel
.
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Student Success Story: Kyle
Unlike many of the Veterans in the Workshops for Warriors welding programs, Kyle already knew a thing or two about welding because he was a welder in the Navy. However, he did not have the credentials he needed to be successful in civilian life.
"The transition back in to civilian life was very stressful for me. I was coming home to an expecting wife and was trying to find a job. I really didn't know how things were going to go, but Workshops for Warriors...they helped me to be a little more competitive in the workforce by helping me obtain an AWS qualification."
After graduating in the Fall 2015, he explained that Workshops for Warriors Dean of Welding, Lyle Palm, helped him put his resume online and he was receiving emails and phone calls from interested employers within the week. He accepted a job offer in March 2016 at Rogue Fitness Ohio as a Gas Metal Arc (MIG) welder in the fabrication facility.
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The Gene Haas Foundation Donates $250,000 to
Workshops for Warriors
Workshops for Warriors was awarded scholarship funds from the Gene Haas Foundation yesterday totaling $250,000. The donation will help offset training and provide Workshops for Warriors machining students with stipends while they work to complete their certifications. This allows students to focus on school, not survival. Because Workshops for Warriors cannot yet accept funding from the GI Bill, this grant will be crucial in helping give our Veterans an opportunity to complete all coursework.
Workshops for Warriors was fortunate enough to have Vice President of the Haas Factory Outlet in Anaheim, Arjen Sakes and District Manager, Mike Flower come to Workshops for Warriors for a check presentation. They also received a photo from Workshops for Warriors signed by all of the Veterans and Wounded Warriors in our programs.
A Brief
History of The Gene Haas Foundation
The Gene Haas Foundation was created in 1999 by Gene Haas, Founder of the largest machine tool builder in the western world, Haas Automation. The Foundation provides scholarships for students entering technical training programs as well as supports youth programs to help motivate young people to get interested in manufacturing and machining. Since the Foundation was started in 1999, they have awarded more than
$38 million
to more than 1200 deserving 501(C)(3) charities and organizations.
Read the press release
here
.
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Rosemont, IL - Hernán presenting ISA President Jeff Hughes with a Challenge Coin |
Workshops for Warriors is Honored as the Charity of Choice at the Industrial Supply Association (ISA) Annual Conference
On April 16-18 Workshops for Warriors was honored as the Charity of Choice for the Industrial Supply Association's (ISA) Leadership Conference, the largest yearly meeting of distributors, IMRs, suppliers and manufacturers in the industry.
As the Charity of Choice at the conference, our Founder Hernán Luis y Prado had the honor of presenting about Workshops for Warriors to over 1,800 industry attendees. In addition, ISA helped fundraise on our behalf, including their annual 5K run/walk, with all proceeds benefitting Workshops for Warriors. At the conference we were able to network with industry leaders and eventually meet our goal of $25,000 raised.
At the conference, Workshops for Warriors was also honored with a lifetime membership by ISA President, Jeff Hughes (pictured).
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Steve Short and Hernán the Annual ISA Leadership Conference in Rosemont, IL |
Steve Short of DistributionNOW Creates a $100,000 Matching Campaign Through ISA
At the ISA Leadership Conference in April, Steve Short, Regional Director of Machine Tool and Manufacturing Services with
DistributionNOW
(DNOW), heard Hernán Luis y Prado speak at the Opening Ceremony and met with Hernán soon after to start getting involved.
Short created a matching campaign to help fund Workshops for Warriors. His family will match any contributions made under the ISA name, dollar for dollar, up to $100,000. He told us that his family feels strongly about helping returning Veterans, and to be able to do that in the advanced manufacturing industry struck a chord with him.
Donate here
and select "ISA Matching Campaign" from the drop down menu to have your donation matching by Steve Short and his family.
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California State Assembly Speaker Emeritus Toni Atkins
Visits Workshops for Warriors for a Tour
We were lucky enough to meet California State Assembly Speaker Emeritus Toni Atkins
for a tour of Workshops for Warriors. We were able to introduce her to some of our welding and machining students, show her around our facility, and discuss the opportunities for Veterans in the future through Workshops for Warriors training and certification into advanced manufacturing careers.
Atkins has been influencing California and San Diego politics and policies for many years,
serving in the California State Assembly since 2010. H
er colleagues unanimously elected her 69th Speaker in the history in 2014, and she became Speaker Emeritus in March 2016.
According to her Facebook page, "She previously served eight years on the San Diego City Council, and became a stabilizing force during a tumultuous period in 2005, stepping in as Acting Mayor after the resignation of the mayor. Speaker Emeritus Atkins is a coalition-builder who believes government policies can improve people's lives. She is a leading voice for affordable housing, a powerful advocate for women, and champion for Veterans and homeless people."
We love meeting politicians looking to make a difference in the lives of Veterans here in San Diego, and Toni was no exception.
We can't wait to see what else she has in store.
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The Huffington Post: How Workshops for Warriors is Getting Female Veterans Jobs
"
Workshops for Warriors isn't your typical nonprofit. While there are a lot of organizations out there doing great things in the Veterans community, this nonprofit is an advanced manufacturing school where Veterans can earn nationally recognized, portable credentials-all at no cost to the Veteran. It gives Veterans the tools they need to succeed, and the female Veterans in the programs are excelling all across the Nation.
To date, Workshops for Warriors has graduated 288 Veterans, Wounded Warriors, and transitioning service members with [1,000] total credentials earned. Of these 288, about 3% have been women. It doesn't sound like much, but when you hear about the employment gap in the advanced manufacturing industry, every 3% counts."
Read the rest of the feature on The Huffington Post blog
here
.
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Workshops for Warriors Honored as a San Diego Chamber of Commerce Veterans Honor Roll Recipient
The Veterans Honor Roll is a new initiative by the San Diego Chamber of Commerce led by the Defense, Veterans, and Military Affairs Committee. This award recognizes businesses and organizations that hire Veterans and Military spouses. With 10 Veteran employees, Workshops for Warriors was credited with this distinction in May, 2016.
As a Veterans Honor Roll recipient, Workshops for Warriors earns its logo on the San Diego Chamber of Commerce website as well as press releases and mentions throughout the year. The San Diego Chamber of Commerce is the largest local Chamber on the West Coast, representing 2,500 businesses and an estimated 300,000 jobs, so their support will help allow Workshops for Warriors to inspire others to understand the value our Veterans bring to the workforce and our regional economy.
In addition to Workshops for Warriors, our social enterprise company, WFW Industries, LLC was also given the Veterans Honor Roll badge for employing 9 Veterans. You can learn more about the Veterans Honor Roll recipients
here
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Both ABC10 News and KPBS covered the Workshops for Warriors Graduation Ceremony.
One of the stories focused on one of our top students, Ryan Palmer, while the other covers the graduation as a whole and talks with Hernán about the future of the organization.
Below are the news clips as well as our 2016 Spring Graduation video:
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