PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Oregon Pride in Business has launched its Economic Empowerment Center in north Portland’s Q Center — providing new resources for Oregonians looking to land a job or start a new business.
The empowerment center will provide courses on career readiness and a Founding Partnership program to expand LGBTQ+ business development statewide.
“The career readiness program wants to provide support for those members of our community looking to join the career force for the first time, or those who want to re-enter the workforce after some time away,” Career Readiness Program Director Yara Cruz Rivera said.
Cruz Rivera added, “we know that within our community, there are individuals who are experiencing housing insecurity – I’m talking about seniors, I’m talking about youth and other vulnerable populations — that really wants to build their job skills, that really want to build that confidence to succeed in the 21st century workforce that is really challenging and dynamic.”
The center also hopes to boost job skills for minority community members, for example, by offering courses in Spanish. The organization also hopes to break workforce barriers such as age to support seniors.
The courses will also include in-person workshops.
“The first half is how to get the job – so, resume and cover letter and how to search for jobs online and online presence and things like that – and then we’ll transition into leadership skills, communication skills and also how to self-advocate in the workplace and DEI training that will help people thrive in the workplace one they get the job” Program Volunteer Shannon Jakes said.