Opportunity ATL News

Metro Atlanta Chamber Presented with Goodwill’s Mission Ambassador of the Year Award

Goodwill of North Georgia and the Metro Atlanta Chamber both have a long history of serving the community. The strong partnership between these two organizations has yielded many benefits for Atlanta’s workforce development landscape.

Amy Lancaster-King has served as MAC’s Director of Workforce Development for 12 years. Over this time, she has cultivated a working relationship with Goodwill that has proven mutually beneficial. Through Goodwill’s loyal partnership, Amy claims additive value for her members.

In an act of appreciation for keeping Goodwill’s mission top-of-mind and always bringing it to the table, Goodwill presents the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce with this year’s Mission Ambassador Award. Read more.

Four Metro Atlanta Counties join in efforts to help clear arrest records and promote jobs

The 2nd annual Opportunity ATL Job & Resource Fair not only hosted 35 of Metro Atlanta’s top employers, but also featured a first-of-its-kind effort by the Solicitor Generals of Fulton, DeKalb, Clayton, and Douglas Counties, to help job candidates fast track the restriction and expungement of qualified arrest records. This multi-county program gave attendees the opportunity to overcome arrest records, one of the toughest hurdles if you are looking for a job, while connecting people with thousands of jobs at the fair.

Read more.

Help offered for Atlanta area young people out of school, out of hope

Today’s Opportunity ATL Job and Resource Fair in Decatur seeks not only to place young candidates in jobs, but to work with them on interview skills, resume building, and even provide training resources and interview attire.

The fair’s focus is more than 34,000 young people in metro Atlanta, called “opportunity youth,” between ages 16 and 24, who dropped out of school, failed out of school, were kicked out of school or finished school and did not seek further advancement. Read more.

Job fair in Decatur to bring opportunities to metro-Atlanta youth

An organization is helping local youth find jobs and resources. For the second year, Opportunity ATL will host a fair targeted at metro-Atlanta’s out of work and out of school youth. In May 2018, Atlanta became the eighth city to hold a youth job and resource fair on behalf of 100,000 Opportunities Initiative – a national coalition of employers focused on hiring people between the ages of 16 and 24 years who are out of school and also not working, often referred to as Opportunity Youth (OY). The Atlanta fair connected more than 2,600 local youth to employment opportunities and other resources to promote their economic and social mobility. Because of the excitement, heavy engagement and overall effort of the Atlanta coalition, the city was named a “demonstration city” by the 100,000 Opportunities Initiative to carry out long-term efforts serving OY in the Atlanta region, launching Opportunity ATL. Read more.

Opportunity ATL, Metro Atlanta Chamber and Goodwill set hiring event for disadvantaged youths

“No matter what challenge someone is having in finding work, Goodwill is here to help,” said Jenny Taylor, vice president of career services for Goodwill of North Georgia. “Our services include free tools and programs for youths, people with disabilities, returning citizens, and people with limited financial resources. Partnering with Opportunity ATL provides us with a seamless way to reach even more youth and we’re excited to host this event  in October.” Read more.

Opportunity ATL Hosts 2nd Job and Resource Fair Targeted to Atlanta’s Out of Work and Out of School Youth October 16th

Atlanta has more than 34,000 Opportunity Youth, which are youth ages 16 – 24 who are currently not in school nor employed. Often times these young people face barriers that prevent them from finishing high school or college as well as becoming employed. Read more.

Opportunity ATL Set To Help Atlanta’s Opportunity Youth Find Lasting Careers

We told you about the 100,000 Opportunities Initiative last spring, and how the job fair that they put on was catered to the country’s “opportunity youth,” or those between the ages of 16 and 24 who are neither working or in school.

The event, which brought some of the biggest corporate employers in the country to the Georgia World Congress Center, was billed as “just the beginning” for the Atlanta-metro outreach. Read more.

Partner Coverage:

An offer, a handshake and a new tomorrow

ATLANTA—They arrived slowly at first, and then by the busload. They wore suits and bowties and dresses and hoodies. They carried backpacks and resumes and sometimes even babies. More than 2,600 young Atlantans attended Thursday’s Opportunity Hiring Fair, hundreds of whom walked away with job offers, 

Read more.