News Archives - Page 3 of 4 -

CAST selected as Finalist in the Partnership for Freedom Challenge

December 18, 2013 0 Comment

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

HTA proudly announces that CAST, the Coalition to Abolish Slavery & Trafficking, selected as

Finalist in the Partnership for Freedom Challenge

LOS ANGELES, California, December 17, 2013 –The Hospitality Training Academy (HTA) is thrilled to announce that the Coalition to Abolish Slavery & Trafficking (CAST), has been selected as a finalist in the Reimagine: Opportunity, a national competition seeking innovative ideas to improve the lives of survivors of modern-day slavery in the United States. The HTA is a funded partner in this grant proposal.

Reimagine: Opportunity is sponsored by the Partnership for Freedom, a public-private partnership led by Humanity United, the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women initiative and Steven Spielberg’s Righteous Persons Foundation.

CAST’s initiative, The Networked Survivor, is a plan for creating powerful professional and social networks resulting in career opportunities for survivors of human trafficking in some of Los Angeles’ largest industries: tourism, hospitality, entertainment, beauty and health. CAST’s idea was selected from among more than 160 submissions representing 260 applying organizations from around the country.

In January, CAST, the HTA and other partners will join 12 other finalists at an Innovation Workshop in Washington, DC, where specialists in technology, social enterprise, communications and media will meet with us. In the spring, the winners will be announced, with prize grants totaling $1.8 million.

CAST Executive Director and CEO Kay Buck says, “Survivors of human trafficking are some of the most entrepreneurial and hard-working people I know. However, because of a variety of complex factors, they are often held back from moving forward in achieving their education and career goals. Celebrating its 15th year serving survivors, CAST is boldly stepping into its next era as a catalyst of collective impact and shared leadership with new players who bring diverse expertise, resources and economic opportunities for survivors to the table. “

With survivors as our advisors, CAST has joined forces with Hospitality Training Academy (the Taft-Hartley Funded training arm of the UNITE HERE Local 11 Labor Union in Los Angeles’ high-growth tourism and hospitality industry), Paul Mitchell Schools and UEvolution to provide quality training and sustainable career opportunities that lead to economic empowerment.”

HTA Executive Director Adine Forman shares, “CAST gathered its most diverse, creative and networked partners to envision how we can collectively transform economic opportunities for survivors. There are abundant opportunities, but there currently exists a lack of networks and connections preventing survivors from accessing them. With the HTA, we can work to pipeline CAST clients into secure, living wage union jobs with career advancement opportunities into the hospitality/tourism/food service sector.”

ABOUT HTA
The Hospitality Training Academy (HTA) provides training for new hires or current/incumbent workers looking for promotions through improved job skills and work experience. The HTA is designed to improve Los Angeles’ tourism and hospitality industry by increasing the skill level of its workforce. The HTA provides courses specifically tailored to increase workers’ skills in a variety of areas, including culinary/cook, server, dishwasher, busser, bartender, barista, housekeeping, host/hostess, cashier, retail sales/customer service and Vocational English as a Second Language (VESL). For more information, please visit our website at www.lahta.org.

About CAST

For over 15 years, CAST has championed a comprehensive, survivor-centered approach to combatting human trafficking. CAST provides trafficking survivors with a continuum of life-transforming services: a 24-hour emergency response system; legal services; social services; and a survivor leadership program. Through this intensive work in the trenches, CAST holds a unique perspective that has catalyzed innovative partnerships. With these strategic relationships in place, CAST is boldly stepping into its next era as an agent of shared leadership and collective impact with new players to unveil The Networked Survivor, a plan for creating powerful career paths and networks for survivors of human trafficking. For more information, please visit: www.castla.org.

About Partnership for Freedom

The Partnership for Freedom is a public-private partnership that was first announced by President Obama during his landmark speech on human trafficking in September 2012. It is led by Humanity United, a foundation dedicated to building peace and advancing human freedom, and the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Goldman Sachs10,000 Women initiative and Steven Spielberg’s Righteous Persons Foundation.

For More Information:
Jeremy Broekman
BROEKMAN communications
818-212-9201

A Tale of Two Airports

December 3, 2013 0 Comment

A Tale of Two Airports from UNITE HERE Local 11 on Vimeo.

Cerritos College Culinary Arts Students and Alumni Get Hired through Job and Training Partnership

August 23, 2013 0 Comment

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 15, 2013

Media Contact:
Aya Abelon, Public Affairs; (562) 653-7878

Program Contact:
Belle Gomez, Economic Development;

NORWALK, Calif. – August 15, 2013 – The Cerritos College Economic Development and the Culinary Arts programs, in partnership with Southeast Los Angeles County Workforce Investment Board (SELACO WIB) and the Hospitality Training Academy (HTA), are working to recruit and fill over a hundred jobs with qualified individuals in openings at the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). The positions vary from retail to culinary openings at stores and restaurants.

In the first round of recruitment, many candidates were Culinary Arts students and alumni entering cooking positions at the restaurants in existing LAX terminals or at the soon -to-open Tom Bradley International terminal. These restaurants are owned by well-known concession companies and the jobs offer competitive pay with benefits provided by the company, through membership with the UNITE HERE Local 11 labor union.

The partnership also recently established a pilot training program for LAX restaurants’ newly hired cooks led by the Cerritos College Culinary Arts Chair and Chef Michael Pierini. The training was held at Cerritos College Culinary Arts kitchen during the summer. Chef Pierini, along with Angela Reid from HTA, provided an intense 35-hour preparation course for the experienced cooks to get exposure to the menus of the restaurants they will be working for as well as receive an introduction to employment at LAX and the Union. Fourteen individuals attended and completed the training. Of these participants, seven were students or alumni of Cerritos College.

“We look forward to performing more contracted training opportunities that provide additional support for the Culinary Arts program and we want to help prepare future candidates for their new jobs,” said Belle Gomez, director of Community Advancement at Cerritos College. According to Gomez, more jobs openings are underway and SELACO is working as the recruiter and pre-screener for the openings with HTA and LAX concession companies. For more information about the program, contact Gomez at (562) 860-2451 ext. 2510.

About Cerritos College: Cerritos College serves as a comprehensive community college for southeastern Los Angeles County. Communities within the college’s district include Artesia, Bellflower, Cerritos,Downey, Hawaiian Gardens, La Mirada, Norwalk, and portions of Bell Gardens, Lakewood, Long Beach, Santa Fe Springs and South Gate. Cerritos College offers degrees and certificates in more than 180 areasof study in nine divisions. Annually, more than 1,200 students successfully complete their course of studies, and enrollment currently averages 23,000 students. Visit Cerritos College online athttps://www.cerritos.edu/.

LA TradeTech College Graduation – July 23, 2013

July 23, 2013 0 Comment

Tourists spend $16.4 billion in L.A. County last year, study says

March 12, 2013 0 Comment

Tourists snap pictures near the Hollywood sign. (KTLA-TV)By Hugo Martin
March 11, 2013, 11:31 a.m.

A bright spot in the local economy — tourism — continues to generate big numbers for the region’s beleaguered businesses.Tourists spent $16.4 billion in 2012, most of it on hotels and restaurants, according to a study commissioned by the Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board. By comparison, the agency said, tourists spent $15.4 billion in 2011.

Tourism last year also generated more than $2 billion in state and local taxes, the study said.

The study, completed by Micronomics, an economics research and consulting firm from Los Angeles, also concluded that tourism helped support nearly 230,000 jobs last year.

Tourism has been on the rise for three years, with 41.4 million visitors in 2012, a new record and a 2.5% increase over 2011.

The impact of the spending is nearly doubled to $30.5 billion because of what economists call the “multiplier effect,” which represents how spending promotes more spending by business bolstered by the tourism growth.

Of the tourists visiting L.A. County, 85% were from the U.S. and 15% were from foreign countries. China became the nation’s top overseas market for the first time, with 460,000 visitors last year, the study said.

Chinese visitors spend an average of $2,652 per visit, more than twice the amount spent by all overseas visitors, according to federal studies.