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Jovie’s Story

Jovie grew up with his grandmother, who originated from the South. Accordingly she instilled in Jovie the values of Southern hospitality, including the importance of being warm and welcoming, keeping a clean home, and being attentive to all people and things. It is these traits that Jovie has always strived to carry with him, knowing these values would be essential to his ability to get ahead in life. A single parent of a four year old boy, Jovie has juggled a number of full and part-time jobs over the years, from working for 1 1/2 years at a Starbucks to 6 months at a Wing Stop to a part-time position with Universal Protection Security, all in an effort to better provide for his son and create a good and stable life for them both. But, no matter the job, Jovie has found that hospitality and good customer service, much like his grandmother in grained in him, has indeed been the common thread linking all of his jobs and pushing him to go further. A people person at heart, Jovie has always tended to gravitate towards jobs that allow him to interact with people of different cultures and backgrounds. Accordingly, when Jovie came across an online announcement for a Job Fair being sponsored by the Hospitality Training Academy (HTA) at Watts Labor Community Action Committee’s WorkSource Center in Southeast Los Angeles, he raced over to attend in the hopes of being selected for a job opening at one of the new concessions opening up at LAX in the Tom Bradley International Terminal. Jovie’s winning personality and enthusiasm for working in the hospitality/food service sector at the airport quickly landed him an interview with AREAS USA a few weeks later, where he was immediately hired as a Barista for their new restaurant LAMill Coffee. Jovie was then placed in the HTA’s specialized Barista training class being taught by one of Los Angeles Trade Technical College’s (LATTC) leading Chef/Instructors, James M. Lisanti, on campus at the College. The four-day training program, which was provided at no cost to Jovie via a generous grant awarded to the HTA by Westfield to train new employees working at UNITE HERE Local 11 companies at LAX Airport, such as AREAS USA,. The class included ServSafe Food Handler’s training and certification by HTA, key customer service training provided by Los Angeles Valley College, and in-depth/hands-on instruction on the history, techniques, and systems need to be a barista provided by Chef Lisanti. Jovie is greatly looking forward to his new job at LAMill Coffee and is grateful to be a part of the training program being offered by HTA and LATTC. In fact, he says that, “I have learned more in my four days of training at LATTC about the history, background, knowledge and techniques of of serving coffee than I did while working at Starbucks.” Jovie acknowledges that hospitality plays an important role in his life and will touch all he does. With this in mind, he is eager to start his new job at LAX and to begin putting his new skills to use as he provides the utmost in service to the many travelers coming in an out of LAX every day.

August 16, 2014 0 Comment

Luis’ Story

Luis, a young man of Mexican heritage, is a native of the City of Los Angeles where he lives with his parents and a younger brother and sister. Possessing a love for hospitality that he attributes to his mother, a cook at LAMill Coffee in Silver Lake for over 17 years, Luis, with support from his mom, also found employment at LAMill, where he happily worked for 3 years successfully advancing from busser to server and finally barista. However, in December 2012, due to a cut in his hours, Luis had no choice but to leave his job at LAMill. Although sad not to be working as a barista any more – a job he truly enjoyed and would miss, Luis was able to find employment at LAX Airport as a ramp coordinator for American Eagle, which, because of its heavy focus on passenger service, still gave him the opportunity to interact with many people of different races, cultures and backgrounds on a daily basis – something he found most exciting. Accordingly, when Luis heard from a fellow employee about the opening of a new LAMill Coffee restaurant in the Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX airport, he wasted no time in contacting AREAS USA, the concession management company for the property, to apply for the job. Luis was quickly hired and placed in a specialized barista training class being operated by the Hospitality Training Academy in conjunction with Los Angeles Trade Technical College (LATTC). The four-day class was offered to Luis at no cost as a result of a generous grant awarded to the HTA by Westfield to train new employees working at UNITE HERE Local 11 LAX Airport companies, such as AREAS USA. As part of his training, Luis participated in a comprehensive four day class on the campus of LATTC that included: ServSafe Food Handlers training and certification with the HTA; key customer service training geared toward the fast-paced, high volume airport environment provided by Los Angeles Valley College (LAVC); and in-depth/hands-on instruction on the history, techniques, and systems needed to be a barista provided by LATTC’s top Chef/Instructor James M. Lisanti. Luis is really looking forward to starting his new job as a barista at LAMill when it opens at the airport in January 2014. Of his training with HTA and LATTC, Luis reports that he is most grateful for the opportunity and found the class extremely helpful. In particular, as he it has been a year and half since he last worked as a barista, Luis says the class provided him with a great refresher on roasting coffee and making specialty drinks as well as information and the opportunity to work with new types of machines, which he knows will give him a huge advantage in his new job.

August 15, 2014 0 Comment

CAST selected as Finalist in the Partnership for Freedom Challenge

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

December 18, 2013 0 Comment

A Tale of Two Airports

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

December 3, 2013 0 Comment

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

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/.

August 23, 2013 0 Comment