FALLS CREEK- Goodwill Industries of North Central Pennsylvania (NCPA) has promoted Brenda Gorham to senior employment specialist.
The new position will focus on Goodwill’s partnerships with state human services agencies, including the Pennsylvania Office of Vocational Rehabilitation (OVR), Service Access and Management Inc. (SAM) and Community Connections of Clearfield/Jefferson counties.
State human services agencies help put people to work by referring them to Goodwill NCPA for job training and placement services. Gorham will be the point of contact and coordinate referred individuals to services throughout the 13 Pennsylvania counties in the Goodwill NCPA territory.
“I want to streamline communications with our partnering agencies,” explained Gorham. “I understand how hard it can be for the employment specialists and the agencies to communicate, due to our conflicting schedules.
“By having one person as the main contact, it will allow the employment specialists to focus on the person they are training.”
The position was created to meet the growing needs of Goodwill NCPA’s expanding Mission Services Department.
“We have seen a great deal of expansion in our retail services, and mission services is following,” said Ray Donati, president and chief executive officer of Goodwill NCPA
“Goodwill continues to expand services to people facing challenges. This is the next step to us providing quality services.”
New stores have allowed Goodwill NCPA to offer services in more locations, new business partners have provided more training opportunities and the Goodwill Works Educational Partnership has expanded to include more life skills classes in local school districts.
Gorham stood out among the other candidates for the position because of her work with individuals in each Goodwill NCPA training program and her natural ability to inspire and lead.
Mission Services Director Ben Fitzgerald-Fye said, “Brenda is a very positive person who motivates other people. She is someone who should naturally be in a leadership position and she cares about people. You can’t train people to care like that.”
Gorham dove into her new position in mid-October, learning what she needed and bringing new ideas to the department. In addition to communicating with human services agencies, she will be offering organizational assistance to employment specialist. She said every day of her new job is different than the last, and she is excited about what she will be able to accomplish.
“I am very excited about this new position. I enjoy helping, encouraging people and positively coaching people to be better at their jobs,” said Gorham.