History & Awards

Manpower Supportive Services, a program of Neighborhood Centers Association, is formed to provide supportive services for people starting a new job. Services include bus tickets and transportation supports, childcare, tools, boots, uniforms, health exams and eyeglasses.

Soad Mansour is the founding Executive Director.

Manpower Supportive Services is rebranded Towards Employment.

Towards Employment expands to provide job readiness training, job placement, and retention support for Greater Cleveland residents transitioning off public assistance.

Soad Mansour, founder, retires after 20 years and an endowment is established in her honor.

Walter Ginn is hired as Executive Director.

Towards Employment launched an innovative worksite-based job retention model, ACHIEVE, which helped reduce turnover in partner employers

TE merges with Cleveland Works and adds specialized programming and legal services to assist Clevelanders with prior criminal justice system involvement to successfully enter the workforce.

Walter Ginn retires after 10 years. Under his leadership TE received national recognition as a leader in the use of data for performance improvement and job retention support.

Jill Rizika is appointed as third Executive Director after joining as Associate Director in 2003.

Towards Employment selected to coordinate Northeast Ohio implementation of WorkAdvance, a national, rigorous five-year pilot program also replicated in New York City and Tulsa. Supported by the federal Social Innovation Fund, and with local investment from the Fund for Our Economic Future, WorkAdvance delivers a continuum of aligned services designed to meet business needs and provide on-ramps and access so Clevelanders can succeed as they move onto manufacturing and health care career pathways.

University Circle anchor institution University Hospitals joined with “community connectors” – Towards Employment and Neighborhood Connections to create Step up to UH to better link people to opportunity and to each other; equipping neighborhood residents with the job-ready skills and networks they need to succeed and advance

TE receives a multi-year direct grant from the US Department of Labor to deliver career pathway programming for people returning from incarceration via work release programs or halfway houses.

Jill Rizika, TE’s Executive Director, is honored as one of 16 White House Reentry and Employment Champions of Change featuring citizens across the nation doing extraordinary things to empower and inspire members of their community.

Implementation results of WorkAdvance are released on a national and local level. TE partners with The Fund for Our Economic Future to produce a local report with results and lessons learned in Cleveland.

Towards Employment opens Bloom Bakery, a social enterprise, preparing people who face barriers to employment for a career in culinary arts producing high quality artisan baked goods so Cleveland can prosper.

Annie E. Casey Foun­da­tion funds four-year effort to increase job oppor­tu­ni­ties for America’s young adults in five cities (Cleve­land, Hart­ford, Indi­anapo­lis, Philadel­phia and Seat­tle) Generation Work will help young people build­ careers and devel­op the skills employ­ers need. Towards Employment is the lead organization for Generation Work-Cleveland/Cuyahoga County and partners include Cuyahoga County, Ohio Means Jobs Cleveland/Cuyahoga County, the Fund for Our Economic Future and Youth Opportunities Unlimited. 

US Department of Labor Reentry Project awards TE $3 million in funding to serve adults and young adults with criminal justice system involvement with connections to in-demand jobs (manufacturing, culinary/hospitality, construction, and IT).  TE was the only organization nationally to receive funding for both young adults and adults.

Towards Employment is a key implementation partner in Manufacturing Sector Partnership’s ACCESS to Manufacturing Careers program.  ACCESS trains and supports young adults disconnected from school or work and adults previously involved in the criminal justice system to fill in demand manufacturing positions with partner employers. Towards Employment works with participating employers convened by MAGNET, on design and delivery of a customized curriculum to create an on ramp to manufacturing careers. Precision Metalforming Association (PMA) provides the platform for technical training.

Towards Employment social venture Bloom Bakery closes after 4 years of business and training over 90 individuals in culinary and food service

TE receives a national Second Chance Award from the US Bureau of Justice Assistance to provide a comprehensive response to people transitioning from prison, jail, or residential facilities. This award acknowledges collaboration – TE applied in partnership with Cuyahoga County Corrections, Cuyahoga Office of Reentry, and many community-based service providers.

Cuyahoga County Office of Reentry and Towards Employment launch Achieve Staffing, as an employment strategy that combines a staffing business model with supportive services that help job seekers with obstacles to employment enter and advance in the workforce. This model is funded through a Second Chance Act Department of Justice grant provided to the Office of Reentry in June 2018.

Towards Employment partners with The Fund for Our Economic Future and The Deaconess Foundation to produce another Cleveland report with WorkAdvance local results and lessons learned from the pandemic.

The Local Initiatives Support Corporation, with grant support from the Cleveland Foundation, launches a Financial Opportunity Center® network in Greater Cleveland to help connect Clevelanders to greater economic mobility. Towards Employment is one of three nonprofit partners chosen to be part of this financial support national network of over 130 partner sites.

After 46 years downtown in the Playhouse Square neighborhood, Towards Employment moves main offices to 3301 St. Clair Avenue in the St. Clair/Superior neighborhood.  New facilities allow greater focus on digital needs of candidates and alumni.

Towards Employment receives a multi-year Growth Opportunities grant from the US Department of Labor to help young people ages 18 to 24 to succeed in the workforce and in their communities.

Towards Employment competes successfully in national Yield Giving Open Call funded by philanthropist and author Mackenzie Scott and receives $2 Million, largest unrestricted gift in TE’s history.

Towards Employment will celebrate 50 years connecting people to work.