Building a Job-Ready Workforce with Urban Upbound’s Natasha Edwards

by Stephanie Kalele, Donor Relations Manager

Employment is essential to becoming self-sufficient and economically independent. After enjoying a historic low unemployment rate of 3.4% in February 2020, New York City’s workforce was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, which took away hundreds of thousands of jobs. In December 2020, NYC’s unemployment rate was 11.4%, much higher than the 6.7% national rate. Urban Upbound’s Business Account Manager Natasha Edwards works with her team to help more New Yorkers get a job and build a career, especially in high-growth sectors such as construction and technology.

As a part of our Business Development team, Natasha builds relationships with employers that are looking for candidates in their local neighborhoods. Together with our team of employment counselors, Natasha helps get our clients job-ready. Clients attend skill-building sessions, including Zoom professional etiquette training and mock interviews. Our counselors coach each client on best practices when applying for a job and how to build a career. Counselors also make sure that candidates are informed about different company cultures by holding informational sessions.

Natasha joined Urban Upbound in 2017 and began working with clients from our East Harlem site. “I see first-hand how a lot of things that we do actually change people’s lives. The difference between our way of doing things and other organizations’ is that we really build that relationship and trust with each client. They can always come to our office at any time since it is in their neighborhoods,” said Natasha. She now works with clients city-wide.

This month, Natasha and the Business Development team are organizing a virtual info session in partnership with New York-Presbyterian. Rather than promoting individual jobs, this session will introduce our clients to potential future careers. The speakers from New York-Presbyterian will share information on the different career paths they offer and what they look for in a candidate. The information shared will provide participants with extra knowledge and insights that will help them secure an interview and receive an offer. This event is open to the general public. If you’d like to participate, please contact Natasha at natasha@urbanupbound.org. If you would like to contribute to our efforts to break cycles of poverty for public housing residents, please consider making a donation.