MY TURN honors BAE Systems as Employer of the Year

Sign Up For Our FREE Daily eNews!

MY TURN BAE award
From left, Holly Joseph, director of programs at MY TURN; Genaro Espinoza, MY TURN participant and microelectronics technician at BAE Systems; Butch Locke, global process owner-microelectronics at BAE Systems; Allison Joseph, executive director at MY TURN; and Kim Cadorette, director of operations at BAE Systems. Photo/Thomas Morse.

MANCHESTER, NH – Dedicated to helping underserved students gain the skills needed to enter postsecondary training or the workforce, MY TURN recognized the following standout partner organizations and individuals for 2017:

  • Employer of the Year – BAE Systems
  • Training Provider of the Year – Nashua Community College
  • Community Partner of the Year – Southern New Hampshire University
  • Alumni of the Year – Tabatha Ford of Dover Rehab and Nursing Center
  • Participant of the Year – Joerel Nieves of Nashua High School South

The award winners were instrumental in helping the nonprofit organization provide training and guidance for academic and professional pursuits to more than 500 young people in 2017. They were presented with awards at the fourth annual MY TURN Bright Futures event held on Thursday, April 26 in Manchester.

“We’re so appreciative of the people and organizations involved with MY TURN who are making a difference together, enabling participants to be their best selves,” said Allison Joseph, MY TURN’s executive director who has served the organization for more than 10 years. “Partnerships with the community and support from these standout organizations that see the value in what we do are the foundation for helping young people overcome the challenges that prevent them from achieving career or academic goals.”

Of the more than 500 young people who completed a program through MY TURN in 2017, 86 percent of them were employed upon exiting one of the small nonprofit organization’s skills development programs in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. The benchmark is a key success metric in MY TURN’s 2017 Impact Report, and is an important part of many employers’ creative approach to workforce development and attracting qualified employees to meet current workforce demands.

Across MY TURN’s 10 programs in 32 cities staffed by 21 employees, 93 percent of its 2017 participants showed an increase in reading and math scores, and 90 percent graduated from high school on time. For those in the employment plus programs, 75 percent of participants earned a credential beyond their diploma, and earned $7,500 in additional wages within six months of exiting a MY TURN program.

MY TURN serves people between the ages of 14 and 24 in high schools and communities across New Hampshire and north central Massachusetts. Its programs are customized by community or school need, and focus heavily on workforce needs. MY TURN programs are in place at Manchester High School Central in Manchester, NH, Nashua’s North and South High Schools, Franklin High School, Hitchiner Manufacturing in Milford, NH, Fitchburg, MA, New Hampshire’s Lake Region, Rochester, NH, Manchester Community College, the Nashua Boys and Girls Club, and its Nashua-based manufacturing program, which was awarded a 2017 Stay Work Play Rising Stars Award for best leadership development program.


About MY TURN

MY TURN provides underserved young people with pathways out of poverty through academic and employment training in a supportive environment. We currently operate ten programs from Franklin, NH to Fitchburg, MA with the bulk of our programs in Southern New Hampshire, and we have plans to expand. We provide critical services to vulnerable youth populations to help them achieve their academic and employment goals and ultimately achieve self-sufficiency.  MY TURN targets young people who are low income, homeless, court involved, high school drop outs, pregnant/parenting, basic skills deficient, English language learners, and disabled. For more information go to https://www.my-turn.org/

About this Author